Seven facts about the Sacramento Kings and NBA Draft Lottery

NBA Draft Lottery Ping Pong Balls (NBA)

The Sacramento Kings are in the NBA Draft Lottery for a seventh-straight year. In accordance with that, we have compiled seven facts about the Kings and lottery throughout the franchise’s 28 seasons in the capital city.

1. Tonight marks the 28th running of the league’s annual draft lottery. It has been in existence for as long as the Kings have been in Sacramento.

2. The Kings have finished with the sixth-best odds of winning the lottery on four different occasions. In 1992, they dropped to the seventh spot and took Walt Williams out of Maryland with their pick. In 1990, they also fell down one spot and ended up selecting Lionel Simmons with the seventh overall choice. In 1987, they finished and selected sixth, choosing Kenny Smith out of North Carolina. And in 1985, their inaugural season in Sacramento, the Kings also stayed at the six spot, where they selected Joe Kleine out of Arkansas.

3. The Kings have a 6.3 percent chance of winning this year’s draft lottery. They possessed the same odds when they won the lottery in 1989. With the first pick in the draft, the Kings took Pervis Ellison that year.

4. In their 28 year history in Sacramento, the Kings have won the right to choose first just once. Atlanta, Dallas and Toronto are the only other teams that’ve earned the No. 1 pick just once in the lottery era.

5. With 18 lottery picks, the Kings rank third behind just the Clippers and Warriors in most lottery picks all time. The Clippers (22) don’t own a lottery choice for a third-straight year while the Warriors (20) are without one for the first time since 2007.

6. Since it moved to its current format in 1994, the team with the sixth best odds has won the draft lottery just twice. In 2005, the Milwaukee Bucks won the first overall pick and selected Andrew Bogut out of Utah. In 2007, the Portland TrailBlazers won the lotto and selected Greg Oden out of Ohio State.

7. The Kings currently possess the longest active streak of draft lottery appearances.

Sacramento Kings 2013 Draft Lottery Odds

Hover over the columns for exact percentages.



About: Jonathan Santiago
