The Washington Wizards will hold the ninth pick in the NBA draft after the league held its lottery selection show Thursday. The team had only a 4.5% chance of winning the No. 1 pick and a 50.7% chance to pick ninth, according to the NBA’s formula of determining odds.
The team also held the ninth pick of the draft last year, which Washington used to select Rui Hachimura out of Gonzaga.
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said they were pleased with the results.
“You don’t want to go backwards,” Sheppard said. “I went in saying, ’Hey, let’s have the ninth pick. We’re excited about that. If we move up, that’s great. If not, we’ll stay where we’re at.’”
Sheppard said the team has already conducted 67 interviews with draft prospects, 10 of which he considered realistic candidates for the ninth selection. As of now, the NBA plans to hold its draft on Oct. 16.
Washington had a 25.9% chance of falling to 10th, a 3% chance of sliding to 11 and a .1% chance of landing the 12th pick.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won the league’s draft lottery, earning the first pick. The Golden State Warriors will draft second, followed by the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls.
In an odd quirk, the Wizards actually finished with the league’s eighth-worst record this season, but for lottery purposes, they had the ninth-worst record. The NBA ruled that teams participating in the bubble — like the Wizards — couldn’t slide past teams not playing in the bubble, even though Washington finished with a worse winning percentage than the Hornets, who weren’t part of the NBA’s restart.
The Wizards went 1-7 in the NBA’s restart, finishing with a 25-47 overall record.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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