As the Minnesota Timberwolves picked up the win over the tanking Orlando Magic on Sunday, there was a massive shift in the NBA draft lottery odds.
The Timberwolves, Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder are all tied for the third-best odds. The Thunder are the only team of the four who has yet to play on Sunday. If they lose to the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City would have sole possession of the No. 3 spot before the weekend is over.
The flattened odds make the third spot much-coveted. The three teams with the worst records in the NBA will all have a 14% chance of getting the first pick, a 13.42% chance of the second, a 12.75% chance of the third and an 11.97% chance of the fourth pick.
Overall, the teams with the three worst records in the league all have a 52.14% chance of a top-four pick.
The team with the third-worst record has a 14.84% chance of landing at No. 5, a 26% chance of No. 6 and 7.02% chance of No. 7.
Oklahoma City has been surging to the top of the lottery while the Timberwolves have made opposite strides over the past month. Minnesota is a respectable 9-12 since the start of April, while the Thunder are 1-20.
This has caused the Timberwolves to drop from the best odds in the league to a tie with three other teams for the third spot — which means they could end up as far down as No. 6. If they do not get a top-three pick, they would lose it to the Golden State Warriors.
Minnesota has four games left, including one against the Detroit Pistons, who have the second-best odds in the league. The other three games are against the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.
The Thunder have a pair of games against the Kings before taking on the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.
Detroit is one game above the teams tied for third. If the Thunder lose on Sunday, they would be just half a game back of the second-best odds, which give a team a 27.8% chance of pick five and 20.2% chance of pick six.
The Houston Rockets have the best odds in the league. If the draft lottery drops them below pick No. 4, the selection would convert to the Thunder.
