For the sixth (and hopefully final) year in a row, the Spurs are a part of the NBA Draft Lottery. It has certainly paid off, as all but one of their five lottery picks — Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Victor Wembanyama (ROY) and Stephon Castle (ROY) — are still with the Spurs and have the potential to be long-term pieces for them, and this year they have two lottery picks in a very deep class, headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg. Here is how you can watch and all you need to know.

How to watch

When: Monday, May 12, 2025, 6:00 PM CT

Where: ESPN

How does the lottery work?

You can read the entire process at NBA.com, but here is the gist of it:

Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams. The lottery machine is manufactured by the Smart Play Company, a leading manufacturer of state lottery machines throughout the United States. Smart Play also weighs, measures and certifies the ping-pong balls before the drawing.

The drawing process occurs in the following manner: All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and they are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is removed. The remaining balls are mixed in the lottery machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the third ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the fourth ball is drawn. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The same process is repeated with the same ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second through fourth picks.

What picks do the Spurs own, and what are their odds?

The Spurs own their own first round pick and the Atlanta Hawks’, which was acquired via the Dejounte Murray trade. (They had lottery-protected rights to the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls’ first round picks, but they were both traded away when the Spurs acquired De’Aaron Fox back in February, and neither would have convey as first round picks to the Spurs this season anyways since both teams failed to make the playoffs.) Ahead of the lottery, their own pick currently holds the 8th best odds of being picked first, while the Hawks’ pick sits at 14th after losing a coinflip to the 13th place Kings in a tie-breaker.

Here are the odds that each team in the lottery will pick top overall:

Utah Jazz (17-65) regular-season record): 14%
Washington Wizards (18-64): 14%
Charlotte Hornets (19-63): 14%
New Orleans Pelicans (21-61): 12.5%
Philadelphia 76ers (24-58): 10.5%
Brooklyn Nets (26-56): 9%
Toronto Raptors (30-52): 7.5%
San Antonio Spurs (34-48): 6%
Houston Rockets (pick via Phoenix Suns): 3.8%
Portland Trail Blazers (36-46): 3.7%
Dallas Mavericks (39-43): 1.8%
Chicago Bulls (39-43): 1.7%
Sacramento Kings (40-42): 0.8%
San Antonio Spurs (pick via Atlanta Hawks): 0.7%

Also, here is their odds of landing in each slot courtesy of Tankathon:

Their best odds are to land where they currently sit, and they can’t pick any higher than 8th or 14th unless the lottery blesses them with a top 4 pick. The Hawks pick will either be 14th or top 4, and the Spurs’ pick can range anywhere from 8-12 or top 4. (In other words, if you don’t hear Hawks at 14th or the Spurs between 12th and 8th, they will have a top 4 pick.) Overall, the 8th pick stands a 26.3% chance of moving to the top 4, while the 14th pick has a 3.4% chance, so they actually have almost a 30% chance of receiving a top 4 pick, which isn’t bad, all things considered.

Once we know where the Spurs will pick, we will have draft prospect reviews here at Pounding the Rock, but if you want to get out ahead and start learning some names, you can check out the players invited to the Draft Combine.