The lottery formula was as follows - each team started with three balls in the lottery drum. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick (a previous draft lottery win) over the last four years, a team lost one ball. But each team was guaranteed to have at least one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft.

Note: The draft order numbers shown reflect each team's position based on the final standings prior to that year's draft lottery and does not reflect trades made. Draft lottery winners are noted (*), since they lost a ball in the 2005 lottery formula.