Getty Images Cade Cunningham #2 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys
The draft order will be decided as teams test their luck and cross their fingers for a top pick in the NBA Lottery on Tuesday night.
The lottery show starts at 8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. But if you don’t have cable, here are some different ways you can watch a live stream of the lottery online:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You need to log-in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Fubo credentials to do that.
Sling TV
ESPN is included in Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” bundle. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest long-term streaming service with ESPN, and you can get your first month for just $10:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You need to log-in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Sling credentials to do that.
Vidgo
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 65+ other TV channels on Vidgo. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but you can get your first month for just $10:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can watch the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery live on the Vidgo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Vidgo website.
AT&T TV
AT&T TV has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN is included in every one, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You need to log-in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your AT&T TV credentials to do that.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You need to log-in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Hulu credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
NBA Draft Lottery 2021 Preview
The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, but the teams left on the outside looking in will get a chance to see what their future holds at the Draft Lottery, which will decide where the bottom 14 teams will pick. Here’s how it works, per the NBA:
Drawings will be conducted to determine the first four picks in the NBA Draft. The remainder of the “lottery teams” will select in positions five through 14 in inverse order of their 2020-21 regular-season records.
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 Rockets, Piston and Magic finished as the bottom three teams in the NBA last season, so each will have a 14% chance of landing the top overall pick. The league changed the format in 2017 in an effort to stop tanking, at least to the extent it was happening.
Here’s the full odds and records from last season for the 14 teams picking, via NBA.com
| Team | Record | Top 4 | Top Overall | |
| 1 | Houston Rockets | 17-55 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
| 2 | Detroit Pistons | 20-52 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
| 3 | Orlando Magic | 21-51 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
| 4 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 22-50 | 45.1% | 11.5% |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 22-50 | 45.1% | 11.5% |
| 6 | Minnesota Timberwolves → Golden State Warriors* | 23-49 | 37.2% | 9.0% |
| 7 | Toronto Raptors | 27-45 | 31.9% | 7.5% |
| 8 | Chicago Bulls → Orlando Magic* | 31-41 | 20.3% | 6.0% |
| 9 | Sacramento Kings | 31-41 | 20.3% | 4.5% |
| 10 | New Orleans Pelicans | 31-41 | 20.3% | 4.5% |
| 11 | Charlotte Hornets | 33-39 | 8.5% | 4.5% |
| 12 | San Antonio Spurs | 33-39 | 8.0% | 1.8% |
| 13 | Indiana Pacers | 34-38 | 4.8% | 1.7% |
| 14 | Golden State Warriors | 39-33 | 2.4% | 0.5% |
*Minnesota’s pick owed to Golden State is top-three protected
*Chicago’s pick owed to Orlando is top-four protected
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham is the assumed top pick, leading a strong selection of players expected to come out of the top five slots. Cunningham averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his one and only season with the Cowboys.
Other names of note in this year’s draft include Evan Mobley (USC), Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga), Jalen Green (G League Ignite) and Jonathan Kuminga (G League Ignite).
Each team at the lottery also gets a representative at the lottery. The Rockets are hoping Hakeem Olajuwon can bring them some luck, while the Pistons will send Ben Wallace. The Magic kept it simple and sent President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman to represent the team.