Can this person bring Sacramento Kings luck at NBA draft lottery?
Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry didn’t have much luck in his first two appearances as a team representative in the NBA draft lottery, but you know what they say.
Third time’s a charm.
Sources tell The Sacramento Bee that Perry will serve as Sacramento’s official on-stage representative when the lottery is held May 10 in Chicago. The Kings will go into the lottery with the fifth-best odds. They have a 45.2% chance of securing one of the top four picks and an 11.5% chance of securing the No. 1 pick, but they could fall as far as No. 9.
Perry might need a little luck as he begins to transform Sacramento’s roster after evaluating players for talent and fit during his first season as the team’s general manager. The Kings are projected to be well over the luxury tax and slightly over the second apron with an aging roster featuring Zach LaVine ($49 million), Domantas Sabonis ($45.5 million), DeMar DeRozan ($25.7 million), De’Andre Hunter ($24.9 million) and Malik Monk ($20 million).
Sacramento just endured one of the worst seasons in franchise history despite entering the season with four former All-Stars and at least two future Hall of Famers. The injury riddled Kings finished 22-60, tying the Utah Jazz for the fourth-worst record in the NBA.
Perry has been to the NBA draft lottery twice before, first as vice president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons in 2011 and again as general manager of the New York Knicks in 2018. The Pistons dropped one spot in the lottery and selected Brandon Knight with the No. 8 pick in the 2011 draft. The Knicks maintained their pre-lottery position and selected Kevin Knox II at No. 9 in the 2018 draft.
Former Kings owner Greg Luckenbill represented the team in the lottery when Sacramento was awarded the No. 1 pick in 1989. The Kings drafted Pervis Ellison, who is widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NBA history.
The Kings have had mixed luck in the lottery while missing the playoffs 19 times in the past 20 seasons. Past on-stage lottery representatives include Kings owner Vivek Ranadive’s daughter, Anjali (2014), Willie Cauley-Stein (2016), De’Aaron Fox (2018), former general manager Monte McNair (2021), Domantas Sabonis (2022), Keegan Murray (2024) and Keon Ellis (2025).
The Kings have had three top-five picks in the past nine years. They jumped up five spots in the lottery to secure the No. 3 pick in 2017, but they ultimately selected Fox at No. 5 after swapping picks with the Philadelphia 76ers as part of a trade.
The Kings moved up five spots again in 2018 to select Marvin Bagley III at No. 2. They climbed three spots to select Keegan Murray at No. 4 in 2022.
The year’s draft class has been hailed as the best in more than 20 years. Top prospects include BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, Houston guard Kingston Flemings, Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. and Arizona guard Brayden Burries.
