SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery will be the fifteenth consecutive lottery during which the Kings’ franchise will wait to hear their name called. It has been a decade and a half since Rick Adelman’s 2005-06 Kings made it to postseason play. Led by Kings legends Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic, the team lost in the first round in six games to the San Antonio Spurs.

But since the Arco Arena-era Kings, the franchise has not had a winning record. Ownership has changed – Vivek Ranadive took over in 2013 – and they have new digs – the downtown arena Golden1 Center opened prior to the 2016-17 season – but winning has not quite followed.

According to Basketball Reference though, the 2020-21 squad had the highest relative offensive rating (relative to other NBA teams) since the 50-win 2004-05 team and the highest offensive rating per 100 possessions in the franchise’s history.

The Kings also now boast an All-NBA Rookie in Tyrese Haliburton, the first-year guard from Iowa State who many analysts considered the steal of last year’s draft at No. 12 overall. Haliburton will be joined for the near future by speedster De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes and Marvin Bagley (team option) who will team up with this year’s lottery selection to try to improve upon their 31-41 record.

Monte McNair, the Kings’ general manager, will represent the franchise at Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery, which will air at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. McNair and the Kings have a 4.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, a 4.8% chance at the No. 2 pick, a 3.6% chance at the No. 3 pick and a 5.7% at the No. 4 pick.

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