San Antonio Spurs
Dating back to 1985, the San Antonio Spurs have only been lottery-bound on three occasions. The storied franchise moved up in the draft lottery each time it missed out on postseason play — frankly, the most Spursian thing imaginable.
After going 28-54 in 1986-87, the Spurs held pre-lottery position at No. 3. Back then, every team in the lottery (seven total) held the same odds (14.29%) to attain the No. 1 overall pick. So, depending upon how you look at things, they’re either luckier or not as lucky compared to today’s lottery landscape. In any case, San Antonio moved up two spots and nabbed David “The Admiral” Robinson, a future Hall of Famer.
Two years later (the Spurs’ “unluckiest” year, when they still moved up one spot), San Antonio drafted Sean Elliott out of the University of Arizona. Elliott played 11 of his 12 NBA seasons in a Spurs uniform, made two All-Star teams, won a championship in 1999 and had his No. 32 retired by the franchise.
Eight years after that, the Spurs moved up two spots in the 1997 draft lottery to once again net the No. 1 overall selection. They of course took Tim Duncan. They haven’t been back in the lottery since, and have won five titles during the Duncan era.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Although Bill Simmons is wont to revisit his recurring “God hates Cleveland” gag, the dig doesn’t really add up when accounting for NBA lottery luck.
With Cleveland’s first pick in the lottery back in 1986 (from the Philadelphia 76ers via the San Diego Clippers), the Cavs moved up five spots to No. 1 overall. The Cavaliers selected center Brad Daugherty, who played all eight of his professional seasons in Cleveland before injuries prematurely ended his career. Daugherty made five All-Star teams, an All-NBA Third team in 1992 and had his No. 43 jersey retired by the Cavs.
Of course, the more recent examples of lucky breaks may stand out more.
In 2011, the Los Angeles Clippers traded Baron Davis (and his albatross contract) along with a first-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Jamario Moon and Mo Williams. The pick from LA entered the lottery with No. 8 position, but vaulted up to No. 1. Cleveland nabbed Duke University point guard Kyrie Irving with the selection. (Perhaps they should trade for Clippers first-rounders more often.)
Even more recently (2014), the Cavs had No. 9 pre-lottery position and a 1.7% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. Despite the longshot odds, Cleveland lucked into the No. 1 overall pick once again, and selected Andrew Wiggins – later orchestrating a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves to add Kevin Love in exchange for the prized youngster.
Cleveland is still searching for its first championship, but the draft has been quite kind to the Cavaliers.