Atlanta Hawks defy odds to win NBA draft lottery. See the full draft order

Most of us can use a little luck.

And the Atlanta Hawks were on the fortunate end of the NBA draft lottery Sunday, winning the No. 1 pick.

The Hawks, who were 36-46 this season, had a 3% chance to win the lottery, and the longshot came in for Atlanta and general manager Landry Fields. This is the first time the Hawks have the No. 1 pick since 1975.

Washington landed the second pick, Houston the third, San Antonio the fourth and Detroit the fifth. Rounding out the remaining lottery picks: No. 6 to Charlotte, No. 7 to Portland, No. 8 to San Antonio, No. 9 to Memphis, No. 10 to Utah, No. 11 to Chicago, No. 12 to Oklahoma City, No. 13 to Sacramento and No. 14 to Portland.

There is no clear No. 1 pick. Frenchmen Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher have been projected No. 1 picks in mock drafts for the past year, but players like UConn’s Donovan Clingan and Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham have climbed draft boards.

2024 NBA draft order

1. Atlanta Hawks

2. Washington Wizards

3. Houston Rockets

4. San Antonio Spurs

5. Detroit Pistons

6. Charlotte Hornets

7. Portland Trail Blazers

8. San Antonio Spurs

9. Memphis Grizzlies

10. Utah Jazz

11. Chicago Bulls

12. Oklahoma City (from Houston)

13. Sacramento Kings

14. Portland Trail Blazers

15. Miami Heat

16. Philadelphia 76ers

17. Los Angeles Lakers (this pick may be conveyed to New Orleans)

18. Orlando Magic

19. Toronto Raptors (from Indiana)

20. Cleveland Cavaliers

21. New Orleans Pelicans (from Milwaukee)

22. Phoenix Suns

23. Milwaukee Bucks (from New Orleans)

24. New York Knicks (from Dallas)

25. New York Knicks

26. Washington Wizards (from Los Angeles Clippers, via Dallas and Oklahoma City)

27. Minnesota Timberwolves

28. Denver Nuggets

29. Utah Jazz (from Oklahoma City, via Toronto and Indiana)

30. Boston Celtics

How does the NBA Draft Lottery work?

According to the NBA, "Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams.

"All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and they are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is removed. The remaining balls are mixed in the lottery machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the third ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the fourth ball is drawn. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The same process is repeated with the same ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second through fourth picks."

The remaining lottery teams are slotted in order of their draft odds. Detroit can’t slide any lower than No. 5, Washington no lower than No. 6, Charlotte no lower than No. 7, Portland no lower than No. 8 and San Antonio no lower than No. 9. After that, if a team doesn’t move into the top four via ping-pong ball selection, it can’t move up any higher than its draft lottery odds position. For example, if Toronto, with the sixth-best odds to get a top-four pick doesn’t move in the top four, it can’t land a pick any better than No. 6. If Memphis doesn’t move into the top four, it can’t get a pick any better than No. 7 and so on.

The lottery is conducted in a separate room (with no communication devices, such as cell phones or computers) just before the draft lottery TV show. Select media, NBA officials and representatives of the participating teams and the accounting firm Ernst & Young will be in attendance in the room for the drawings.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 NBA draft order after Atlanta Hawks win NBA draft lottery