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The San Antonio Spurs have a less than seven percent chance of winning the NBA Draft Lottery and the prize that would come with it – Cooper Flagg. On the surface, nothing to get too excited about. For the Silver and Black, though, they might have the odds right where they want them.
Asked Cooper Flagg about San Antonio and working out in the #Spurs facility…
"I'm overjoyed…
it's a beautiful city…
Spurs facility is very modern, amazing, top notch…"Full answer⬇️#FinalFour#SanAntonio#NCAA
Video Courtesy: NCAA pic.twitter.com/87ZH3wqgCh— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) April 4, 2025
In every one the Spurs eight previous trips to the NBA Lottery, they've never fallen bellow where they were slotted to pick before the ping pong balls emerged. Five of those times, they beat the odds. Famously, three times they've won the lottery. In every one of those instances, they beat the percentages to land David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Victor Wembanyama.
It's as if when the league implemented the lottery in 1985 as a way to avoid automatically rewarding losing teams, those odds went out of their way to avoid the Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs history in the NBA Draft Lottery
When the Spurs first ventured into the lottery in 1987, they did so with the fourth-worst record in the NBA. What they came away with was a man who'd become one of the best centers in NBA history.
Just before David Robinson arrived in San Antonio two years later because of a Naval commitment, the Spurs added Sean Elliott with the third overall pick in 1989. Had the draft order gone according to the NBA standings form, they would've picked fourth.
With both Robinson and Elliott out with significant injuries during the 1996-97 season, the Silver and Black missed the playoffs for the first time since '89. Despite a pre-lottery position with them third, San Antonio won the rights to draft Tim Duncan. The greatest power forward the game has ever seen spearheaded five championships and an NBA record, trying 22 straight playoff appearances, and so the Spurs didn't visit lottery land again until 2020.
It began a stretch that, including this year, has seen the Spurs miss the playoffs six straight seasons. In '20, 2021 and 2022, the Spurs odds – by their standards – didn't go their way. They picked exactly where they were slotted according to won-loss records, selecting Devin Vassell 11th, Josh Primo 12th, and Jeremy Sochan at nine successively. Vassell has been the team's second-leading scorer for the better part of the last three seasons, while Sochan is probably their most versatile player. Primo is no longer with the organization.
Two years ago, like in 1987, when they had a 14% chance to win the lottery and like in '97, when they sported the third-worst record in the league, the Spurs won the right to draft a third-generation big man. With Victor Wembanyama in tow, the Spurs went into the 2024 lottery with the fifth-worst record. They came away a higher pick with a second consecutive Rookie of the Year in Stephon Castle.
This year, the Spurs have a six percent chance of winning the number one overall pick. They also own the Atlanta Hawks pick, though that has a meager 0.7% chance of landing atop the board.
The odds are not in their favor. That doesn't mean much for the Spurs when it comes to the draft lottery.
