NBA front offices have been wondering for months when they would know the final draft order. On Thursday night, they learned their fates.
The Timberwolves landed the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft lottery drawing, giving Minnesota the opportunity to put a top prospect next to D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns.
"We couldn't be more pleased to land the first overall pick in this year's draft, marking only the second time in franchise history," Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said in a team statement. "We are excited for the possibilities ahead of us to bring in a high caliber player now that we secured the first overall selection. As a front office, we are proud of what we've built here in Minnesota so far and we are looking forward to continuing to build upon that foundation in this year's draft."
The Warriors followed at No. 2, but they may not keep their pick. There is already speculation Golden State will use it as part of a trade in order to acquire a player who more closely aligns with the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. This year's class doesn't have a ton of star power, but that pick is still a valuable asset.
"Number two ain't bad," Curry said after the drawing.
In the wise words of @StephenCurry30: “Number two ain’t bad”
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) August 21, 2020
2020 Lottery, presented by @Chase pic.twitter.com/7G5l5iabIf
Check out the lottery results and full order of picks below.
NBA DRAFT BIG BOARD: Ranking the top 60 prospects in 2020
NBA Draft lottery results 2020
| Pick | Team |
| 1. | Timberwolves |
| 2. | Warriors |
| 3. | Hornets |
| 4. | Bulls |
| 5. | Cavaliers |
| 6. | Hawks |
| 7. | Pistons |
| 8. | Knicks |
| 9. | Wizards |
| 10. | Suns |
| 11. | Spurs |
| 12. | Kings |
| 13. | Pelicans |
| 14. | Celtics (via Grizzlies) |
The Memphis Grizzlies received the No. 14 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery tonight and conveyed that pick to the Boston Celtics as part of the conditions of a three-team trade on January 12, 2015 between the Grizzlies, Celtics and New Orleans Pelicans.
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) August 21, 2020
NBA Draft lottery odds chart
Under the 2020 format, the three worst teams (Warriors, Cavaliers and Timberwolves) each had a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | AVG |
| Warriors | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 47.9 | 3.7 | |||||||||
| Cavaliers | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 27.8 | 20.0 | 3.9 | ||||||||
| Timberwolves | 14.0 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12.0 | 14.8 | 26.0 | 7.0 | 4.1 | |||||||
| Hawks | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 7.2 | 25.7 | 16.7 | 2.2 | 4.4 | ||||||
| Pistons | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 19.6 | 26.7 | 8.7 | 0.6 | 5.0 | |||||
| Knicks | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 8.6 | 29.8 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 5.5 | |||||
| Bulls | 7.5 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 19.7 | 34.1 | 12.9 | 1.3 | >0.0 | 6.2 | |||||
| Hornets | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 34.5 | 32.1 | 6.8 | 0.4 | >0.0 | 7.0 | |||||
| Wizards | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 50.7 | 25.9 | 3.0 | 0.1 | >0.0 | 8.0 | |||||
| Suns | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 65.9 | 19.0 | 1.2 | >0.0 | >0.0 | 9.2 | |||||
| Spurs | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0.0 | 10.3 | ||||||
| Kings | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 86.1 | 7.6 | 0.1 | 11.5 | |||||||
| Pelicans | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 92.0 | 2.3 | 12.4 | ||||||||
| Grizzlies | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 97.6 | 13.7 |
NBA Draft top prospects to know for 2020
Deni Avdija (6-9, 225 pounds): A forward capable of creating out of the pick-and-roll like a point guard. Shooting form and consistency is a concern.
LaMelo Ball (6-7, 190 pounds): High IQ guard and incredibly gifted passer. Not athletic enough to make up for lack of focus and effort on the defensive end.
Anthony Edwards (6-3, 235 pounds): An explosive scorer who can finish strong inside and rise above his defender on pull-up jumpers. Up and down with efficiency and effort but has tremendous upside.
Onyeka Okongwu (6-9, 245 pounds): Terrific lob catcher, shot blocker and rebounder. May struggle against more physical bigs at the next level.
Isaac Okoro (6-6, 225 pounds): Arguably the best perimeter defender in this draft class. Not an exceptional individual scorer or shooter.
Obi Toppin (6-9, 220 pounds): An all-round star in college with an impressive offensive repertoire. Age is worth noting (22 years old), but he projects to be at least a solid rotation piece.
James Wiseman (7-1, 247 pounds): Great combination of size and speed at center. Minimal game film leaves unanswered questions about his game.
2020 NBA Draft lottery team representatives
Here are the representatives who appeared on camera for each lottery team.
| Team | Representative | Position |
| Atlanta Hawks | Jami Gertz | Ownership group |
| Charlotte Hornets | Devonte' Graham | Current player |
| Chicago Bulls | Arturas Karnisovas | Executive vice president of basketball operations |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Brad Daugherty | Former player |
| Detroit Pistons | Troy Weaver | General manager |
| Golden State Warriors | Stephen Curry | Current player |
| Memphis Grizzlies | Elliot Perry | Minority owner and director of player support |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | D'Angelo Russell | Current player |
| New Orleans Pelicans | Trajan Langdon | General manager |
| New York Knicks | Leon Rose | President |
| Phoenix Suns | James Jones | General manager |
| Sacramento Kings | De'Aaron Fox | Current player |
| San Antonio Spurs | Peter J. Holt | Chairman |
| Washington Wizards | Rui Hachimura | Current player |
