So you're saying there's a chance? Raptors have 1% shot at top pick in NBA draft

The NBA draft lottery has offered teams a quick path from bad to good for nearly four decades. The stakes this year are unusually high with French phenom Victor Wembanyama the top prospect.

The lottery format has undergone a few changes since the New York Knicks won the first one in 1985, when there were seven teams.

There are twice as many lottery teams now, all hoping, like the Knicks did when they drafted Patrick Ewing, to have luck strike at the right time and land the player who can turn around a franchise.

The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Spurs all have a 14 per cent chance of getting him, but there will be 14 teams at the McCormick Place Convention Center that have hopes.

The league will hold this year's lottery Tuesday night in Chicago, with the winner getting the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama. He is considered the best prospect in years — perhaps since LeBron James went No. 1 20 years ago. The lottery telecast begins at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN and during the televised portion, Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum opens envelopes that reveal the draft order. Neither he nor any of the representatives on stage will know the results until then.

The most coveted prospect in this year's draft will not be there. Wembanyama plays his last regular-season game for his pro team in France on Tuesday, a few hours before the lottery.

All the teams that missed the postseason are in the Wembanyama Sweepstakes. In addition to Houston, Detroit, and San Antonio, the list includes Charlotte, Portland, Orlando, Indiana, Washington, Utah, Dallas, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Toronto and New Orleans.

Per Tankathon, the Raptors, currently slotted 13th, own a 1 per cent chance of landing the top pick and a 4.7 percent