Frequently Asked Questions
Every team in your lottery is assigned a number of "lottery balls." The more balls a team has, the higher their chance of getting an earlier pick. We offer four weight modes so you can choose the fairness model that fits your league.
Equal Odds
Every team gets exactly 1 ball, giving everyone an identical chance at the first pick. Best for leagues that want pure randomness with no advantage based on standings.
View 10-team example
| Standing | Balls | 1st Pick Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 2 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 3 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 4 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 5 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 6 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 7 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 8 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 9 | 1 | 10.0% |
| Team 10 | 1 | 10.0% |
NBA-Style
Modeled after the official NBA Draft Lottery. The worst teams get the most balls, with the bottom 3 teams having a flat (equal) top tier, then a steep drop-off. Weights are interpolated from the real 14-team NBA odds to fit any league size. Great for rebuilding leagues where the worst teams need the most help.
View 10-team example
| Standing | Balls | 1st Pick Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Team 1 (worst) | 140 | 19.6% |
| Team 2 | 140 | 19.6% |
| Team 3 | 127 | 17.8% |
| Team 4 | 100 | 14.0% |
| Team 5 | 78 | 10.9% |
| Team 6 | 57 | 8.0% |
| Team 7 | 35 | 4.9% |
| Team 8 | 19 | 2.7% |
| Team 9 | 12 | 1.7% |
| Team 10 (best) | 5 | 0.7% |
Linear
A straightforward approach: the worst team gets N balls (where N is the number of teams), the second-worst gets N-1, and so on down to 1 ball for the best team. The advantage is spread more evenly than NBA-Style — every position matters.
View 10-team example
| Standing | Balls | 1st Pick Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Team 1 (worst) | 10 | 18.2% |
| Team 2 | 9 | 16.4% |
| Team 3 | 8 | 14.5% |
| Team 4 | 7 | 12.7% |
| Team 5 | 6 | 10.9% |
| Team 6 | 5 | 9.1% |
| Team 7 | 4 | 7.3% |
| Team 8 | 3 | 5.5% |
| Team 9 | 2 | 3.6% |
| Team 10 (best) | 1 | 1.8% |
Custom
Full control for the league commissioner. Manually assign any number of lottery balls to each team. This lets you create your own weighting system — for example, giving extra balls to teams that had bad injury luck, or implementing your league's own formula.
Pick Range Constraints
Want to guarantee the worst team picks in the top 3? Or prevent any team from falling past 8th? Pick range constraints let you lock teams into specific draft position ranges. The algorithm automatically adjusts the odds using Monte Carlo simulation so you see the real probabilities — not just raw lottery ball percentages.
Try it free: Sign in on the Generate page and set one constraint on the first team at no cost. To constrain multiple teams, upgrade to Pro ($3.99 for 30 days).
See how constraints shift the odds
Example: 10-team NBA-Style league where Team 1 (worst record) is constrained to picks 1–3 only.
| Team | Balls | Base Odds | Pick Range | Adjusted Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 (worst) | 140 | 19.6% | 1–3 | ~35% |
| Team 2 | 140 | 19.6% | Any | ~17% |
| Team 3 | 127 | 17.8% | Any | ~16% |
| Team 4 | 100 | 14.0% | Any | ~12% |
| Team 5 | 78 | 10.9% | Any | ~9% |
| Team 6 | 57 | 8.0% | Any | ~5% |
| Team 7 | 35 | 4.9% | Any | ~3% |
| Team 8 | 19 | 2.7% | Any | ~2% |
| Team 9 | 12 | 1.7% | Any | ~1% |
| Team 10 (best) | 5 | 0.7% | Any | ~0.4% |
Adjusted odds are estimated via Monte Carlo simulation (3,000+ runs). Since Team 1 must land in picks 1–3, their first-pick probability jumps from 19.6% to roughly 35%, while other teams' #1 odds decrease slightly.
What Happens After Each Pick?
This is the part that trips people up. The lottery doesn't draw all picks at once — it works one pick at a time. After each pick, the winning team's balls are removed from the pool and everyone else's odds go up.
Here's a step-by-step example using NBA-Style weights in a 10-team league:
Step 1: Drawing the 1st pick
All 713 balls are in the pool. Team 1 (worst record) has 140 balls, giving them a 19.6% chance. Team 10 (best record) has 5 balls — just 0.7%.
Let's say Team 4 wins the 1st pick (they had a 14.0% chance).
Step 2: Drawing the 2nd pick
Team 4 is out. Their 100 balls are removed, leaving 613 balls in the pool. Everyone else's ball count stays the same, but the total pool is smaller — so their odds increase:
| Team | Balls | 1st Pick Odds | 2nd Pick Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 (worst) | 140 | 19.6% | 22.8% |
| Team 2 | 140 | 19.6% | 22.8% |
| Team 3 | 127 | 17.8% | 20.7% |
| Team 4 | 0 | 14.0% | — |
| Team 5 | 78 | 10.9% | 12.7% |
| Team 6 | 57 | 8.0% | 9.3% |
| Team 7 | 35 | 4.9% | 5.7% |
| Team 8 | 19 | 2.7% | 3.1% |
| Team 9 | 12 | 1.7% | 2.0% |
| Team 10 (best) | 5 | 0.7% | 0.8% |
Step 3: Repeat until done
This process repeats for each pick. Every time a team is drawn, their balls leave the pool and the remaining teams' odds recalculate. By the final pick, only one team is left — they get the last spot automatically.
The key takeaway: your odds for a later pick are always better than the first-pick percentage suggests, because teams drawn before you shrink the pool.
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