It’s not exactly seventh heaven.
The pingpong balls didn’t go the Knicks’ way in Tuesday’s NBA tiebreaker drawing, meaning the jinxed club will be seeded seventh in the May 16 draft lottery.
The Timberwolves won the drawing, televised live by NBATV, as their pingpong ball popped out of the machine and into the hands of NBA executive Kiki Vandeweghe. It gave Tom Thibodeau’s team the sixth seed.
If the Knicks don’t move up into the top three, they most likely will pick seventh in the NBA Draft. They now have a 79.8 percent chance of selecting either seventh or eighth — a 57.2 percent chance of sticking at No. 7 and a 22.6 percent chance of falling back one spot (with a minimal chance of slipping as low as No. 10).
Last Wednesday’s last-second victory over Philadelphia tied them with Minnesota for sixth-worst record — which cost them pingpong balls.
The total number of pingpong balls for the sixth seed and seventh seed are combined and divided evenly, giving the Knicks and the Timberwolves each an 18.3 percent chance at a top-three pick and a 5.3 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. If the Knicks had lost their finale to the Sixers, they would have had a 6.5 percent chance at No. 1 and 21.5 percent at the top three.
The top three picks are expected to be a pair of point guards — Markelle Fultz of Washington and Lonzo Ball of UCLA — and Kansas small forward Josh Jackson, who could replace Carmelo Anthony.
If the Knicks wind up at No. 7 in the June 22 draft, they probably lose a shot at either of Kentucky’s star guards, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, who don’t project to get past No. 6 in most mock drafts.
The Knicks would be heavily in the mix for 18-year-old, 6-foot-5 French point-guard prospect Frank Ntilikina, who is playing in the French League and won’t be back to the US until late May. The Knicks aren’t permitted to work out underclassmen or international prospects until late April. The Knicks also have two second-round picks, Nos. 44 and 58.
The Knicks have scouted Ntilikina in France.
“He’s a killer,’’ former Knicks European scout Tim Shea told The Post. “Definitely a lottery pick, top seven. Right now he’s a backup, but he can get out there and he’d be great for Kristaps [Porzingis]. He’d be happy to see him, too.’’
The Knicks had four European players on the roster last season.
“He’s got big hands, quick hands who gets steals, passing ability,’’ said Shea, who lives in Spain and works for the analytics consulting firm GSA. “He doesn’t have his shot 100 percent yet — it’s still developing. It’s good, not great — but he’s a point guard, intelligent on the floor.’’
At a season-ending press conference Friday, team president Phil Jackson said, “It’s a lottery, so whenever there’s a lottery, there’s always a chance we’ll move up or we could move back, as we found out a couple of years ago.”
Two years ago, the Knicks were the second seed and fell to the No. 4 pick as Minnesota secured No. 1 after an epic tank in the final weeks, supplanting Jackson’s team. Falling to fourth, however, turned out to be fortunate because the Knicks were in position to select Porzingis.
Now, despite two promising seasons, Porzingis is unhappy with the franchise. He blew off his exit meeting Friday, and told The Post he has no interest in sitting on the lottery dais because he’ll be home in Latvia.