The NBA looks set to hold the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, over 15 months after the 2019 version. One of the facets of the regular league year that largely fell by the wayside as the NBA focused on bringing back games, the draft and draft lottery are both now gaining more interest as teams are eliminated from playoffs.
Originally scheduled for later in August, the lottery was moved up nearly a week to the Aug. 20 date reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania on Monday. The final seeding games will take place on Friday, Aug. 14.
The top eight teams in the lottery standings were locked in prior to the restart and is comprised of the teams that did not take part in the league’s restart inside the bubble. The remaining six spots in the lottery will be based on the pre-shutdown records of the teams that do not make the playoffs.
For that reason, the New Orleans Pelicans will be locked into either the 12th or 13th spot in the lottery, a marginal difference in the percentages for both the No. 1 pick or a top-four pick.
LaMelo Ball figures to be one of the top picks on draft night, which is currently slated for Oct. 15.
