Cleveland - The Cleveland Cavaliers tonight received the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft presented by State Farm as a result of the NBA Draft Lottery 2019, which was conducted at the Hilton Chicago in Chicago, IL and aired live on ESPN. The 2019 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, June 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Cleveland was represented on-stage by Nick Gilbert, son of Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert, and in the lottery room by Cavaliers Assistant General Manager Mike Gansey.The Cavaliers’ 2019 lottery pick will mark the 20th pick the Cavs have owned all-time in lottery history, and their 19th overall selection (Cleveland traded their 2005 pick). This will be the first time the Cavaliers will select at No. 5 since the current lottery format was introduced in 1985. Cleveland also holds an additional first round pick in this year’s draft (26th overall, acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets).
The Cavaliers finished the 2018-19 season tied with Phoenix for the second-place position entering the 2019 Draft Lottery. A random drawing was held on April 12 to determine the order of selection for NBA Draft 2019 presented by State Farm. The Cavaliers won the tiebreaker, giving them the second slot entering the lottery and guaranteeing them a pick no lower than No. 6. Cleveland entered tonight’s lottery with the following odds: 14.0% chance of No. 1, 13.4% of No. 2, 12.7% of No. 3, 12.0% of No. 4, 27.8% of No. 5 and 20.0% of No. 6.
Under this year’s new NBA Draft Lottery system, the odds at the top of the lottery were leveled so that the three teams with the lowest regular-season winning percentages (New York, Cleveland and Phoenix) each had a 14 percent chance of receiving the No. 1 overall pick. Drawings were held at tonight’s Draft Lottery to determine the first four picks in the 2019 NBA Draft presented by State Farm. The full results of tonight’s Draft Lottery are as follows:
1. New Orleans Pelicans
2. Memphis Grizzlies
3. New York Knicks
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Chicago Bulls
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. Washington Wizards
10. Atlanta Hawks
11. Minnesota Timberwolves
12. Charlotte Hornets
13. Miami Heat
14. Boston Celtics
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