Where is 2023 NBA Draft Lottery held? History of locations

As the NBA's briefly attention shifts to Chicago for the 2023 Draft Lottery, here's a history of where the event has been held previously.

Victor Wembanyama is a truly generational prospect, but he's not the only potential star poised to learn more about his forthcoming NBA journey during Tuesday night's highly anticipated 2023 NBA Draft Lottery.

Scoot Henderson is the consensus No. 2 prospect in this class, an ultra-athletic point guard with a body and court sense belying his 19 years. Brandon Miller is a prototype high-level wing contributor at the next level. Amen Thompson, perhaps the most athletic player in the draft, has superstar upside with his unreal blend of physical tools and playmaking prowess. Cam Whitmore is another wing who projects as a two-way star if he hits his ceiling.

Wembanyama is no doubt the biggest prize of Tuesday's festivities, though. All 14 teams represented in the lottery will be waiting with baited breath at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center to find out whether they'll get the chance to select the 7-foot-4 French wunderkind with the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Chicago is also host at Wintrust Arena to the ongoing NBA Draft combine, where virtually none of the top-flight prospects in this class have opted to compete. Some surefire first-round picks will take part in athletic testing, but elite prospects like Wembanyama and Henderson didn't even have their measurements taken on the first day of the combine.

The draft combine has been held in Chicago for many years running. The lottery, however, is taking place in the Windy City for the first time in half a decade.

The event was held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn each of the last two years, when the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons enjoyed the lucky bounce of ping-pong balls to secure the No. 1 overall pick. A sparsely attended 2020 draft lottery was at the league office in Secaucus, NJ 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the 2019 lottery—which got the New Orleans Pelicans Zion Williamson and Memphis Grizzlies Ja Morant—took place Barclays Center.

The last time the basketball world's attention briefly shifted from the playoffs to Chicago for the draft lottery? 2018, when the lottery that won the Phoenix Suns the top overall pick commenced at the Palmer House Hilton. The Suns selected DeAndre Ayton, the subject of rampant trade rumors after another embarrassing playoff flameout by Phoenix, at No. 1, while the Sacramento Kings shocked the world by taking the since-traded Marvin Bagley III at No. 2.

Even the Atlanta Hawks didn't get the 2018 draft lottery right despite ending up with Trae Young. Their trade of the No. 3 pick to the Dallas Mavericks for the fifth overall pick and a future lottery selection—which became Cam Reddish, now on his third team—landed Luka Doncic in Big D, setting the Mavs up for years of near-instant playoff contention.

Each of the five draft lotteries before 2018 were held in New York City.

Could the lottery being back in Chicago serve as a bad omen for teams picking toward the top of the 2023 draft? Barring the selections of Doncic and Jaren Jackson Jr. by the Memphis Grizzlies, no team with a top-10 pick got real bang for its back in 2018, the last time the lottery was held in Chicago.

Mikal Bridges is an exception there, but the Suns acquired him in a draft night trade with the Philadelphia 76ers then sent him to the Brooklyn Nets at this season's trade deadline in exchange for Kevin Durant. The Magic got the ultimate benefit of the Chicago Bulls finding solid value with Wendell Carter Jr. at No. 6, acquiring him two years later in the Nikola Vucevic trade.

Wembanyama is a can't-miss, league-changing superstar barring injury. Henderson seems bound for multiple All-Star Games, while Miller, Thompson and Whitmore all possess clear star potential, too.

No matter how the 2023 Draft Lottery finishes, here's hoping the top of this year's class proves much better than 2018's, when the league's most popular niche event last unfolded in Chicago.