Kings win NBA Draft Lottery tiebreaker with New Orleans Pelicans to improve position
The Kings received a bit of good news from the league office Monday when they won a tiebreaker with the New Orleans Pelicans for the 12th spot in Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery.
The NBA announced the Kings prevailed in a tiebreaker with the Pelicans in a random drawing conducted by NBA Executive Vice President and Chief Security Officer Jerome Pickett at the NBA office in Secaucus, N.J. The drawing was overseen by a representative from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young. The draft lottery will air live on ESPN at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The draft will be held Oct. 16.
The Kings will enter the lottery with the 12th-best odds of landing the No. 1 pick under the new draft format. They have a 1.3% chance of getting the No. 1 pick and a 6.1% chance of vaulting into the top four.
The Kings won the lottery to move up from No. 7 to No. 2 in the 2018 NBA Draft, a pick they used to select Marvin Bagley III out of Duke.
If the lottery holds true to form, the Kings will receive the No. 12 pick and the Pelicans will get the No. 13 pick. Sacramento and New Orleans were tied at 28-36 when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A second tiebreaker was conducted between the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz. The Thunder received the No. 21 pick, Houston the No. 22 pick and Utah the No. 23 pick.
Kings interim general manager Joe Dumars will have four picks in all. In addition to their lottery selection, the Kings will also have three second-round picks at No. 35, No. 43 and No. 52.
