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Everything to Know About the NBA Draft Lottery: How to Watch, Team Odds and More
The 2026 NBA draft lottery is almost here, which means you and a lot of basketball fans probably have a lot of questions about the annual event. We have the answers.
Last year, the Mavericks stunningly won the draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance of winning, and they used their pick on Duke product Cooper Flagg. What lucky—and unlucky—surprises could be in store for teams this May? Who are some of the top prospects expecting to hear their name called in the draft?
Here’s all you need to know about the NBA draft lottery.
When is the NBA draft lottery?
The 2026 NBA draft lottery will take place at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 10 in Chicago.
The lottery is over a month before the actual NBA draft, which will get underway in mid-June. The first round of the draft is on Tuesday, June 23 and the second round is on Wednesday, June 24.
How to watch NBA draft lottery
The draft lottery will be nationally broadcast on ABC and ESPN. You can live stream the event on FuboTV, DirecTV, YouTube TV and ESPN Unlimited.
What are each team’s odds?
The 14 teams that didn’t make the NBA playoffs are the lottery teams hoping to win the coveted No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. Here’s a table of those teams along with their lottery odds (read this for a more detailed breakdown of how teams’ odds are determined.)
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% |
For more in-depth reading, here’s our list of the five teams with the most at stake entering the draft lottery.
Who will represent each lottery team at the event?
Don’t expect to see any full-on NBA rosters out in Chicago for the draft lottery. Instead, each lottery team designates a lottery representative—anyone from a current player to a team exec to a franchise icon—who will be in attendance at the event and potentially appear on the stage.
Here’s a handy table of each team’s draft lottery representative in 2026:
Team | Lottery Representative |
|---|---|
Washington | John Wall (franchise legend) |
Indiana | T.J. McConnell (current player) |
Brooklyn | Vince Carter (franchise legend) |
Utah | Keyonte George (current player) |
Sacramento | Scott Perry (GM) |
Memphis | Tayshaun Prince (VP) |
Atlanta | Onsi Saleh (GM) |
Dallas | Rolando Blackman (franchise legend) |
Chicago | Toni Kukoč (special advisor to Bulls owner) |
Milwaukee | |
Golden State | Larry Harris (assistant GM) |
Oklahoma City | Nick Collison (special assistant to the GM) |
Miami | Alonzo Mourning (VP) |
Charlotte | Kon Knueppel (current player) |
Who are the top players in the draft?
So your team wins the No. 1 pick. Who are they going to select in the 2026 NBA draft?
SI’s Kevin Sweeney wrote up a mock draft last month that has BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson and Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. going in the top five.
Here’s a list of some of the top prospects who could hear their name called in June:
- AJ Dybantsa, BYU (F)
- Darryn Peterson, Kansas (PG)
- Cameron Boozer, Duke (F)
- Caleb Wilson, North Carolina (F)
- Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas (PG)
- Kingston Flemings, Houston (PG)
- Keaton Wagler, Illinois (PG)
- Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville (PG)
- Nate Ament, Tennessee (F)
- Brayden Burries, Arizona (SG)
- Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan (F)
- Koa Peat, Arizona (F)
- Aday Mara, Michigan (C)
- Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky (C)
- Labaron Philon, Alabama (PG)
- Karim Lopez, Mexico (F)
- Chris Cenac Jr., Houston (F)
- Hannes Steinbach, Washington (F)
- Bennett Stirtz, Iowa (PG)
- Cameron Carr, Baylor (SG)
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Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.