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Tim BontempsESPN
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The NBA announced the results of its draft tiebreakers on Monday, determining the order for both the draft lottery on Thursday night and the order of picks 15-60 for the NBA draft itself, which is scheduled for Oct. 16.
The Sacramento Kings deserve an extra ping pong ball in the lottery pool and the 11th slot in the NBA draft if they, and the teams behind them, do not go up in a tiebreaker with the New Orleans Pelicans, as both teams are ready with 28 -36 records.
There’s one lottery pick that could change hands, as the Boston Celtics will get the Memphis Grizzlies’ first-round pick – currently 14th overall slotted – unless Memphis goes into the top four this year. If that happens, Boston – who also have the 26th and 30th picks in the first round – will get an unprotected pick from Memphis next season.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers favored a three-way tiebreaker with the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz for 21st place, while Houston claimed for the 22nd draft pick and Utah got the 23rd pick. Philadelphia got that pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder – a choice the Thunder originally traded in 2016, and was protected in the top-20 this season. The Thunder had one less loss than the Miami Heat – due to the unbalanced scheme caused by the coronavirus pandemic – so that means the pick goes to the 76ers.
The NBA also changed its approach to how it handles the second round. The 14 teams that did not make the playoffs will receive picks 31-44, whose running stroke will be determined by their record when the season ends on March 11th. Picks 45-60 in the second round are made by the 16 teams that made the playoffs inside the bubble at Walt Disney World Resort, and will be determined by the record for each of those teams after the eight seeding games were played.
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