The NBA conducted its tiebreakers for the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday, settling ties for the No. 4, No. 8, No. 11, No. 19, No. 21 and No. 25 picks. The tiebreakers are determined by a coin flip.
The New Orleans Pelicans entered the day in a three-way tie for the No. 8 slot in the lottery with the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings. The Pelicans finished last in the tiebreaker, falling to No. 10 with the Bulls getting the No. 8 pick and the Kings the No. 9 pick.
In the 10th slot, the Pelicans will have a 20.3% chance of jumping into the top four and a 4.5% chance of landing the No. 1 pick.
Recent No. 10 draft picks include Phoenix’s Mikal Bridges, Portland’s C.J. McCollum and Los Angeles’ Paul George. The Pelicans have drafted 10th overall just once, selecting Austin Rivers in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Currently, the Pelicans are slated to have five draft picks in the 2021 NBA Draft – their lottery pick, the 34th pick from the Cavaliers, their own 38th pick, the 43rd pick from the Wizards and the 53rd pick from the Mavericks.