the draft lottery took place during the playoffs on may 16, 2017. the 53–29 boston celtics, who were also the #1 seed in the eastern conference and reached the eastern conference finals at the time of the nba draft lottery, won the #1 pick with pick swapping rights thanks to a previous trade with the brooklyn nets, who had the worst record the previous season. the los angeles lakers, who had risked losing their 2017 first round pick to the philadelphia 76ers, moved up two spots to get the no. 2 pick, while philadelphia moved up to receive the no. 3 pick due to the sacramento kings moving up in the draft, which activated pick swapping rights the 76ers had from an earlier trade. on june 19, four days before the nba draft began, the celtics and 76ers traded their top first round picks to each other, meaning the holders of the top four picks of this year's draft would be exactly the same as the previous year's draft.