The NBA lottery 2025 is basically the most stressful night of the year for front offices and the most hopeful for fans who’ve spent the last six months watching their teams lose on purpose. Or, you know, just lose because they aren't very good. This is the night where ping-pong balls carry more weight than a max-contract superstar. If you're a fan of a team currently residing in the basement of the standings, this is your Super Bowl.
When is the NBA lottery 2025?
Let's get the logistics out of the way first so you can set your alerts. The NBA lottery 2025 is scheduled to take place on Monday, May 12, 2025.
The league usually kicks things off at 7:00 p.m. ET. They keep the broadcast tight, usually on ESPN, which is great because nobody actually wants to watch an hour of filler. You want to see the envelopes. You want to see the representative from the Washington Wizards or the Utah Jazz looking like they’re about to faint while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum slowly reveals the cards.
It's going down in Chicago. The Windy City has become the de facto home for the lottery and the subsequent Draft Combine. There’s something kinda poetic about a bunch of billionaires and GMs sitting in a room in the Midwest, hoping a literal lottery machine saves their jobs.
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The Stakes: Why 2025 Feels Different
Look, every year we say the draft is important, but 2025 is the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Ask anyone who follows college hoops or the high school circuit, and they’ll tell you: Flagg is the real deal.
The Duke freshman isn't just a "good prospect." He's a 6-foot-9 defensive nightmare who can facilitate and score. He’s the reason why "Tanking for Flagg" became a meme before the 2024-25 season even tipped off. When the NBA lottery 2025 happens, the team that lands that #1 spot isn't just getting a player; they’re getting a franchise-altering insurance policy.
Beyond Flagg, the top of this class is actually pretty deep. You've got guys like Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey at Rutgers—yes, Rutgers is a basketball powerhouse now, what a world—who would be #1 picks in many other years. VJ Edgecombe from Baylor is another one to watch. Honestly, if your team lands in the top four, you should be doing backflips.
How the Odds Actually Work (The Non-Boring Version)
The NBA changed the odds a few years back to stop teams from being too pathetic. It sort of worked?
Basically, the three teams with the absolute worst records all share the same chance at the top pick. In the 2025 cycle, those three teams each have a 14% chance to land #1. It’s not a guarantee. Far from it. We’ve seen teams with the "best" odds slide down to the fourth or fifth spot more times than I can count.
If you’re the fourth-worst team, your odds drop to 12.5%. By the time you get to the 14th team—the one that just barely missed the play-in tournament—you’re looking at a measly 0.5% chance. But hey, it happened to the Bulls back in 2008 when they got Derrick Rose. Miracles exist, even in the NBA.
The Trade Factors: Who Actually Owns These Picks?
This is where it gets messy. Front offices love trading picks like they’re Pokémon cards, and 2025 is no exception.
- The Nets Situation: After the Mikal Bridges trade to the Knicks, Brooklyn actually has their own pick again. They are fully leaning into the rebuild.
- The Spurs and Hawks: San Antonio owns the Hawks' unprotected 2025 first-rounder from the Dejounte Murray trade. If Atlanta hits a rough patch and ends up in the lottery, the Spurs could literally have two shots at a top-five pick. Imagine Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg on the same team. That’s just unfair.
- The Cooper Flagg Factor: Teams are going to be extremely hesitant to trade away any 2025 picks that aren't heavily protected. Nobody wants to be the GM who traded away the chance to draft a generational talent.
What Happens After the Lottery?
Once the dust settles in Chicago on May 12, the clock starts ticking. The 2025 NBA Draft itself is a two-night event this year, following the new format the league adopted recently.
The first round is set for Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The second round follows on Thursday, June 26.
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The lottery only determines the order for the first 14 picks. The rest of the draft order (picks 15 through 30, and the entire second round) is determined by the reverse order of the regular-season standings. So, if you finished with the best record in the league, you’re picking 30th. Simple enough.
A Few Things People Get Wrong
A lot of folks think the lottery happens during the televised show. Nope.
The actual drawing of the ping-pong balls happens in a private room shortly before the broadcast. A representative from each team, a few members of the media, and an accounting firm (usually Ernst & Young) watch the balls pop out of the machine. They are all sworn to secrecy and have their phones taken away until the results are revealed on TV.
The televised portion is just the "reveal." When you see the team reps on stage, they actually don't know the results yet either. The real drama is happening backstage in that quiet room.
Your Next Steps
If you're tracking the NBA lottery 2025, keep an eye on the standings as we head into the final weeks of the regular season in April.
- Check the "Tankathon" standings: It’s the best site for seeing real-time odds and who is currently "winning" the race for the bottom.
- Watch the NCAA Tournament: Keep a close eye on Duke, Rutgers, and Baylor. This is where the top prospects build or break their stock.
- Clear your schedule for May 12: The broadcast usually only lasts about 30 minutes, but those 30 minutes will dictate the next decade for several NBA franchises.
The road to the 2025 draft is long, but the lottery is the moment where theory becomes reality. Whether your team gets lucky or gets "lottoed" into a lower spot, it’s going to be a wild night in Chicago.