The Kings entered the draft lottery with just a 3.8 percent chance of their pick landing in the top four and thus conveying. Otherwise, they would owe it to the Atlanta Hawks as a result of the 2022 trade that landed them Kevin Huerter.

However, ESPN’s NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony believes the Spurs won’t try trading the pick. He’s even 99.9% sure that the Spurs will stick and pick top guard prospect Dylan Harper, believing a backcourt of Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, and Harper can be a winning trio.

ESPN's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo isn't among those who think that the NBA Draft Lottery is rigged. He also likes the idea of holding a lottery so that teams compete in a tanking match and try to lose every game possible just to get the draft's top pick.

The NBA Draft Lottery provided plenty of fireworks on Monday night. The Dallas Mavericks received the No. 1 overall pick despite having just a 1.8% chance of doing so. Perhaps just as shockingly, the San Antonio Spurs obtained the No. 2 pick, with the Philadelphia 76ers getting the third overall pick.

There are two rounds in the draft. The first round features 30 picks and the second round has 29. There are typically 30 picks per round, but the New York Knicks were docked their 2025 second-rounder after the league found they had tampered with Jalen Brunson leading up to 2022 free agency.

A look at the best NBA Playoffs player props and picks for games played on May 14, 2025, including complete betting analysis.

Knueppel met with Chicago (12th pick), Charlotte (fourth), Brooklyn (eighth, 19th, 26th and 27th), Atlanta (13th and 22nd) and Orlando (16th and 25th). In a recent NBA mock, Knueppel was projected to the New Orleans Pelicans at No. 7 overall.