The Orlando Magic received the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft on Tuesday at the NBA Draft Lottery, while the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings will pick second, third and fourth, respectively.
The Rockets, Pistons and Magic all entered the night with the best odds of choosing No. 1 at 14 percent. The Magic last had the No. 1 pick in 2004, when they selected Dwight Howard. The Thunder (then the Seattle Supersonics), took Kevin Durant when they last had the No. 2 pick, in 2007, and the Rockets took Rodney McCray at No. 3 in 1983.
“It’s great. It’s great for us organizationally, it’s great for our players, our coaches and great for the city of Orlando,” Magic general manager John Hammond told The Athletic. “You need some excitement, something for the fans to look forward to and getting the No. 1 pick, it can’t get much more exciting than that.”
The full order of picks 1-14:
- Magic
- Thunder
- Rockets
- Kings
- Pistons
- Pacers
- Trail Blazers
- Pelicans
- Spurs
- Wizards
- Knicks
- Thunder
- Hornets
- Cavaliers
The NBA Draft Combine is taking place this week in Chicago. The draft will take place on June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The top five players, according to The Athletic‘s Sam Vecenie, are Jabari Smith Jr. of Auburn, Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, Paolo Banchero of Duke, Jaden Ivey of Purdue and Keegan Murray of Iowa.
For more coverage, visit The Athletic‘s NBA Draft Lottery live blog.
(Photo: Chris Schwegler / NBAE via Getty Images)
