NBA draft lottery at 40: The AP looks at how each franchise has fared during its history

The 40th anniversary of the NBA's draft lottery is this year and Utah, Washington and Charlotte have the best chances of winning Monday night — and earning the right to possibly draft Duke star Cooper Flagg.

But those teams might also be set up for disappointment. In 1985, Golden State finished tied for the league's worst record, but New York walked away with the top pick and drafted Patrick Ewing.

The Associated Press reviewed how each franchise has fared in the lottery and listed them alphabetically. The review includes when teams received the top pick, other high picks that teams landed and times the lottery knocked a team out of the top three.

Lottery Wins: 2024 (Zaccharie Risacher)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2005; No. 3 in 2001, 2007 and 2018

Dropped Out Of Top 3: None

Details: The Hawks finally exited the never-won-the-lottery club last year, making good on a 3% chance to land the first pick. And don’t overlook the significance of that No. 3 pick in 2007. Atlanta moved up a spot — which prevented the pick from going to Phoenix — and landed Al Horford, who played nearly a decade for the team.

Lottery Wins: 2017 (traded pick)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1986; No. 3 in 1997 and 2016

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2007

Details: The Celtics had two lottery picks in 1997, meaning they had more than a 1 in 3 chance of landing Tim Duncan. That didn’t happen, but 20 years later they finally got the No. 1 pick, traded down and took Jayson Tatum.

Lottery Wins: 1990 (Derrick Coleman) and 2000 (Kenyon Martin)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1991; No. 3 in 1987 and 2010

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1988

Details: The Nets had just a 4% chance at the No. 1 pick when they won it in 2000, and they would have another top pick to their credit if they hadn’t dealt their selection away before the 2017 lottery. Brooklyn has a 9% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 1991 (Larry Johnson)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1992, 2012 and 2023; No. 3 in 1999, 2006 and 2020

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1989, 2005, 2013 and 2024

Details: Charlotte has had so many lottery appearances it is not surprising the franchise has experienced some good and bad. Jumping six spots to get Alonzo Mourning in 1992 might’ve been even more important than landing Johnson at No. 1 the year before. The Hornets also moved up a whopping 10 spots to No. 3 in 1999 and took Baron Davis. Charlotte has a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 1999 (Elton Brand) and 2008 (Derrick Rose)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2002 and 2006; No. 3 in 2004

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2000 and 2001

Details: The Bulls landed the No. 1 pick just a season after losing Michael Jordan. They’ve struggled to build a contender since then, but they’ve had their chances. Chicago has a 1.7% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick this year — just as it did when it won the 2008 lottery.

Lottery Wins: 2003 (LeBron James), 2011 (Kyrie Irving), 2013 (Anthony Bennett) and 2014 (Andrew Wiggins)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 2021

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2012, 2019 and 2020

Details: Cleveland is one of only two teams to win the lottery four times. The Cavaliers were fortunate to pick No. 1 when James was available, and after he left, they were able to draft Irving, who would help James win a title when he returned. Since James’ second departure, Cleveland has twice been knocked down from the No. 2 pick to No. 5, but that hasn’t prevented the Cavs from working their way back into contention.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1994

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1986, 1992, 1993 and 2018

Details: The Mavericks are one of a small number of teams with a case as the unluckiest franchise in lottery history. Not only has Dallas never won the lottery, it has never once improved its pick position. The mid-1990s were particularly dire. In 1993 the Mavericks went 11-71 but dropped three spots to No. 4. A 13-69 mark the following season didn't yield the top pick either. Dallas has a 1.8% chance of landing the No. 1 selection this year.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 1998 and 2003

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1991

Details: The Nuggets are one of two teams in the lottery era that have never received the No. 1 or 2 pick — and the other is Utah, which hasn't had nearly as many awful seasons as Denver. The 1998 lottery included two recent expansion teams that weren't eligible for the top pick. That left the Nuggets, coming off a 71-loss season, with almost a 36% chance of winning the No. 1 selection. Instead they ended up third.

Lottery Wins: 2021 (Cade Cunningham)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2003; No. 3 in 1994

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2022, 2023 and 2024

Details: For a while, the Pistons weren’t doing well in the lottery because they were never quite bad enough to improve their odds that much. But after landing Cunningham, Detroit won just 64 games over the next three seasons — and fell to the No. 5 pick each time.

Lottery Wins: 1995 (Joe Smith)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2020; No. 3 in 1986, 1993 and 2002

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1985, 1988 and 2001

Details: The Warriors were the lottery’s first big losers, receiving the No. 7 pick in the very first edition in 1985 after finishing tied for the worst record in the league. It wasn’t long before the NBA changed the rules to make drops of that size impossible.

Lottery Wins: 2002 (Yao Ming)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2021; No. 3 in 2022 and 2024

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2023

Details: The Rockets didn’t need much lottery luck early on, having picked No. 1 in the last two years before it was instituted. They made good on a 9% chance to pick first in 2002, and the high selections they’ve landed lately have helped them become a threat again in the Western Conference. Houston has a 3.8% chance of winning the lottery this year, thanks to its control of a Phoenix pick.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1985 and 1988

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1986

Details: Indiana was one of the worst teams in the league when the lottery began, and after narrowly missing out on Ewing, the Pacers fell from second to fourth in 1986.

Lottery Wins: 1988 (Danny Manning), 1998 (Michael Olowokandi) and 2009 (Blake Griffin)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2004; No. 3 in 1985 and 2000

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1987 and 1999

Details: The Clippers have had bad luck in a variety of ways, but the lottery has generally treated them fairly. Three No. 1 picks and six more top-three picks more than make up for occasional disappointments, like missing out on David Robinson after a 12-win season in 1987.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2015, 2016, 2017

Dropped Out Of Top 3: None

Details: The Lakers famously won a coin flip for the Magic Johnson pick during the pre-lottery era. They moved up seven spots to No. 4 in the 2019 lottery before including that selection in a trade for Anthony Davis.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009 and 2019; No. 3 in 1996

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2018

Details: Plenty of No. 2 picks but no No. 1s. In 2003, the Grizzlies moved up four spots to No. 2, but that pick belonged to Detroit because of a trade. Had Memphis moved up one more spot to No. 1, its pick would have been protected — and the Grizzlies would have had a chance to draft LeBron James.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2008; No. 3 in 1990

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1989 and 1991

Details: The Heat have neither needed nor received much help in the lottery recently, but they could have used some during the franchise’s difficult early years. Miami dropped from first to fourth in 1989 after winning 15 games, then fell from second to fifth a couple years later.

Lottery Wins: 1994 (Glenn Robinson) and 2005 (Andrew Bogut)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2014

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2007

Details: Neither of those No. 1 picks was as much of a game changer for the Bucks as Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was taken outside the lottery in 2013.

Lottery Wins: 2015 (Karl-Anthony Towns) and 2020 (Anthony Edwards)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2011; No. 3 in 1992 and 2008

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2010

Details: The 2020 lottery is the only time Minnesota has ever moved up. Even in 2015, the Timberwolves had the worst record in the league, so receiving the top pick was a lateral move of sorts.

Lottery Wins: 2012 (Anthony Davis) and 2019 (Zion Williamson)

Other Top-3 Picks: None

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2005

Details: The New Orleans franchise is about half as old as the lottery itself — and already has won it twice. It moved up three spots for Davis and six for Williamson. And even a slip from No. 2 to No. 4 in 2005 ended up with Chris Paul on the team. New Orleans has a 12.5% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 1985 (Patrick Ewing)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 2019

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1986, 1987 and 2015

Details: Conspiracy theorists have plenty of thoughts about the lottery that sent Ewing to New York, but two years later the Knicks took a brutally bad beat when they dropped from No. 2 to No. 5. Seattle had the right to swap picks with the Knicks, meaning New York actually fell all the way to No. 18 — but the pick would have been protected if it had remained in the top three. The New York Times called it “the final indignity” of that season for the Knicks.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1990, 2007 and 2022; No. 3 in 2009

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2008

Details: Of the eight franchises that have never won the lottery, this is one of the luckiest. While in Seattle, the team moved up eight picks to get Gary Payton in 1990 and climbed three spots to select Kevin Durant in 2007.

Lottery Wins: 1992 (Shaquille O’Neal), 1993 (Chris Webber), 2004 (Dwight Howard) and 2022 (Paolo Banchero)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2013

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1990, 2000, 2014 and 2021

Details: The Magic pulled off a stunner when they landed the top pick with a 1-in-66 chance in 1993. That said, their other three No. 1 picks came when they had no worse than a 14% chance.

Lottery Wins: 1986 (traded pick), 1996 (Allen Iverson) and 2016 (Ben Simmons)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1993, 1997 and 2010, No. 3 in 1988, 1995, 2014, 2015 and 2017

Dropped Out Of Top 3: None

Details: If the Spurs aren't the luckiest team in lottery history, it might be the 76ers. Just look at all of those top-three picks. Philadelphia moved up five spots in 1986 to No. 1, three spots in 1988 to No. 3, three spots in 1993 to No. 2, three spots in 1997 to No. 2 and four spots in 2010 to No. 2. The 76ers never lost ground in the lottery until 2014 when they fell from No. 2 to No. 3 — and still landed Joel Embiid. Philadelphia has a 10.5% chance of landing the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 2018 (Deandre Ayton)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1987

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2017 and 2019

Details: Aside from a dearth of top-three picks, the Suns also caught a tough break in 2007 when Atlanta moved up a spot to No. 3. Had the Hawks stayed at No. 4, that pick would have gone to Phoenix. Atlanta ended up sending the Suns the No. 15 selection the following year.

Lottery Wins: 2007 (Greg Oden)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 2005 and 2023

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2006

Details: The Trail Blazers made the playoffs 21 consecutive seasons from 1983-2003. Then just four years later, they won the lottery despite having just a 5% chance. But they picked Oden over Kevin Durant. Portland has a 3.7% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 1989 (Pervis Ellison)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2018; No. 3 in 1991

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 2009 and 2010

Details: Sacramento's lone lottery victory led to a forgettable selection at No. 1, but the Kings haven't had as many heartbreaking drops as you might think. Only once, in 2009, have they had the top pre-lottery position. Sacramento has a 0.8% chance of landing the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 1987 (David Robinson), 1997 (Tim Duncan) and 2023 (Victor Wembanyama)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 1989

Dropped Out Of Top 3: None

Details: The Spurs have quite a routine going: They win the lottery, draft a generational big man, then come back a decade or two later and repeat the process as needed. From 1985 through 2019, San Antonio missed the playoffs only three times, and in two of those years, the Spurs won the lottery. Then they did it again in 2023. San Antonio has a 6.7% chance of landing the No. 1 pick this year.

Lottery Wins: 2006 (Andrea Bargnani)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 1996

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1998, 2003 and 2011

Details: This is a team that has had mediocre stretches while rarely being truly awful. One No. 1 pick in franchise history feels about right, although it wasn’t the best year for it. The Raptors have a 7.5% chance of winning this year's lottery.

Lottery Wins: None

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 3 in 2011

Dropped Out Of Top 3: None

Details: The Jazz haven’t been in the lottery much over the past four decades, and when they have they’ve often been an afterthought. If not for a trade that gave them the Nets' pick at No. 3 in the 2011 lottery, they would have a “None” in all three of the above categories. This year should be a lot less boring for Utah, one way or the other. The Jazz are in the top pre-lottery spot and have a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick.

Lottery Wins: 2001 (Kwame Brown) and 2010 (John Wall)

Other Top-3 Picks: No. 2 in 2024; No. 3 in 2012 and 2013

Dropped Out Of Top 3: 1993, 1995, 2004 and 2009

Details: Washington's lottery history has generally been dreary, but only 11 teams have received multiple No. 1 picks over the past 40 years, so the Wizards' luck hasn't been all bad. Their biggest jump was five spots to No. 3 in 2013. Washington has a 14% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick this year.

(AP reviewed data on realgm.com as part of its research to compile this report.)

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

FILE - San Antonio Spurs Chairman of the Board Peter Holt reacts Sunday, May 18, 1997, in Secaucus, N.J., as the Spurs were selected to receive the first pick in the upcoming NBA draft. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

FILE - Orlando Magic President and General manager Pat Williams grins while holding up a jersey bearing the name O'Neal and the number 1, at the NBA draft lottery in Secaucus, N.J. May 17, 1992. (AP photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

FILE - Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson holds up the No. 23 jersey with LeBron James' name on the back during an NBA basketball news conference at Gund Arena in Cleveland Friday, May 23, 2003.. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

FILE - In this June 18, 1985, file photo, Patrick Ewing accepts his New York Knicks jersey from Dave DeBusschere, right, general manager of the Knicks, as NBA commissioner David Stern look on, at the NBA Draft in New York. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

FILE - Duke's Cooper Flagg (2) looks back after dunking the ball as Houston's Terrance Arceneaux (23), Mylik Wilson (8) and Milos Uzan (7) watch during the first half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - People walk by a sign during the NBA basketball draft lottery in Chicago, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

A tense calm hangs over Venezuela after the U.S. military operation that deposed President Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face criminal charges.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.

Maduro and his wife landed late Saturday afternoon at a small airport in New York. The couple face U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.

Here's the latest:

The governments of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay said in a statement that U.S. involvement in Venezuela is “an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and puts the civilian population at risk.”

In a statement released jointly by the governments, they expressed their “concern about any attempt at government control, administration, or external appropriation of natural or strategic resources.”

These actions are “incompatible with international law and threaten the political, economic, and social stability of the region,” they added.

Besides expressing their “deep concern and rejection” of the U.S. operation that ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, they called for dialogue, negotiation, and respect for the will of the Venezuelan people to resolve the situation, “without external interference and in accordance with international law.”

Associated Press video on Sunday shows a banner now on display in Iran’s capital warning the United States and Israel that their soldiers could be killed if they take action in the country.

Trump’s recent comment that the U.S. “will come to their rescue” if Iran kills peaceful protesters has taken on a new meaning after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the “illegal U.S. attack against Venezuela.” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said adversaries of the U.S. should note that “America can project our will anywhere, anytime.”

From California to Missouri and Texas, protestors are planning demonstrations Sunday and through the week against President Donald Trump’s military operation and capture of Maduro, which one protest description called “the illegal, unconstitutional invasion of Venezuela.”

Dozens appear to be organized by chapters of Indivisible, a left-leaning group, and many take umbrage with Trump’s plans to take control of Venezuela’s oil industry and ask American companies to revitalize it.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who serves as Senate president pro tempore, posted on X Saturday that Maduro is a narco-terrorist and his drug trafficking resulted in the deaths of too many Americans. He likened the Trump operation to then-President George Bush’s decision in 1989 to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega following his indictment for drug trafficking.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics, posted that U.S. military action in Venezuela is unconstitutional and is putting troops in harm’s way with no long-term strategy. “The American people deserve a President focused on making their lives more affordable,” Pritzker wrote.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, posted a statement on X calling the strikes illegal and criticizing Trump for taking action without congressional approval. “The President does not have the unilateral authority to invade foreign countries, oust their governments, and seize their resources,” she wrote.

France’s foreign minister says the departure of President Nicolás Maduro “is good news for the Venezuelans” and called for a peaceful and democratic transition of power.

Jean-Noël Barrot said “Maduro was an unscrupulous dictator who confiscated Venezuelans’ freedom and stole their elections.”

“Then, yes, we pointed out that the method used infringes the principles of international law,” Barrot said about the U.S. military operation on France 2 national television.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, called Maduro “a horrible, horrible person” but added, “You don’t treat lawlessness with other lawlessness. And that’s what’s happened.”

“We have learned through the years that, when America tries to regime change and nation-building in this way, the American people pay the price in both blood and results,” Schumer told ABC’s “This Week.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says President Donald Trump’s conversations with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez now are ”very matter-of-fact and very clear: You can lead or you can get out of the way, because we’re not going to allow you to continue to subvert American influence and our need to have a free country like Venezuela to work with rather than to have dictators in place who perpetuate crimes and drug trafficking.”

Noem tells “Fox News Sunday” that the United States wants a leader in Venezuela who will be “a partner that understands that we’re going to protect America” when it comes to stopping drug trafficking and “terrorists from coming into our country.”

She says that “we’re looking for a leader that will stand up beside us and embrace those freedoms and liberties for the Venezuelan people but also ensure that they’re not perpetuating crimes around the globe like they’ve had in the past.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to back off Trump’s assertions that the U.S. was running Venezuela, insisting instead that Washington will use control of the South American country’s oil industry to force policy changes and, “We expect that it’s going to lead to results here.”

“We’re hopeful, hopeful, that it does positive results for the people for Venezuela,” Rubio told ABC’s “This Week.” “But, ultimately, most importantly, in the national interest of the United States.”

Asked about Trump suggesting that Rubio would be among the U.S. officials helping to run Venezuela, Rubio offered no details but said, “I’m obviously very intricately involved in the policy” going forward.

He said of Venezuela’s interim leader: “We don’t believe this regime in place is legitimate” because the country never held free and fair elections.

Venezuela’s capital Caracas was unusually quiet Sunday with few vehicles moving around. Convenience stores, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed.

The presence of police and members of the military across the city was notable for its smaller size compared with an average day and even more so with the days when people protested against Maduro’s government in previous years.

Meanwhile, soldiers attempted to clear an area of an air base that had been on fire along with at least three passenger buses following Saturday’s U.S. attack.

The Brooklyn jail holding Nicolás Maduro is a facility so troubled that some judges have refused to send people there even as it has housed such famous inmates as music stars R. Kelly and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Opened in the early 1990s, the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC Brooklyn, currently houses about 1,300 inmates.

It’s the routine landing spot for people awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, holding alleged gangsters and drug traffickers alongside some people accused of white collar crimes.

Maduro is not the first president of a country to be locked up there.

Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, was imprisoned at MDC Brooklyn while he was on trial for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S. Hernández was pardoned and freed by President Donald Trump in December.

▶ Read more about MDC Brooklyn

Residents look at a damaged apartment complex that neighbors say was hit during U.S. strikes to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A soldier stands atop an armored vehicle driving toward Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Shoppers line up at a supermarket in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)