After years of either directly having the team with the worst record picking No. 1 in the Draft or using a coin flip, between the worst teams from each Conference to determine who would pick No. 1 in that year's Draft, the NBA adopted the Lottery system in 1985.
The Lottery system provided every non-playoff team with an equal chance at landing that year's No. 1 pick. A few years in, the weighted Lottery system was introduced in 1990 to provide the team with the worst record the best chance of landing the No. 1 pick.
MORE: The moment the draft changed forever - Knicks, Ewing and the 1985 Lottery
Over the years, through multiple reforms to the weighted Lottery system, the odds for the team with the worst record to win the Lottery and get the chance to choose No. 1 have changed, but the objective has been to favour them in a manner that's fair and random.
Having said that, the weighted Lottery still does give every non-playoff team a chance at the No. 1 pick. Under this new system, only 11 times have the teams with the worst (7) or second-worst (4) record won the Lottery.
The odds are highly stacked against the teams with the better records but there have been multiple years when there have been some unexpected winners, so lets revisit some of the biggest surprise winners in NBA Draft Lottery history:
1993 - Orlando Magic
Pre-Draft odds: 1.52% (worst odds)
The Magic, having just joined the league in 1989, had won the Draft Lottery the previous year. After picking dominant big man and future Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal with the No. 1 pick in 1992, the franchise posted their (then) best record and first non-losing season by going 41-41.
After being tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with the Indiana Pacers, they missed out on the postseason due to a tiebreaker. Thus, they were owners of the best record among the non-playoff teams and had the least chances of landing the No. 1 pick.
Impact of Lottery win
Despite the odds, just three years after the weighted lottery was adopted, the Magic were the beneficiary of a huge upset as they won the 1993 Draft Lottery. In fact, their win is the biggest upset in NBA Draft Lottery history.
With the No. 1 pick, they picked Chris Webber but traded him to the Golden State Warriors, owners of the No. 3 pick, for Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and three future first-round draft picks. The duo of O'Neal and Hardaway transformed the franchise into one of the best in the league.
Over a three-year stint (1993-96), the franchise's best at that time and second-best ever, the Magic won a combined 167 games (67.9 percent) including the franchise's only 60-win campaign and the first of two NBA Finals trips.
2008 - Chicago Bulls
Pre-Draft odds: 1.70% (9th most of 14)
The Bulls were coming off a 33-49 season, their first non-playoff year after three straight postseason trips. Their record was just three games off the final playoff spot in the East, so the hopes of a high draft pick shouldn't have been high but they were. In the three previous Draft lotteries (2005, 2006, 2007), teams had overcome huge odds to land the No.1 pick.
Impact of Lottery win
With the No. 1 pick, the Bulls selected Chicago native Derrick Rose. The 6'2" guard out of Memphis changed the face of the franchise and led them to their most successful non-Michael-Jordan years in franchise history.
Over Rose's first four years, before he tore his ACL in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, the Bulls won a combined 194 games (59.1 percent). It included the team's only Conference Finals (2011) and 60-win regular season without Jordan.
2011 - LA Clippers
Pre-Draft odds: 2.80% (8th most of 14)
Having won 32 games in the 2010-11 season, the Clippers missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year but given their record, they weren't favoured to win the Lottery as their odds indicate. Either way, their pick was to go the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the second-best odds that year, as part of a Baron Davis and Mo Williams trade in February of 2011.
Impact of Lottery win
Eventually, the Cavaliers were owners of the first pick of the No.1 pick but not because of their odds but by virtue of receiving the Clippers' pick.
With the top selection of that year's Draft, the Cleveland franchise picked Kyrie Irving. While it didn't pay dividends immediately, having the All-NBA caliber talent in Irving and Tristan Thompson - their selection with the No. 4 pick in the 2011 Draft - on their roster was a huge reason why LeBron James decided to return home after four years with the Miami Heat.
MORE: Which NBA teams have won the Draft Lottery the most?
That, in turn, led the team to have their most successful four-year stint from 2014 to 2018 with four consecutive NBA Finals trips which included the's franchise's lone NBA Championship courtesy of a historic 3-1 series comeback in the 2016 Finals against the 73-win Golden State Warriors.
2014 - Cleveland Cavaliers
Pre-Draft odds: 1.70% (9th most of 14)
Since James left in 2010, the Cavaliers bottomed out and went from a 61-win team to a 19-win team, gradually improving each year with Irving on the roster to 21 to 24 and finally to 33 wins, which didn't favour them to land any of the top picks as they held the ninth-best odds to land No. 1.
Impact of Lottery win
Instead, in one of the biggest surprises in Lottery history, they won the sweepstakes for the top pick and were set to pick No. 1 for the third time in four years.
Although they selected Andrew Wiggins with the top pick in the 2014 Draft, they traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love, the final piece to the team's Big 3 alongside James and Irving. The rest is history.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.
