The Chicago Bulls are hoping to hit the jackpot on Thursday night when the NBA hosts its annual Draft Lottery.
The Bulls, who were one of eight teams not invited to the Orlando bubble for the restart of the NBA season earlier this summer, currently have a 7.5% chance of landing the first pick in this year’s draft, the seventh-best odds of any of the 14 teams in the lottery field.
In all, the Bulls have a 31.9% chance of landing a pick in the top four spots of the draft. The team is most likely to land the eighth overall pick, with a 34.1% chance of getting that particular selection. The team has a 66.7% chance of landing between the seventh and ninth picks in this year’s draft.
The Bulls are hoping to have similar luck to their fortunes in the 2008 NBA Draft, when they defied long odds to land the top overall selection, which they then used on Memphis point guard Derrick Rose.
The Bulls have had the seventh pick in the draft each of the past two seasons, which they’ve used on Wendell Carter Jr. and Coby White.
Three teams have the highest odds of landing that first overall pick, with the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves all having a 14% chance of winning the pick. The Atlanta Hawks have a 12.5% chance of getting the selection, followed by the Detroit Pistons at 10.5% and the New York Knicks at 9%.
Unlike last season, with Duke star Zion Williamson was the consensus number one pick in the draft, there are plenty of questions over which player will be chosen with the selection this year. Point guard LaMelo Ball is often connected to the first overall selection, as is shooting guard Anthony Edwards out of Georgia.
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Having gone with a point guard in the first round of last year’s draft, the Bulls could potentially go with a player like Edwards with the top pick, or potentially a player like Obi Toppin out of Dayton if they are fortunate enough to nail down the top pick.
The NBA Draft Lottery is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. after the conclusion of Game 2 between the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks. The lottery will take place on ESPN.
