2025 NBA Draft Lottery: A Look at Philadelphia 76ers’ History

Looking back in time at the Philadelphia 76ers' NBA Draft Lottery outcomes.

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Ben Simmons (LSU) walks off stage after being selected as the number one overall pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

As soon as the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2024-2025 season was going off the rails, fans encouraged the team to tank for the top pick. With this year’s NBA Draft getting dubbed the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, Sixers fans all over wanted Philadelphia to lock in the best odds of bringing on the Duke freshman.

A hot December for the Sixers created false hope. There was a stretch when the Sixers looked like they were turning a corner and finally looking like the team they hoped to be when they put the roster together during the summer of 2024.

Once it was clear that Joel Embiid’s season would feature more absences than his past seven seasons, the Sixers started losing at a high rate. Now, heading into Monday night’s NBA Draft Lottery, the Sixers have the third-highest odds to win the top pick, as they finished in the bottom five of the league.

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (M) and number twenty-fourth overall draft pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Taking a Look at the Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA Draft Lottery History

Monday night marks the first time in a long time the Sixers have found themselves in the lottery. Since 1990, the Sixers have had 16 drawings in the lottery. Over that time, they won the No. 1 overall pick twice.

• 1992: 35-47 record, the Sixers finished 9th and landed the same pick

• 1993: 26-56 record, the Sixers finished 5th and landed the 2nd overall pick

• 1994: 25-57 record, the Sixers finished 6th and landed the same pick

• 1995: 24-58 record, the Sixers finished 4th and landed the 3rd overall pick

• 1996: 18-64 record, the Sixers finished 2nd and landed the 1st overall pick (Allen Iverson)

• 1997: 22-60 record, the Sixers finished 5th and landed the 2nd overall pick

• 1998: 31-51 record, the Sixers finished 8th and landed the same pick

• 2004: 33-49 record, the Sixers finished 9th and landed the 9th overall pick

• 2006: 38-44 record, the Sixers finished 13th and landed the 13th overall pick

• 2007: 35-47 record, the Sixers finished 12th and landed the 12th pick

• 2010: 27-55 record, the Sixers finished 6th and landed the 2nd overall pick

• 2013: 34-48 record, the Sixers finished 11th and landed the 11th overall pick

• 2014: 19-63 record, the Sixers finished 2nd and landed the 3rd overall pick

• 2015: 18-64 record, the Sixers finished 3rd and landed the 3rd overall pick

• 2016: 10-72 record, the Sixers finished 1st and landed the 1st overall pick (Ben Simmons)

• 2017: 28-54 record, the Sixers finished 4th and landed the 5th overall pick

*Note: Finished standings mean draft lottery, not NBA standings

May 16, 2023; Chicago, IL, USA; People walk past the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery board at McCormick Place West. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Key Notes

• On nine occasions, the Sixers finished with the same pick as their lottery standings since 1990 (56%)

• The Sixers jumped up in the standings five times since 1990, with their biggest move being four spots in 2010.

• Since the lottery was introduced, the Sixers have moved back from their standing just twice. Each time, it was one spot back.

• The last time the Sixers had a 10% chance of winning the lottery, they jumped up three spots

Some Final Thoughts Before the Lottery

It turns out that the Sixers are one of the luckiest teams in NBA Draft Lottery history. Shocking to know that, considering the Sixers’ recent history with everything else. With just a 10 percent chance of winning the top pick, the Sixers have four other teams in front of them with a better shot (New Orleans, Charlotte, Washington, and Utah).

With a 42 percent chance of getting a top-four pick, the Sixers remain in a solid position heading into Monday’s event. After an extremely disappointing 2024-2025 season, getting a top-five pick would be a decent consolation prize. The only doomsday scenario would be falling out of the top six, which would force the Sixers to hand over their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The NBA will start rolling out the results at 7 PM ET.

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You can contact Justin Grasso via e-mail: JustinGrasso32@gmail.com