The Minnesota Timberwolves will have the No. 1 selection in the 2015 NBA Draft.
With 25-percent odds of landing the top pick after finishing dead last in the regular season, the Wolves become the first team since 2004 to win the lottery after entering with the best odds.
Barring a trade, they'll also have a bit of a roster rarity with three consecutive No. 1 picks in Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and 2015's top choice.
Related: Early 1st-round 2015 NBA Mock Draft
The Los Angeles Lakers moved up from No. 4 to land the second pick, avoiding the 17.2-percent chance that they would fall out of the top five and be forced to convey an owed pick to the Philadelphia 76ers.
We played like crap all season so it's only right we get the #2 pick HA #lakerluck #goodday
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 20, 2015
The Sixers, meanwhile, will select third for a second consecutive year. They had a 0.28-percent chance to land both the Lakers' pick and the Miami Heat's pick, but they'll have a lone first-round selection.
The New York Knicks were the primary victim of the lottery proceedings, falling to No. 4 despite the second-best odds at the No. 1 pick and a 55.8-percent chance of picking in the top three.
There wasn't much movement in the lottery overall, with the minor Knicks-Lakers swap representing the only parts of the draft order that didn't line up with the reverse standings.
The odds of each team landing in their position, as well as their chances of landing in the top three, were as follows:
| Pick | Team | Chance at Pick | Chance at #1 | Chance at #2 | Chance at #3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | 25.0% | 25.0% | 21.5% | 17.8% |
| 2 | L.A. Lakers | 11.9% | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.3% |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 15.6% | 15.6% | 15.7% | 15.6% |
| 4 | New York | 31.9% | 19.9% | 18.8% | 17.1% |
| 5 | Orlando | 26.1% | 8.8% | 9.7% | 10.7% |
| 6 | Sacramento | 43.9% | 6.3% | 7.1% | 8.1% |
| 7 | Denver | 59.9% | 4.3% | 4.9% | 5.8% |
| 8 | Detroit | 72.4% | 2.8% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| 9 | Charlotte | 81.3% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| 10 | Miami | 87.0% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| 11 | Indiana | 90.7% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| 12 | Utah | 93.5% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| 13 | Phoenix | 96.0% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| 14 | Oklahoma City | 98.2% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.7% |
The Wolves seem likely to favor Karl-Anthony Towns with the top pick, as the two-way center would provide an element of rim protection and a bit of spacing at the pivot, while forming a strong defensive core alongside Wiggins and Ricky Rubio.
That would likely be just fine with the Lakers, who could then take interior scorer Jahlil Okafor or one of the top two guards in the draft, Emmanuel Mudiay and D'Angelo Russell.
Russell seems a better fit for the 76ers than Mudiay if both are available, but they'll likely take the best talent regardless of position. The Knicks, meanwhile, shouldn't be too disappointed in landing whichever of those four prospects remains at No. 4, or a member of the next tier of prospects, should they see fit.
Factoring in picks that have already been traded, the entire draft order for the first two rounds is as follows:
| 1st Round | Team (From) | 2nd Round | Team (From) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | 31 | Minnesota |
| 2 | L.A. Lakers | 32 | Houston (NY) |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 33 | Boston (PHI) |
| 4 | New York | 34 | L.A. Lakers |
| 5 | Orlando | 35 | Philadelphia (ORL) |
| 6 | Sacramento | 36 | Minnesota (SAC) |
| 7 | Denver | 37 | Philadelphia (DEN) |
| 8 | Detroit | 38 | Detroit |
| 9 | Charlotte | 39 | Charlotte |
| 10 | Miami | 40 | Miami |
| 11 | Indiana | 41 | Brooklyn |
| 12 | Utah | 42 | Utah |
| 13 | Phoenix | 43 | Indiana |
| 14 | Oklahoma City | 44 | Phoenix |
| 15 | Atlanta (BRK) | 45 | Boston |
| 16 | Boston | 46 | Milwaukee |
| 17 | Milwaukee | 47 | Philadelphia (NO) |
| 18 | Houston (NO) | 48 | Oklahoma City |
| 19 | Washington | 49 | Washington |
| 20 | Toronto | 50 | Atlanta (TOR) |
| 21 | Dallas | 51 | Orlando (CHI) |
| 22 | Chicago | 52 | Dallas |
| 23 | Portland | 53 | Cleveland (POR) |
| 24 | Cleveland | 54 | Utah (CLE) |
| 25 | Memphis | 55 | San Antonio |
| 26 | San Antonio | 56 | New Orleans (MEM) |
| 27 | L.A. Lakers (HOU) | 57 | Denver (LAC) |
| 28 | Boston (LAC) | 58 | Philadelphia (HOU) |
| 29 | Brooklyn (ATL) | 59 | Atlanta |
| 30 | Golden State | 60 | Philadelphia (GS) |
There are roughly 10-12 names thought to be safe bets for inclusion in the lottery portion of the draft on June 25. While a lot of the pre-draft process is still to come with individual team workouts and interviews, the college basketball season and last week's NBA Draft Combine provided enough information that a handful of names have relatively stable draft stocks.
The table below shows the top 15 prospects, as ranked by DraftExpress and ESPN:
| Top-15 Ranking | DraftExpress | ESPN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| 2 | Jahlil Okafor | Jahlil Okafor |
| 3 | Emmanuel Mudiay | D'Angelo Russell |
| 4 | D'Angelo Russell | Emmanuel Mudiay |
| 5 | Justise Winslow | Kristaps Porzingis |
| 6 | Willie Cauley-Stein | Justise Winslow |
| 7 | Mario Hezonja | Mario Hezonja |
| 8 | Kristaps Porzingis | Willie Cauley-Stein |
| 9 | Stanley Johnson | Myles Turner |
| 10 | Frank Kaminsky | Stanley Johnson |
| 11 | Myles Turner | Cameron Payne |
| 12 | Kelly Oubre | Trey Lyles |
| 13 | Sam Dekker | Devin Booker |
| 14 | Jerian Grant | Frank Kaminsky |
| 15 | Devin Booker | Sam Dekker |
