Kings win tiebreaker over Nuggets, Bucks for 8th-best lottery odds

With a number of teams deadlocked in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season, the NBA held a coin flip Friday to determine tiebreaking scenarios for the upcoming draft lottery.

The Sacramento Kings won a three-way tiebreaker over the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks, slotting them eighth in the lottery-odds order. That gives the Kings a 2.8-percent chance at landing the No. 1 pick, and a 3.9-percent shot at sneaking into the top three.

The Nuggets, who finished second in the three-way coin toss, end up with the ninth-best odds, but are more likely to ultimately use the New York Knicks' pick - which is in the No. 7 slot. The Nuggets received swap rights with the Knicks this year as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade way back in 2011.

The Nuggets' pick, then, is likely to wind up property of the Toronto Raptors, who received the Knicks' pick (which, since it came after swap rights were afforded to Denver, worked out to the lesser of the two picks) in the Andrea Bargnani trade of 2013.

The biggest losers of the day were the Bucks, who could've slotted in as high as eighth, but instead wound up in 10th. In other words, instead of having a 2.8-percent chance to win the lottery, they'll have a 1.1-percent chance, with a 1.6-percent chance to jump into the top three.

Outside the lottery, multiple other tiebreakers were also determined:

Since ping pong balls play no factor for playoff squads, that leaves the draft order set beyond the first 14 picks.