2014 NBA Draft Lottery: History of teams sitting at No. 8

The Detroit Pistons enter tonight's NBA Draft Lottery sitting in a precarious position. The draft is deep, the Pistons sit at No. 8 and if anyone vaults in front of them they have to surrender their pick to the Charlotte Bobcats Hornets as part of the Ben Gordon trade.

We've already discussed the draft lottery basics as well as the Pistons' history in the lottery.

It could either be a very good night for the Pistons, who stand to add a quality point guard or swing player via the draft, or a very bad night. Which makes one wonder, just how often does someone sitting at No. 8 in the lottery odds fall lower?

Luckily, the information is easy to find and, even better, the answer should make Pistons fans sit slightly easier as they wait for the lottery tonight. Unless, that is, you believe in jinxes, in which case you can all blame me for what I'm about to write.

The draft lottery began in 1985 and has had some form of weighted lottery odds since 1990. Via RealGM here is every instance of a team entering the Top 3 from a position ninth or lower.

So four times in the 29-year history has a team leaped in front of where the Pistons need to remain in order to retain their draft pick. So, as long as the lottery ball craziness confines itself to the first eight spots in the draft, everything is all good. Speaking of which, this begs the question, how often has a team in the No. 8 position jumped into the Top 3? I'm glad you asked!

In case you are wondering, those previous picks were Otto Porter (Washington), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland by way of L.A.), Tyson Chandler (L.A.) and Alonzo Mourning (Charlotte).