The
NBA draft lottery is an annual event held since 1985 by the
National Basketball Association (NBA), in which the teams who had missed the
playoffs (top 14 picks) in the previous season, or teams who hold the draft rights of another team that missed the playoffs in the previous season, participate in a lottery process to determine the
draft order in the
NBA draft. In the NBA draft, the teams obtain the rights to amateur U.S.
college basketball players and other
eligible players, including international players. The lottery winner would get the
first selection in the draft. The term "lottery pick" denotes a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while the non-playoff teams involved in the process are often called "lottery teams".