Gearing up: New Bucks owners in the Big Apple Tuesday for NBA Draft Lottery

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Hard to believe it -- but a big part of the Milwaukee Bucks' future depends on the way ping pong balls bounce in Tuesday's NBA Draft Lottery.

The Milwaukee Bucks are entering a new era -- under the ownership of Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry.

On Tuesday night, May 20th, like everybody else, they'll be watching the bouncing ping pong balls in New York -- hoping for a lucky bounce.

Indeed -- because the Bucks had the dubious distinction of finishing with the worst record this past season, they have the best odds among the 14 teams in this year's NBA lottery of gaining the top pick with a 25 percent chance.

Next, come the Philadelphia 76ers at 19.9 percent, the Orlando Magic at 15.6 percent -- on down to the Phoenix Suns at 0.5 percent.

There may not be any franchise players -- a la Lew Alcindor. The Bucks won a coin flip for the man now know as Kareem Abdul Jabar in 1969.

However, there are plenty of prizes in this year's draft -- potential All-Star performers.

Duke's Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins out of Kansas, Jayhawks big man Joel Embiid, Kentucky's Julius Randle -- maybe even Australian teen phenom Dante Exum -- take your pick!

But here's the rub. You have to go back to 2004 for the last time the team with the worst record actually won the lottery.

Orlando chose Dwight Howard.

The year before that, Cleveland lucked out with LeBron James.

Since the weighted system was introduced 24 years ago, the team with the best chance has won the lottery just three times.

Milwaukee has won the lottery twice -- in 1994 when they chose Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, and in 2005 when they selected seven-foot center Andrew Bogut.

In 1994, the Bucks jumped three spots from fourth for Big Dog.

They soared from sixth in '05 to get Bogut.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has sent his son to the podium at the draft lottery twice -- in 2011 and 2013.

Talk about a good luck charm! The Cavs won the first overall pick in both of those years.

Perhaps taking a page from Gilbert, new Bucks co-owner Wes Edens will have his 18-year-old daughter Mallory on stage for Tuesday night's draft lottery.

The Bucks have a nearly 46.5 percent chance of drafting one or two, and a better than 64 percent chance of getting one of the top three picks.

They are guaranteed one of the top four.