Spurs are the luckiest draft lottery team in all of sports.

[Seventyniner]

evidently each of those 3 combinations that could have won Flagg was from... the hawks pick, not our own. meaning we were actually very close to having #1 and #2

2 of the 3 were from the Hawks slot. The first three balls were 10/11/14. A 12 or 13 on the final ball would have been the Hawks slot, while a 6 (or was it 5?) would have been the Spurs slot.

Any time the big numbers are drawn, the likelihood that a team from the bottom of the lottery jumps goes up.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Hawks slot had 6 of the 1001 combinations: 9/11/13/14, 9/12/13/14, 10/11/12/13, 10/11/12/14, 10/11/13/14, 10/12/13/14. The 11/12/13/14 is the 1001st combo that results in a redraw.

[Kevin]

It all evens out. For the Wemby lottery, after the first 3 balls, the Wizards had 9 of the remaining 11 balls, and the Spurs had one. I’d much rather win that lottery, and finish second here than vice versa.

I believe the Wizards had six of the remaining 11 balls if I am not mistaken. All remaining teams had one ball left.

[spurs1990]

evidently each of those 3 combinations that could have won Flagg was from... the hawks pick, not our own. meaning we were actually very close to having #1 and #2

Wow didn't even realize San Antonio still would have the 2nd pick too on the next drawing - so yah Flagg and Harper if 5,12, or 13 came up
The league would implode - every other fan would be livid at that result

Last Ball - 1st pick winner
1 Was
2 NO
3 Brk
4 Tor
5 Spurs
6 Por
7 Mavs
8 Chi
9 Sac
12 Spurs
13 Spurs

[spursistan]

Sure Spurs have been blessed when it comes to the 'quality' of their Top 4 picks (mainly Duncan. D-Rob, Wemby), but that's not an excuse for other franchises to continue to suck for years. Just look at how Pacers managed to successfully rebuild with only one TOP 6 pick on their roster (Mathurin) and compare to what Philly or Charlotte have done after serially tanking the past decade.

[exstatic]

Sure Spurs have been blessed when it comes to the 'quality' of their Top 4 picks (mainly Duncan. D-Rob, Wemby), but that's not an excuse for other franchises to continue to suck for years. Just look at how Pacers managed to successfully rebuild with only one TOP 6 pick on their roster (Mathurin) and compare to what Philly or Charlotte have done after serially tanking the past decade.

The lucky part is winning in the RIGHT years.

[spursistan]

The lucky part is winning in the RIGHT years.

Also, with Castle there is a strong potential you're going to have to credit drafting a en if he ends up being the best player of his class. Nailing a consensus 'weak draft' is one the hardest things to do..

[LeBowen]

Also, with Castle there is a strong potential you're going to have to credit drafting a en if he ends up being the best player of his class. Nailing a consensus 'weak draft' is one the hardest things to do..

Tbf, Castle was an easy pick from Spurs perspective.
It would've been more impressive if we had the #1 pick and still went with Castle.
He was a no-brainer at #4.
Holland was obviously a player Spurs wouldn't even have considered and the rest of the draft was garbage, as evidenced by the #8 trade.

Spurs have always been really good with late FRPs, but lottery picks outside top5 have been disappointing.
Hopefully they can get the right player this year.

[John B]

It’s not luck. It’s how you play the cards you’re dealt. Other teams have had multiple 1st, even closer apart, Cavs, Sixers. Pelicans had AD, Zion. I don’t blame health because Timmy played more than half of his career with a bad knee. It’s how Spurs managed his minutes, conditioning, etc and stretched Timmy’s career into 19 compe ive years, never missing playoffs! We all know that. I don’t know if AD or Zion would’ve been healthier with the Spurs, maybe. But luck is just half of the equation. How you play your card after given the opportunity, is another.

[Ariel]

Wow didn't even realize San Antonio still would have the 2nd pick too on the next drawing - so yah Flagg and Harper if 5,12, or 13 came up
The league would implode - every other fan would be livid at that result

Last Ball - 1st pick winner
1 Was
2 NO
3 Brk
4 Tor
5 Spurs
6 Por
7 Mavs
8 Chi
9 Sac
12 Spurs
13 Spurs

2 of the 3 were from the Hawks slot. The first three balls were 10/11/14. A 12 or 13 on the final ball would have been the Hawks slot, while a 6 (or was it 5?) would have been the Spurs slot.

Any time the big numbers are drawn, the likelihood that a team from the bottom of the lottery jumps goes up.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Hawks slot had 6 of the 1001 combinations: 9/11/13/14, 9/12/13/14, 10/11/12/13, 10/11/12/14, 10/11/13/14, 10/12/13/14. The 11/12/13/14 is the 1001st combo that results in a redraw.

Yeah, I ran a small program to test for the combinations given the above information and it checks out:

Comb #	Ball A	Ball B	Ball C	Ball D	Seed	Team
279	1	10	11	14	2	Washington
499	2	10	11	14	4	New Orleans
664	3	10	11	14	6	Brooklyn
784	4	10	11	14	7	Toronto
868	5	10	11	14	8	Spurs (own pick)
924	6	10	11	14	10	Portland
959	7	10	11	14	11	Dallas
979	8	10	11	14	12	Chicago
989	9	10	11	14	13	Sacramento (falls in protection)
998	10	11	12	14	14	Spurs (via Atlanta)
999	10	11	13	14	14	Spurs (via Atlanta)

So Spurs had 3 winning combinations, one of their own + 2 from Atlanta. One more small detail, I know most realize but if Spurs had gotten the first pick, that would not mean they'd have gotten no. 2 as well, a split second later by virtue of calling another team means balls are inserted at a different time and result changes. They'd have had the same chances as per the ball drawn (better if Atlanta's combinations were drawn).

Also, this means the league is running a very simple scheme where they assign contiguous combinations to the same team, this means balls are disproportionately assigned to the same teams (especially those at the top) so the lottery would be more vulnerable to being rigged. Odd that they don't shuffle the combinations to prevent this.

[Dex]

So of the five Top-4 picks so far (Robinson, Elliott, Duncan, Wemby, Castle)....4 won ROY, 2 were MVPs, 3 are champions (so far)

Pretty good track record.

[scott]

So of the five Top-4 picks so far (Robinson, Elliott, Duncan, Wemby, Castle)....4 won ROY, 2 were MVPs, 3 are champions (so far)

Pretty good track record.

Also, all of them except for Castle have been All Stars (and Robinson, Elliott and Duncan are all multiple-time All Stars). All retired players in this list have their jersey retired.

It truly is elite company. Spurs have done nothing but nail their Top 4 picks (though to be fair... each of the #1s were some of the biggest no brainers in history).

I'm not sure who we would have taken had Elliott not been available at #3. I'd hope Glen Rice, but maybe it would have been Danny Ferry. Interestingly, 3 of the Top 5 picks in the 1989 draft eventually played for the Spurs: Elliott, Ferry (#2) and JR Reid (#5). That was a good draft. No absolute GOATs, but lots of really fantastic players. Elliott, Rice, Nick Anderson, Mookie Blaylock, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp, Vlade Divac, Cliff Robinson in round 2. Really nice class.

[Obstructed_View]

Its ok, it was the exact opposite when we landed Wemby.

And I think I said this elsewhere, but the Spurs hit on Timmy the first two times during that lottery.

[SouthernFried]

Too bad we have such a lousy coaching staff that can't make use of the talent.

smh

[Gagnrath]

Oh yeah, this better be our last lottery trip for long time..I said it above, we essentially got our KD/Westbrook/Harden 3-year draft run. Anything less than an immediate Western Conference powerhouse as end result of this rebuild is a compete organizational failure..

PS. jusy saw your lottery preference rank, i feel bad for the jazz..ngl

I'm pretty ok with going to the lottery via the hawks and timberwolves picks in the next few years.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

It’s not luck. It’s how you play the cards you’re dealt. Other teams have had multiple 1st, even closer apart, Cavs, Sixers. Pelicans had AD, Zion. I don’t blame health because Timmy played more than half of his career with a bad knee. It’s how Spurs managed his minutes, conditioning, etc and stretched Timmy’s career into 19 compe ive years, never missing playoffs! We all know that. I don’t know if AD or Zion would’ve been healthier with the Spurs, maybe. But luck is just half of the equation. How you play your card after given the opportunity, is another.

Zion would be pushing 500 pounds on a texmex whataburger diet

[buttsR4rebounding]

Not only getting a 1 and a 2 and a 4, but getting them in the best possible years for that combination. We could have ended up Amen/Rishaur/Edgecome if the it went 2 then 1 then 4.

[Seventyniner]

Not only getting a 1 and a 2 and a 4, but getting them in the best possible years for that combination. We could have ended up Amen/Rishaur/Edgecome if the it went 2 then 1 then 4.

Great point. If lottery luck was weighted by the quality of prospects available, the Spurs would be #1 by a mile.

The Rockets jumped into the top 4 in 4 consecutive years and ended with with Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard. Hardly a murderer's row.