There are two rounds in the draft. The first round features 30 picks and the second round has 29. There are typically 30 picks per round, but the New York Knicks were docked their 2025 second-rounder after the league found they had tampered with Jalen Brunson leading up to 2022 free agency.

Two years ago, San Antonio won THE lottery and drafted Victor Wembanyama. Last season, the Spurs drafted fourth and took Stephon Castle out of UConn, who went on to win Rookie of the Year.

The 82 games the Toronto Raptors played between late-October and early-April were a prelude to Monday’s NBA Draft Lottery. With expectations low and winning largely incidental, those games were mostly about evaluating the Raptors’ young players.