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2026 NBA Draft Lottery Results: What It Means for Wizards, Pacers
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The Wizards will continue their franchise makeover during the 2026 NBA draft after they won the lottery on Sunday.
After trading for Trae Young and Anthony Davis during the season, Washington will now have the right to select a player like BYU’s AJ Dybantsa or Kansas guard Darryn Peterson. After having the worst record in the NBA this season at 17–65, the Wizards had the best odds to land the top pick at 14.0%. It paid off. Meanwhile, the two other teams with 14.0% odds, the Pacers and Nets, fell out of the top four.
Adding the top player in a deep draft to a roster that includes All-Stars like Young and Davis, plus Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson is a huge boost. Johnson was the No. 6 pick in last year's draft, while Sarr was the second pick in the 2024 draft, and George went 24th that year. Sarr averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds this season, while George averaged 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists, and Johnson averaged 12.2 points while hitting 35.8% from three-point range.
Suddenly, in the span of a few months, the Wizards have gone from a perennial lottery team to having a playoff-ready roster.
The full draft lottery results are below.
- 1. Washington Wizards
- 2. Utah Jazz
- 3. Memphis Grizzlies
- 4. Chicago Bulls
- 5. Los Angeles Clippers (from Pacers)
- 6. Brooklyn Nets
- 7. Sacramento Kings
- 8. Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans)
- 9. Dallas Mavericks
- 10. Milwaukee Bucks
- 11. Golden State Warriors
- 12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
- 13. Miami Heat
- 14. Charlotte Hornets
The Pacers faced the biggest blow of lottery bad luck. With star Tyrese Haliburton sideline for the season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, they slogged their way to a 19-63 record. They appeared poised to add a high draft pick to an already good lineup. But at the trade deadline, they decided to gamble. They sent two first-round picks and a second-rounder to L.A. in exchange for center Ivica Zubac. They put protection on their 2026 first-rounder, and if it landed in the top four, Indiana would keep it. It was the fifth pick.
The Clippers now have a top-five pick while the Pacers are left with nothing to show for their brutal season. It was a gamble on a good player in Zubac, but they were hoping to double dip by landing him and keeping the pick. L.A.’s pick will replace the No. 12 pick they sent to the Thunder in what has turned out to be an awful trade for Paul George.
The Bulls and Grizzlies both had serious lottery luck as well. Chicago had a 5.7% chance of landing the No. 4 pick and got it, while the Grizzlies had a 9.4% chance of landing No. 3 and pulled it off.
The Nets had some terrible luck as they had 14.0% odds of landing the top pick after finishing 20–62, but fell all the way to No. 6.
Full first round order for 2026 NBA draft
PICK | TEAM | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
1 | Washington Wizards | |
2 | Utah Jazz | |
3 | Memphis Grizzlies | |
4 | Chicago Bulls | |
5 | Los Angeles Clippers* | From Indiana |
6 | Brooklyn Nets | |
7 | Sacramento Kings | |
8 | Atlanta Hawks* | from New Orleans |
9 | Dallas Mavericks | |
10 | Milwaukee Bucks | |
11 | Golden State Warriors | |
12 | Oklahoma City Thunder* | from L.A. Clippers |
13 | Miami Heat | |
14 | Charlotte Hornets | |
15 | Chicago Bulls* | from Portland |
16 | Memphis Grizzlies | from Phoenix via Orlando |
17 | Oklahoma City Thunder* | from Philadelphia |
18 | Charlotte Hornets* | from Orlando via Phoenix |
19 | Toronto Raptors | |
20 | San Antonio Spurs* | from Atlanta |
21 | Detroit Pistons | from Minnesota |
22 | Philadelphia 76ers | from Houston via OKC |
23 | Atlanta Hawks* | from Cleveland |
24 | New York Knicks | |
25 | Los Angeles Lakers | |
26 | Denver Nuggets | |
27 | Boston Celtics | |
28 | Minnesota Timberwolves* | from Detroit |
29 | Cleveland Cavaliers* | from San Antonio via Atlanta |
30 | Dallas Mavericks* | from Oklahoma City via Washington and Philadelphia |
Review our live coverage of the lottery below.
Live updates: Tracking the results of the 2026 NBA draft lottery
Odds for every team to win the 2026 NBA draft lottery
As mentioned above, the three teams with the best odds to win the No. 1 pick are the Wizards, Pacers and Nets. Not too far behind them are the Jazz and Kings, who finished the 2025–26 campaign with identical 22–60 records.
Two teams that made the playoffs are in the draft lottery due to trades. The Hawks own the Pelicans’ pick (due to last year’s Derik Queen trade) and the right to swap with the Bucks. And, in a scenario that should strike fear into the hearts of all other 29 teams, the reigning champion Thunder own the Clippers’ pick due to the Paul George trade from 2019.
The team with the slimmest chances to earn a top-four pick is the Hornets, who finished the 2025–26 campaign with a 44–38 record and lost to the Magic in the play-in tournament.
Seed | Team | Record | Odds of a Top Four Pick | Odds of No. 1 pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Washington | 17-65 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
2 | Indiana | 19-63 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
3 | Brooklyn | 20-62 | 52.1% | 14.0% |
4 | Utah | 22-60 | 45.2% | 11.5% |
5 | Sacramento | 22-60 | 45.2% | 11.5% |
6 | Memphis | 25-57 | 37.0% | 9.0% |
7 | Atlanta (via NO) | 26-56 | 29.3% | 6.8% |
8 | Dallas | 26-56 | 29% | 6.7% |
9 | Chicago | 31-51 | 20.3% | 4.5% |
10 | Milwaukee | 32-50 | 13.9% | 3.0% |
11 | Golden State | 37-45 | 9.4% | 2.0% |
12 | Oklahoma City (via LA Clippers) | 42-40 | 7.1% | 1.5% |
13 | Miami | 43-39 | 4.8% | 1.0% |
14 | Charlotte | 44-38 | 2.4% | 0.5% |
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Tom Dierberger is the Deputy News Director at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor’s in communication from St. John’s University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.
Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a season as senior college football writer at Athlon Sports and previous three-year run at SI as a writer and editor for the Breaking and Trending News team. When he’s not watching a game, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater. Dan has a bachelor’s degree in writing and rhetoric from Syracuse.
Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.
Kevin Sweeney is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college basketball and the NBA draft. He joined the SI staff in July 2021 and also serves host and analyst for The Field of 68. Sweeney is a Naismith Trophy voter and ia member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.