The five teams with the lowest probability of winning the No. 1 pick in NBA history, and the Mavericks ranked fourth in 25

As we all know, young talents from all over the world will enter the NBA through drafts, so we can see that there are basically many bad teams every season, and they are determined to rely on drafts to find a real team-building core for themselves.

Looking back at the draft in the past few years, one of the more successful cases was that the Timberwolves selected Edwards in 2020. Although the outside world thought that this year was the first draft year, even if Edwards was the No. 1 pick, he was not optimistic about how high he could reach. But now, Edwards obviously slapped these media in the face. Under his leadership, the Timberwolves may be expected to enter the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years, and his number of wins in the playoffs has even surpassed that of the Wolf King Garnett, who came to the position of the first man in the team history. Even considering the overall environment of this year's playoffs, the Timberwolves have more hope to win the first championship in the team history than before.

In addition to Edwards, the top picks in recent years, such as Wenbanyama, Banchero, Cunningham, etc., are all excellent players. Their performance explains why so many teams are rushing to lose every year to play. However, if you want to get the No. 1 pick, you have to draw lots. Therefore, even if the probability is high, there will be a chance. Even if the probability of getting the No. 1 pick is very small, it does not mean there is no chance. Then we will take stock of the five teams with the lowest probability of winning the No. 1 pick in NBA history!

5. In 2011, Cavaliers (2.8%)

In 2010, a seismic transfer occurred in the NBA. LeBron James, the former Cavaliers star, announced that he would join the Heat. In the end, he came to Miami by signing first and then changing. Just when all Cavaliers fans were "depressed" about this, the team won the No. 1 pick that year, which at that time became the team that won the No. 1 pick with the third lowest probability in history.

Then in the draft, the Cavaliers selected Irving. Although the team could only hover at the bottom of the East in the first three seasons of his career, Irving's talent is visible to the naked eye. In addition, relying on successive losses, the Cavaliers drew the No. 1 pick in 2013 and 2014. Therefore, when James announced his return in 2014, the Cavaliers also had enough chips to exchange for the third All-Star Kevin Love. We can see what happened after

. Under the leadership of the Big Three, the Cavaliers successfully won the first championship in team history in 2016. That year, the Finals were the greatest series in NBA history. During this period, James and Irving, who were selected by the Cavaliers, both performed very brilliantly.

4.2025 Mavericks (1.8%)

Like the Cavaliers in 2025, before the Mavericks draw the No. 1 pick, their lineup also changed drastically. That is, during the regular season, the team inexplicably sent the star Doncic to the Lakers. This move directly shocked everyone. You should know that the 26-year-old Doncic is already a top five superstar in the league. As a result, the team not only traded him suddenly, but also only exchanged for a 31-year-old top ten-level star (Danime) in the league (Danime), except for a 31-year-old and declining top ten star (Danime), there were only semi-finished 3D Christie and 1 first round. Therefore, at that time, many fans joked that the Mavericks' general manager Nick Harrison was an undercover sent by the Lakers.

However, now Harrison has basically saved his position. The Mavericks will choose Flag, the best American rookie in recent years without any suspense. He is less than 19 years old and can average 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in his freshman season. Duke also successfully reached the semi-finals of March Crazy. Such a result is enough to show that he is a very outstanding leader. Therefore, after entering the league, he is likely to have unlimited potential, but he may even play at the All-Star level game influence as soon as he starts.

3.2008 Bulls (1.7%)

Although this team has not won the championship since Jordan and other core members left the Bulls in 1998, they have made many playoffs. Before 2008, they have achieved the top eight record in the Eastern Conference for three consecutive seasons. Logically speaking, the Bulls' record is not easy to draw the No. 1 pick, but they once again proved that there are exceptions in everything. After Ross, the No. 1 pick popular in the Chicagoans announced his participation in the NBA draft in 2008, the Bulls happened to be very lucky to win the No. 1 pick, so it was a foregone conclusion that Ross came to the Bulls since then. After entering the league, Ross led the Bulls to rise quickly. In his third season of his career, he helped the Bulls win the first record in the regular season league with his average of 25 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1 steal. Therefore, he personally became the youngest MVP in NBA history. Unfortunately, due to injury, Ross began to decline at a young age. In 2016, the Bulls had no choice but to trade him. After that, Ross had to go to many teams in the NBA, and finally announced that he had ended his career in 2024.

2.2014 Cavaliers (1.7%)

Above we mentioned that the Cavaliers won the No. 1 pick in 2013 and 2014, and they had only a 1.7% chance in 2014, but in the end, the team was lucky enough to win the No. 1 pick and later selected Wiggins.. However, with James' return, the Cavaliers had to switch back to the championship mode immediately, so they had no time to train rookies, so they packed Wiggins and 2013 No. 1 pick Bennett to send them to the Timberwolves in exchange for All-Star Love. Although the latter played less significant role in winning the championship in 2016 than James and Irving, his final defense of Curry still left a deep impression on fans.

1.1993 Magic (1.52%)

Magic, which officially entered the NBA in 1989, was successful in the draw at the lottery conference shortly after they first established the team. First, in 1992, the Magic drew the No. 1 pick and selected O'Neal. After entering the league, the latter quickly realized his talent. He was selected as the All-Star in the rookie season. Under the leadership of O'Neal, the Magic won 20 more games this season than the previous year, which also set the best record in their team history at that time.

Then in 1993, the Magic won the No. 1 pick for the second consecutive year with a probability of 1.52%. However, this time they did not choose Chris Weber, who is also the No. 1 pick. Because the team already has an inside core like O'Neal, the Magic needed an outside star. In the end, they immediately reached a deal with the Warriors who chose "Penny" Hardaway after choosing Weber.

After O'Neal and Hardaway joined forces, they led the Magic to the finals in their first season of cooperation. Although they were swept by the Rockets in the end, they were still young after all, so the outside world is still very optimistic about their pair. Unfortunately, the Magic didn't think so. After O'Neal became a free agent in 1996, they were unwilling to provide him with a maximum salary, so O'Neal was directly signed by the Lakers, and the Magic could only watch O'Neal lead the Lakers to win that three consecutive championships.