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Mathematics

As StR's resident mathematician, I have put it upon myself to give everyone the real draft odds.  The main problem with the percentages given for the second and third picks is that they don't take into account the loss of combinations from the team that won the first pick and second pick.

Firstly, the 1st overall pick odds are correct as no team has been eliminated we have an exactly 25.0% chance of landing the first pick.

The second pick is where it gets slightly more complicated, here are all the different odds we have of winning the second pick determined by who took the first pick: 31.2%, 29.6%, 28.4%, 27.4%, 26.7%, 26.1%, 25.7%, 25.4%, 25.3%, 25.2%, 25.18%, 25.15%, 25.13%.  The percentages are ordered by the biggest losers, thus 31.2% coincides with the Wizards, 29.6% with the Clippers, and so on down the line.  Obviously, you want a team as close to your lottery combinations as possible to get lucky.  Eliminating a hundred plus combinations greatly enhances the Kings possibility of winning the second pick.

The third pick percentages are again determined by the winners of the first two picks.  There are 91 different combinations and even though I am bored at work, I am not quite that bored.  The range in %'s go from 38.8% (Was/Lac) to 25.3% (Indy/Phx) again like the second pick you want the highest possible amount of combinations to be eliminated in order to insure the greatest % of landing the third pick.

The moral of all this math is pretty straight forward, if on lottery day one of the teams from the back jumps into the lottery, our chances drop immensely of getting a top 3 pick. Conversely, if a team near us gets lucky, we have a better chance of moving out of the 4th pick.

 

It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like I got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
but only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
sixty-nine billion in the last twenty years
spent on national defense but folks still live in fear

 

 

(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)

6 recs  |  Comment 16 comments

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I love the song and idea

So what you’re saying is, is that the team with the highest amount of chances to win doesn’t get but a 6% increase in odds of winning that pick correct?

Evil Cowtown Inc: Screwin' Suckaz over since Nineteen Eighty-Five.....

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....

by pookeyguru on Apr 29, 2009 10:27 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

OK.

Basically it is better to be jumped by a team with a bad record than a team with a good one.

by mayfieldcol on Apr 29, 2009 10:57 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Precisely.

There now I've met the 75 word count. -pookeyguru

by moproblemz on Apr 29, 2009 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Is that

Immortal Technique?

Hope

by Ultrakingsfan on Apr 29, 2009 11:28 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Are you talking about the Song?

It’s Mathematics by Mos Def.

Evil Cowtown Inc: Screwin' Suckaz over since Nineteen Eighty-Five.....

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....

by pookeyguru on Apr 29, 2009 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Which also popped in my head

reading the headline of the fan post. Brilliant, mo.

by LPKingsFan on Apr 29, 2009 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Very depressing

Before the start of the draft there is a 35.7% chance that we get the 4th pick. But if we miss out on the #1 & #2 picks our chances of getting the #4 pick jump up to between 61.2% & 74.7%.

Please dont try to help us understand better. It just makes me sick to my stomach.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom

by HighTops on Apr 29, 2009 11:57 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

On the other hand

Look at the “bright” side: if we missed out on the 1 or 2 picks, we would’ve already found that out before the teams that lucked out are announced… :P

by hungrydog on Apr 30, 2009 8:43 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Good stuff

Thanks for breaking it down, even if it is potentially depressing.

I’d prefer it if our odds for winning the second pick were 0%, since we’d just won the first pick. But that’s just me…

Never forget: I am a complete idiot

by Exhibit G on Apr 29, 2009 12:15 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Here's some real mathematics for you

There’s 100% chance we’re getting the 4th pick. Haven’t we been over this?

by Aykis16 on Apr 29, 2009 1:03 PM PDT reply actions   1 recs

Since I skipped the 3rd paragraph with all the numbers in it (I'm not that bored) I'm just gonna believe you

and when I go to bed tonight I’ll go to sleep knowing that there isn’t a dang thing I can do to influence the outcome of the lottery. Good work (I assume).

"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley

by Bluejohn on Apr 29, 2009 4:09 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Simple question from a simple mind

The percentages of each pick are individual – how much does the cummulative percentage effect outcome?

Chance of #1 = 25%
Chance of #2 = 31.2% or 25.13% or is it a 56.2% or 50.13% chance of 1 or 2?
Chance of #3 = 38.8% or 25.3% or is it a 95% or 75.43% chance for 1,2 or 3?
Chance of #4 = 100% as odds are discarded (game over).

by betweentheeyes on Apr 29, 2009 7:07 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

hope moproblemz doesn't mind me jumping the gun and answering the question

31.2%/25.13% is the probability we’d get the second pick provided that some other team got the first pick. Given that another team got the first pick, the probability of us getting the first pick is obviously 0. So it’s the former and not the latter.

by hungrydog on Apr 30, 2009 8:47 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

once again, I am laid bare by logic

I sometimes think I have more brown matter than grey matter encased in my bonedome.

by betweentheeyes on Apr 30, 2009 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

This makes my head hurt

So imitate the action of the tiger!.
- lend the eye a terrible aspect
and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii

by lietothegirls on Apr 30, 2009 9:39 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

3rd Pick

Hasheem Thabeet

Kings rule! (They are royalty - right?)

by dalt99 on Apr 30, 2009 4:11 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

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