8. Indiana Pacers
Pre-lottery odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick: 6.8%
On paper, you can make the argument that the Indiana Pacers are one of the best teams in the NBA Draft Lottery pool. They have an emerging superstar in Tyrese Haliburton, an All-Star caliber big in Myles Turner, and some emerging young players in Bennedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith. Not to mention one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, Buddy Hield. And that’s the biggest reason why the Pacers aren’t higher on this list.
Indiana has done well to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference despite losing some big-time players over the last few seasons. You have to love this team’s competitiveness and that could potentially be rewarded by moving up in the lottery. Still, I’m not sure the Pacers are all that deserving of Victor Wembanyama.
You can argue that the Pacers will be just fine without moving up in the NBA Draft Lottery and they’ll still be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference regardless. This is a team that is just getting better and their fortunes heading into next season won’t really be determined by what happens on lottery night.