The Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and Detroit Pistons all entered the NBA Draft Lottery with the best odds of winning the #1 overall pick on Tuesday night. While fans in MoTown and Houston will likely be happy with where their team wound up, supporters in Orlando have to feel slightly let down by their team falling to 5th overall.
Below are the pre-draft odds for earning the top selection in the 2021 NBA draft as well as where teams will be selecting when all was said and done:
- Houston Rockets 14.0%
- Detroit Pistons 14.0%
- Orlando Magic 14.0%
- Oklahoma City Thunder 11.5%
- Cleveland Cavaliers 11.5%
- Minnesota Timberwolves 9.0%
- Toronto Raptors 7.5%
- Chicago Bulls 4.5%
- Sacramento Kings 4.5%
- New Orleans Pelicans 4.5%
- Charlotte Hornets 1.8%
- San Antonio Spurs 1.7%
- Indiana Pacers 1.0%
- Golden State Warriors 0.5%
2021 NBA Draft Order
| Pick | Team |
| 1. | Detroit Pistons |
| 2. | Houston Rockets |
| 3. | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 4. | Toronto Raptors |
| 5. | Orlando Magic |
| 6. | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 7. | Golden State Warriors (via Minnesota Timberwolves) |
| 8. | Orlando Magic (via Chicago Bulls) |
| 9. | Sacramento Kings |
| 10. | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 11. | Charlotte Hornets |
| 12. | San Antonio Spurs |
| 13. | Indiana Pacers |
| 14. | Golden State Warriors |
While this year’s draft is perhaps one of the most wide open in recent memory, the following 25 players are viewed as having the best pre-draft odds of being selected by a lottery team in July:
1. Cade Cunningham, G, Oklahoma State
2. Jalen Suggs, G, Gonzaga
3. Evan Mobley, F/C, USC
4. Jalen Green, G, G League Ignite
5. Jonathan Kuminga, PF, G League Ignite
6. Scottie Barnes, G/F, Florida State
7. Davion Mitchell, G, Baylor
8. Keon Johnson, G, Tennessee
9. Jalen Johnson, F, Duke
10. Franz Wagner, C, Michigan
11. Corey Kispert, F, Gonzaga
12. James Bouknight, G, UConn
13. Moses Moody, G, Arkansas
14. Tre Mann, PG, Florida
15. Josh Giddey, SG, Australia
16. Alpren Sengun, C, Turkey
17. Usman Garuba, PF, Spain
18. Sharife Cooper, PG, Auburn
19. Kai Jones, PF, Texas
20. Ziare Williams, SG, Stanford
21. Jared Butler, G, Baylor
22. Ayo Dosunmu, G, Illinois
23. Jaden Springer, PG, Tennessee
24. Marcus Carr, PG, Minnesota
25. AJ Lawson, G, South Carolina