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Pistons Fans Disappointed in NBA Lottery Result After Rough 14-Win Season
The NBA draft lottery took place on Sunday, with the Atlanta Hawks beating the odds to earn the No. 1 pick—quite the break for a team that made the play-in tournament.
One NBA fanbase in particular was upset with the lottery results? The Detroit Pistons. The Pistons finished the season with just 14 wins, which is the franchise's worst record in the modern era.
The Pistons had a 14% chance of winning the lottery—tied with the Washington Wizards for the best odds in the league—and had a 52.1% chance of remaining in the top four. This is the third year in a row that the Pistons didn't earn the top pick even though they had the best odds. Each time, Detroit ended up with pick No. 5.
Fans had some strong responses to seeing the team's run of poor draft lottery luck continue on Sunday. Take a look at some of the reactions below.
🙃
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) May 12, 2024
The Pistons have now had the NBA’s worst record in back-to-back years and landed the 5th pick in the lottery on both occasions. Brutal luck.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 12, 2024
THE PISTONS DID ALL THAT LOSING FOR THE 5TH PICK IN THE DRAFT 😂 pic.twitter.com/bvjqKgoNUx
— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) May 12, 2024
No team had EVER dropped from 1 to 5 in the history of the NBA Draft Lottery…
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) May 12, 2024
It’s now happened to the Detroit Pistons TWO years in a row.
Incredible.
Pistons draft lottery results:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 12, 2024
2023:
— Highest odds of #1 pick
— Awarded the #5 pick
2024:
— Highest odds of #1 pick
— Awarded the #5 pick pic.twitter.com/zsFUm8sNwe
pistons fans watching their team have a historically bad season only to not even get a top 4 pick pic.twitter.com/xOKRY8hfeR
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) May 12, 2024
Imagine being a Pistons fan, watching your team go 14-68, and ending up with the 5th pick. Tough scene.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) May 12, 2024
31 combined wins over the past 2 seasons and 2 number 5 picks to show for it
— PistonsThoughts (@PistonsThoughts) May 12, 2024
Incredible
The Pistons will pick No. 5 in the 2024 NBA Draft.
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) May 12, 2024
Detroit had the worst record in the NBA, and in franchise history. Yet they are picking fifth for a third consecutive year. pic.twitter.com/KF2PRpVSI3
Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.