When the league is so bunched up that heading into the final day of the season not one playoff matchup was set, there were bound to be a few teams tied when all things were said and done. In the final days of the season, that led to a lot of stories and flowcharts about possible outcomes.
After the season ended, all ties had to be broken to clarify the NBA Draft — and draft lottery. That happened Friday.
The biggest winner is the Dallas Mavericks — they won the coin flip and will pick No. 3 while the Atlanta Hawks will pick No. 4. For the draft lottery, the chances are split as close to evenly as possible, so the Mavericks have a 13.8 percent chance of getting the top pick while Atlanta’s chances are 13.7 percent.
The other big winner was the Chicago Bulls, who won the tiebreaker and get the No. 6 pick, while Sacramento will choose seventh. Both teams have a 5.3 percent chance of winning the lottery and getting Deandre Ayton the top pick.
Out of the lottery and into the playoff teams, Miami’s pick — which belongs to Phoenix — will be 16th, while the Milwaukee Bucks will go one later (if the Bucks had gone 16th their pick would have conveyed to the Suns, but now that rolls over a year). Next, San Antonio will choose 18th while Minnesota’s No. 19 pick will go to Atlanta.
Finally, the big four-way tie shook out this way: the Oklahoma City Thunder pick (which belongs to Minnesota) is No. 20, the Utah Jazz are No. 21, the New Orleans Pelicans (which belongs to Chicago) is No. 22, and the Indiana Pacers are No. 23.
So, here is your complete draft order heading into the lottery (picks 15 and beyond will not change):
1. Phoenix
2. Memphis
3. Dallas
4. Atlanta
5. Orlando
6. Chicago
7. Sacramento
8. Cleveland (from Nets)
9. New York Knicks
10. Philadelphia (from Suns and Lakers)
11. Charlotte
12. LA Clippers (from Pistons)
13. LA Clippers
14. Denver
15. Washington
16. Phoenix (from Heat)
17. Milwaukee
18. San Antonio
19. Atlanta (from Timberwolves)
20. Minnesota (from Thunder)
21. Utah
22. Chicago (from Pelicans)
23. Indiana
24. Portland
25. L.A. Lakers (from Cavaliers)
26. Philadelphia
27. Boston
28. Golden State
29. Brooklyn (from Raptors)
30. Atlanta (from Rockets)