New Orleans Pelicans erupt in celebration as team wins NBA draft lottery - paving way for addition of Duke star Zion Williamson
- New Orleans Pelicans had just a 6 per cent chance to win NBA draft lottery
- NBA announced the winners at a televised event in Chicago on Tuesday night
- It is widely expected that the Pelicans will draft Duke star Zion Williamson
When the New Orleans Pelicans were announced as the winners of Tuesday's NBA Draft lottery, their employees erupted in celebration.
Video posted to social media shows Pelicans office workers explode with joy and hug each other as their team emerged as the winner of the Zion Williamson sweepstakes.
The Pelicans, who will pick first in the 2019 NBA Draft on June 20, are expected to take the Duke star.
The franchise, which had just a 6 per cent chance of landing the top pick, last chose No. 1 in 2012, when it selected Anthony Davis.
The New Orleans Pelicans front office staff reacted with joy on Tuesday after the team was announced as the winner of the NBA draft lottery
The Pelicans had just a 6 per cent chance to win the lottery
Last season, Davis requested a trade.
Results of the revamped lottery were revealed in Chicago on Tuesday, two days before prospects take part in the draft combine on the city's south side.
The No. 2 pick went to the Memphis Grizzlies, followed in order by the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns.
Under rewritten lottery rules designed to prevent tanking, the Knicks, Cavaliers and Suns held equal 14 percent odds to select No. 1 by virtue of having the three worst regular-season records.
Bygone lottery guidelines would have granted New York a 25 percent chance as a result of an NBA-worst 17-65 record in 2018-19.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum reveals the number one pick for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery at the Hilton Chicago on Tuesday
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The Knicks were assured of being awarded no worse than the fifth overall pick, and they wound up at No. 3.
The Chicago Bulls will pick seventh, followed in order by the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards, Atlanta, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.
The Bulls (22-60 last season) finished with the fourth-worst record in the league and had a 12.5 percent chance to win the lottery and draft first overall, which last happened for Chicago in 2008.
It is widely expected that the Pelicans will use the pick to draft Duke star Zion Williamson
That year the Bulls had a 1.8 percent chance to draft first, won the lottery and selected future MVP Derrick Rose.
The Knicks have drafted first only twice since 1965, including selecting Patrick Ewing - who represented the Knicks in Chicago on Tuesday - out of Georgetown in a top 10 that included Chris Mullin (seventh, Golden State Warriors), Detlef Schrempf (eighth, Dallas Mavericks) and Charles Oakley (ninth, Cleveland Cavaliers).
The Suns had the No. 1 pick in 2018 and selected Deandre Ayton.
Williamson, the consensus college player of the year as a freshman last season, is the favorite to be the No. 1 pick.
Blue Devils teammate RJ Barrett, Murray State guard Ja Morant, North Carolina point guard Coby White, Virginia forward De'Andre Hunter, Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver and Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland are among those projected to be drafted in the lottery.
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