| | ESPN.com
With the 2000 NBA Draft lottery having taken place on Sunday, we thought we'd take a look at recent lottery results to see if any not-so-bad teams got lucky with a high pick, and conversely, which bad teams got the shaft. The lottery team with the worst regular-season record has the most chances to gain the top selection, with chances decreasing among the lottery teams with better records. This year, the Nets got the No. 1 pick, followed by Vancouver, the Clippers, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago (from Washington), Cleveland, Houston, Orlando, Boston, Dallas and Orlando (again).
For our look at recent lottery history, we've included all lottery picks from last season, but because the lottery only decides the top three picks (the draft resumes normal worst-to-first order after that), we've listed only the three worst teams and any others that sneaked into the top three for the four previous seasons.
The teams are listed in order of record (worst-to-first), with the pick they received in the lottery listed in the second column.
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1999 DRAFT LOTTERY
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Team
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#
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Player chosen
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Skinny
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1. Vancouver (8-42)
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2
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Steve Francis
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Francis wouldn't go north; won ROY in Houston
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2. L.A. Clippers (9-41)
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4
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Lamar Odom
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If Sterling won't pay, Odom won't play here very long
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3. Chicago (13-37)
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1
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Elton Brand
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Co-Rookie of Year was top PF in East
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4. Toronto (from Denver, 14-36)
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5
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Jonathan Bender
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Dealt to Indy for Antonio Davis; barely played
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5. Minnesota (from New Jersey, 16-34)
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6
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Wally Szczerbiak
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Overcame mid-year slump; played important role on playoff team
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6. Washington (18-32)
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7
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Richard Hamilton
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Struggled with D, but scored plenty when in starting lineup
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7. Cleveland (from Boston, 19-31)
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8
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Andre Miller
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Great rookie campaign likely to end Brevin's stay in Rock'n'Roll city
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8. Phoenix (from Dallas, 19-31)
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9
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Shawn Marion
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Fast start stunted by injury; finished strong
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9. Atlanta (from Golden St., 21-29)
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10
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Jason Terry
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Played well when given a chance later in season
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10. Cleveland (22-28)
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11
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Trajan Langdon
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Missed almost entire season due to injury
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11. Toronto (23-27)
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12
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Aleksander Radojevic
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See Trajan Langdon
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12. Seattle (25-25)
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13
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Corey Maggette
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Averaged 8.4, 3.9 for Orlando; not bad for 20-year old
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13. Charlotte (26-24)
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3
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Baron Davis
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Lucky to get No. 3 pick; Unlucky to get Davis' performance
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1998 DRAFT LOTTERY
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Team
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#
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Player chosen
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Skinny
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1. Denver (11-71)
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3
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Raef LaFrentz
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Missed most of rookie season w/injury; rebounded w/strong 2nd year
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2. Toronto (16-66)*
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4
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Antawn Jamison
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Traded Jamison to Golden State for some guy named Carter
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3. L.A. Clippers (17-65)
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1
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Michael Olowokandi
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Clips still praying this one works out somehow, someday
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5. Vancouver (19-63)
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2
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Mike Bibby
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Likely a future All-Star
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*Toronto and Vancouver were not eligible for the top pick.
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1997 DRAFT LOTTERY
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Team
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#
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Player chosen
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Skinny
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1. Boston (15-67)
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3
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Chauncey Billups
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Billups was primary in deal for Kenny Anderson; would've hoped for more
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2. Vancouver (14-68)*
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4
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Antonio Daniels
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Dealt to Spurs for Felipe Lopez... and Carl Herrera?!
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3. San Antonio(20-62)
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1
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Tim Duncan
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With the No. 1 pick... the Spurs select... an NBA title
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5. Philadelphia (22-60)
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2
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Keith Van Horn
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Got Tim Thomas and Jim Jackson from Nets; turned into Ty Hill and Spoon
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*Toronto and Vancouver were not eligible for the top pick.
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1996 DRAFT LOTTERY
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Team
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#
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Player chosen
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Skinny
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1. Philadelphia (18-64)
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1
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Allen Iverson
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Already a star; getting better every year
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2. Vancouver (15-67)*
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3
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Shareef Abdur-Rahim
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Underrated; should have been All-Star this season
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3. Toronto (21-61)
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2
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Marcus Camby
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Traded to Knicks for Oakley; OK deal for now, but in five years?
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*Toronto and Vancouver were not eligible for the top pick.
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1995 DRAFT LOTTERY
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Team
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#
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Player chosen
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Skinny
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1. L.A. Clippers (17-65)
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2
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Antonio McDyess
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Dealt to Nugs for R. Rogers and B. Barry; nada to show for either
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2. Washington (21-61)
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4
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Rasheed Wallace
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Mr. Technical sent to Portland for salary-cap eating Rod Strickland
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3. Minnesota (21-61)
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5
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Kevin Garnett
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With the next pick, Grizz picked Bryant Reeves -- pretty much same guy, right?
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4. Philadelphia (24-58)
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3
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Jerry Stackhouse
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Couldn't play w/Iverson; dealt to Pistons for efficient Theo, McKie
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5. Golden State (26-56)
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1
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Joe Smith
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Strong w/Warriors, has slumped since
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