Flurrysports - logo
  • Home
  • Betting
    • Super Bowl Odds
    • NFL Picks
  • Fantasy Football
    • Fantasy Football Articles
    • Fantasy Football Rankings
    • DFS
  • NFL
    • NFL Stats
  • UFC
  • NBA
  • NCAA
    • College Football
    • College Basketball
  • More
    • NASCAR
    • WWE
    • Golf
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Soccer
    • Combat Sports
    • Esports
    • Olympics
    • Fantasy Basketball
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Get Started
Flurrysports - logo
  • Home
  • Betting
    • Super Bowl Odds
    • NFL Picks
  • Fantasy Football
    • Fantasy Football Articles
    • Fantasy Football Rankings
    • DFS
  • NFL
    • NFL Stats
  • UFC
  • NBA
  • NCAA
    • College Football
    • College Basketball
  • More
    • NASCAR
    • WWE
    • Golf
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Soccer
    • Combat Sports
    • Esports
    • Olympics
    • Fantasy Basketball
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Flurrysports - logo
No Result
View All Result
Kevin Porter Jr. NBA player props picks betting

Credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2021 NBA Draft Lottery Projections and Outlook

Henry John by Henry John
May 12, 2021
in NBA
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The 2020-21 NBA regular season is set to conclude this weekend. With just five days of games remaining, much of the attention is centered around the various standings battles for NBA Play-In Tournament and postseason seeding. Perhaps one overlooked component of the season’s final week is the NBA Draft Lottery. Although it was designed with the main goal of preventing teams from tanking, at this point, the bottom-feeders in the standings are already aware that they won’t be qualifying for the NBA’s expanded playoff format. If there was ever a week to try and lose on purpose, this one would arguably be it!

The following article provides an updated projection of the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery odds based on the current league standings. 

You might also like

Printable ACC Tournament Bracket, Schedule and Standings 2025

Does Cooper Flagg Make the Mavericks an Instant Contender?

August 14, 2025
Cole Swider lakers nba summer league

Cole Swider Shines For Lakers in NBA Summer League

July 9, 2025
Kevin Porter Jr. Houston Rockets 2021 NBA Draft Lottery projections
Credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2021 NBA Draft Lottery Projections

Refer to the table below for the updated NBA Draft Lottery odds for the 14 teams who currently sit outside of the top eight in their respective conference standings. Included in the table are each team’s current odds to land the top overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft as well as what their average draft pick would be based on current lottery standing. 

Team% Odds to Land Top PickAverage Pick Based on Lottery Seed
Houston Rockets14.03.7
Detroit Pistons14.03.9
Oklahoma City Thunder14.04.1
Cleveland Cavaliers11.54.6
Orlando Magic11.54.8
Minnesota Timberwolves9.05.5
Toronto Raptors7.56.2
Chicago Bulls6.07.0
New Orleans Pelicans3.88.2
Sacramento Kings3.79.0
Washington Wizards2.010.3
Indiana Pacers1.511.4
San Antonio Spurs1.012.5
Memphis Grizzlies0.513.7

The Race for Number 1

The NBA Draft Lottery system grants each of the top-3 lottery seeds an equal shot at the top draft pick. It may be the final week of the regular season, but only one of the top-3 NBA Lottery seeds is accounted for thus far. Find additional commentary and remaining games for all six teams who still have a mathematical shot at finishing in the lottery’s top-3 below.


🏀 Check out our detailed overview and breakdown of the NBA Draft Lottery odds, including an explanation of how the new play-in tournament could impact the 2021 lottery!


Houston Rockets 

Current Record: 16-53
Lottery Status: Clinched top-3 seed
Remaining Games: at LAL; vs LAC; at ATL

Theoretically, the Rockets are free to finish up the season with three wins if they so desire. Houston has already clinched the worst record in the NBA and will thereby have maximum odds at landing the number one overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery. Houston is in a full-scale rebuild and culture shift after trading away long-time franchise star James Harden earlier this season. The cupboard is pretty empty and the Rockets would surely welcome the top draft pick.

Detroit Pistons

Current Record: 20-50
Lottery Status: 1.5-game lead for top-3 seed
Remaining Games: vs DEN; vs MIA

The Pistons took a big step towards clinching a top-3 seed in the NBA Draft Lottery by losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Following that defeat, Detroit is now exactly 30 games below .500 on the season and 1.5 games to the good for locking up maximum odds to land the top draft pick. The Pistons have seemingly been hovering around the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference for years. Perhaps Motor City will finally land a franchise centerpiece in the 2021 draft.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Current Record: 21-49
Lottery Status: 0.5-game lead for top-3 seed
Remaining Games: vs UTA; vs LAC

The only team with a longer losing streak in the NBA than the Thunder is the Cleveland Cavaliers. As it stands now, these two squads are fittingly bitter enemies as they vie for the final top-3 seed in the NBA Draft Lottery. Tuesday night saw Oklahoma City drop their eighth straight game. It was also their 22nd loss in the last 23 games dating back to the start of April. Given that the Thunder are trotting a G-League squad out there each night, they have to be the favorites to land a top-3 seed when it’s all said and done.

Darius Garland Cleveland Cavaliers 2021 NBA Draft Lottery projections
Credit: David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

Cleveland Cavaliers

Current Record: 21-48
Lottery Status: 0.5 games back of top-3 seed
Remaining Games: vs BOS; at WAS; at BKN

While many NBA Draft Lottery analysts argued that the Cavaliers might improve after some strong trades earlier in the season, such success has failed to materialize. A big reason for that has been injuries. Larry Nance Jr. was lost for the season, and fellow young talent Darius Garland is also currently sidelined. Cleveland is doing its best to finish with a top-3 lottery seed having lost 11 straight games. Given that their three remaining opponents are all playoff-bound, that number could very well stretch to 14 to finish off the season.

Orlando Magic

Current Record: 21-48
Lottery Status: 0.5 games back of top-3 seed
Remaining Games: at ATL; at PHI; at PHI

The Magic rattled off three wins in four games two weeks ago to not only weaken their NBA Draft Lottery standing but also fall out of the top-3 seeds altogether. Two of those wins came over the Cavaliers and Pistons, certainly a negative given that those two teams are also in the running to land optimum odds at the top pick. Orlando has gotten back on track since by dropping four straight games including a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. Given their remaining schedule, the Magic could very well sneak past both the Thunder and Cavs and find their way into a top-3 seed.

Minnesota Timberwolves 

Current Record: 21-47
Lottery Status: 1.5 games back of top-3 seed
Remaining Games: vs DEN; vs BOS; vs DAL

Unlike essentially every other team on this list, the Timberwolves have proven that they are actively trying to WIN ball games down the stretch. Of course, Minnesota does have a plethora of talent on the roster, in Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell and this past year’s top draft pick Anthony Edwards. A win Tuesday night over the Pistons all but guarantees the Wolves won’t be in among the three teams with the best odds at the 2021 top pick.


Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for more great FlurrySports content.


 


Tags: Cleveland CavaliersDarius GarlandDetroit PistonsHouston RocketsKevin Porter Jr.Minnesota TimberwolvesNBANBA DraftNBA Draft LotteryOklahoma City ThunderOrlando Magic
Henry John

Henry John

Henry’s passion for sports dates all the way back to childhood and has ultimately led to a full-fledged career as an analyst and content creator. After getting his start penning fantasy football articles, he forrayed into the betting side of the business in early 2019. His love for sports and statistics proved to be an ideal match with the dedicated research and strategy that handicapping requires. Henry currently specializes in betting analysis and picks for college football, college basketball and NASCAR. He counts the NFL, the WNBA, and NBA player props as additional leagues/markets of interest. Henry graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2021 with a Communication Studies degree and a Psychology minor. A native of the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York, he and his pup, Harold, have since relocated to Laramie, Wyoming. Thanks to his professional goals within the sports betting industry, there has been a whole lot of steam on the odds for a move to Las Vegas in 2023! Most of Henry’s free time is spent on outdoor adventures, playing chess, snowboarding, or reading a good book. He is also a competitive powerlifter and aspires to qualify for the USAPL Nationals meet within the next 2-3 years.

Related Stories

Printable ACC Tournament Bracket, Schedule and Standings 2025

Does Cooper Flagg Make the Mavericks an Instant Contender?

by Luke Reimer
August 14, 2025
0

Does the draft pick of Cooper Flagg make the Dallas Mavericks instant contenders in the NBA's Western Conference? After selecting...

Cole Swider lakers nba summer league

Cole Swider Shines For Lakers in NBA Summer League

by Luke Reimer
July 9, 2025
0

Dalton Knecht, Darius Bazley and Cole Swider shine for the Los Angeles Lakers in their NBA Summer League matchup against the...

VJ Edgecombe Among Biggest NBA Draft Winners

VJ Edgecombe Among Biggest NBA Draft Winners

by Trevor Land
June 27, 2025
0

The NBA Finals just finished up this week and in the blink of an eye, we have already finished the...

Printable ACC Tournament Bracket, Schedule and Standings 2025

NBA Mock Draft 2025 and Updated Draft Order 3.0

by Luke Reimer
June 24, 2025
0

Now that the NBA Finals are over, the NBA Draft is set for Wednesday, June 25. With all of the...

Next Post
matt lafleur jordan love injury update week 3

Green Bay Packers 2021 Schedule Released

Please login to join discussion
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise/Sponsor Opportunities

© 2025 flurrysports.org - All Right Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Betting
    • Super Bowl Odds
    • NFL Picks
  • Fantasy Football
    • Fantasy Football Articles
    • Fantasy Football Rankings
    • DFS
  • NFL
    • NFL Stats
  • UFC
  • NBA
  • NCAA
    • College Football
    • College Basketball
  • More
    • NASCAR
    • WWE
    • Golf
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Soccer
    • Combat Sports
    • Esports
    • Olympics
    • Fantasy Basketball
  • Shop
  • Contact Us

© 2025 flurrysports.org - All Right Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.