PORTLAND, Ore. — It wasn't the worst-case scenario, but pretty close. Luck was not on the side of the Portland Trail Blazers at the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago, landing the seventh overall pick.
Portland also ended up with the 14th overall selection. It was the Golden State Warriors' first-round selection this year, but comes to the Blazers as part of the trade last October that sent Jrue Holiday to Boston.
The Atlanta Hawks received the top pick, followed by the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Portland finished tied for the third-worst record in the NBA this past season at 21-61. They had a 13.2% chance of landing the No. 1 pick and an even 50% chance of a selection in the Top 4. That means they also had a 50% chance of sliding as low as eighth in the draft order. Here’s a look at the odds they had before the lottery to land each pick from one through eight. Their most likely draft selection was sixth, with a 24.6% chance, and their second-most likely draft selection was seventh at 16.4%.
- No. 1 pick: 13.2%
- No. 2 pick: 12.8%
- No. 3 pick: 12.3%
- No. 4 pick: 11.7%
- No. 5 pick: 6.8%
- No. 6 pick: 24.6%
- No. 7 pick: 16.4%
- No. 8 pick: 2.2%
- No. 9-14: 0%
Portland also has two picks in the second round, No. 34 and No. 40 overall, the fourth and 10th selections in Round 2.
Now the Blazers start full preparations for the two-day draft, which is more than a month away on June 26 and 27. The NBA Draft Combine runs in Chicago from May 12-19 and Portland will host multiple prospect workouts at the team's training facility in Tualatin leading up to the draft.
Top NBA Draft prospects
In its most recent draft prospect rankings (May 2), ESPN ranked the top 10 players like this:
- Zaccharie Risacher, a 6-10 forward out of Bourg, France
- Alex Sarr, a 7-foot-1 big man out of Perth, Australia
- Donovan Clingan, a 7-2 center out of UConn
- Rob Dillingham, a 6-2 point guard out of Kentucky
- Nikola Topic, a 6-7 point guard out of Belgrade, Serbia
- Matas Buzelis, a 6-10 forward out of G League Ignite
- Reed Sheppard, a 6-2 guard out of Kentucky
- Dalton Knecht, a 6-6 forward out of Tennessee
- Stephon Castle, a 6-6 guard out of UConn
- Cody Williams, a 6-8 forward out of Colorado
Key offseason dates
- May 12: NBA draft lottery
- June 26-27: NBA draft
- July 1: Unofficial start of free agency
- July 6: Official start of free agency
- July 12-22: NBA summer league in Las Vegas
