Phoenix Suns hope for NBA Draft Lottery luck after 8-0 finish
Aug 19, 2020, 8:00 AM | Updated: Aug 20, 2020, 7:25 am
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum gets ready to announce the order of the picks during the NBA basketball draft lottery Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nuccio DiNuzzo)
(AP Photo/Nuccio DiNuzzo)
The Phoenix Suns can have the best of both worlds thanks to an altered NBA Draft Lottery format.
They can hope for some draft luck following an 8-0 finish in the NBA restart bubble at Disney World. Because the league locked lottery odds to include only the standings as of March 11, when coronavirus suspended play, the perfect bubble trip did not hurt their chances at getting a favorable bounce of the ping pong balls.
The Suns were 26-39 at that point.
Their record is 34-39 at season’s end.
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Phoenix, therefore, enters the NBA Draft Lottery that begins 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) on Thursday with the 10th-best odds. The Suns finished with a better winning percentage than four teams behind them in the lottery odds standings.
They also have the same record as a fifth team, the Memphis Grizzlies, who have the 14th-best odds for a pick that will very likely go to the Boston Celtics.
There is a 13.9% shot at the Suns landing a top-four pick and a 3.0% chance at landing the No. 1 overall selection in a draft that has no clear-cut top prospect.
Ping pong balls in the lottery will determine the first four picks in the draft, and the current standings will fill in from those March 11 reverse standings based on record.
If the Suns don’t jump into the top-four, they have these odds: 65.9% chance at 10th in the draft, 19.0% at 11th, 1.2% at 12th and minuscule odds of landing 13th or 14th.
2020 NBA Draft Lottery odds
| Lottery seed | Team | Win % | Odds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
| 1 | Warriors | .231 | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 47.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Cavs | .292 | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 27.8 | 20.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | T-Wolves | .297 | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 14.8 | 26.0 | 7.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Hawks | .299 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 7.2 | 25.7 | 16.7 | 2.2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | Pistons | .303 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 19.6 | 26.7 | 8.7 | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | Knicks | .318 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | – | 8.6 | 29.8 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Bulls | .338 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | – | – | 19.7 | 34.1 | 12.9 | 1.3 | >0 | – | – | – |
| 8 | Hornets | .354 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.2 | – | – | – | 34.5 | 32.1 | 6.8 | 0.4 | >0 | – | – |
| 9 | Wizards | .347 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 50.7 | 25.9 | 3.0 | 0.1 | >0 | – |
| 10 | Suns | .466 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | – | – | – | – | – | 65.9 | 19.0 | 1.2 | >0 | >0 |
| 11 | Spurs | .451 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0 |
| 12 (tied) | Kings | .431 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 86.1 | 7.6 | 0.1 |
| 12 (tied) | Pelicans | .417 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 92.0 | 2.3 |
| 14 | Grizzlies (to Boston if 14th) | .466 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97.6 |
