Last year, the Dallas Mavericks had a 1.8% chance of securing the top pick. The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery odds eventually tilted in their favor, and they swooped in with Cooper Flagg, who also won the ROTY award. This year, there wasn’t a big change in the race for the top spot. To secure the best odds, several teams had tried their ‘best’ tanking efforts. The Commissioner, Adam Silver, even levied fines of $500,000 on the Utah Jazz and $100,000 on the Indiana Pacers for “conduct detrimental to the league”. Only one of the two teams benefited, while the other got no shine from the lottery odds. Here’s what transpired on May 10.

Full draft order after the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery

The highly anticipated 2026 NBA Draft Lottery took place on Sunday, and the Washington Wizards had a 14% chance to win and got the No. 1 pick. The Utah Jazz, which had the fourth-best odds, ended with the No. 2 selection. Memphis, initially outside the top five, will now pick third, while the Chicago Bulls also jumped into the top four. Now, the rest of the “lottery teams” are positioned five through 14, in reverse order of their 2025-26 regular-season records. Similarly, the second round (No. 31-60) is determined by the reverse order of their records. Here’s a complete breakdown of all the picks.

First Round

1. Washington

2. Utah

3. Memphis

4. Chicago

5. LA Clippers (from Indiana)

6. Brooklyn

7. Sacramento

8. Atlanta (from New Orleans)

9. Dallas

10. Milwaukee

11. Golden State

12. Oklahoma City (from the LA Clippers)

13. Miami

14. Charlotte

15. Chicago (from Portland)

16. Phoenix (to Memphis from Orlando)

17. Philadelphia (to Oklahoma City)

18. Orlando (to Charlotte from Phoenix)

19. Toronto

20. Atlanta (to San Antonio)

21. Minnesota (to Detroit)

22. Houston (to Philadelphia from Oklahoma City)

23. Cleveland (to Atlanta)

24. New York

25. Los Angeles Lakers

26. Denver

27. Boston

28. Detroit (to Minnesota)

29. San Antonio (to Cleveland from Atlanta)

30. Oklahoma City (to Dallas from Washington and Philadelphia)

Second Round

31. New York (from Washington via Oklahoma City and Houston)

32. Indiana (to Memphis from Milwaukee)

33. Brooklyn

34. Sacramento

35. San Antonio (from Utah via Minnesota)

36. LA Clippers (from Memphis via Atlanta and Utah)

37. Oklahoma City (from Dallas)

38. Chicago (from New Orleans via Boston, Detroit, and Portland)

39. Houston (from Chicago via Washington)

40. Boston (from Milwaukee via Orlando)

41. Miami (from Golden State via Charlotte, New York, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta)

42. San Antonio (from Portland via New Orleans)

43. Brooklyn (from the LA Clippers via Houston)

44. San Antonio (from Miami via Indiana)

45. Sacramento (from Charlotte via San Antonio, Atlanta, and New York)

46. Orlando

47. Phoenix (from Philadelphia via Houston and Oklahoma City)

48. Dallas (from Phoenix via Washington)

49. Denver (from Atlanta via Brooklyn and Golden State)

50. Toronto

51. Washington (from Minnesota via Detroit and New York)

52. LA Clippers (from Cleveland)

53. Houston

54. Golden State (from the Los Angeles Lakers via Toronto, Miami, and Cleveland)

55. New York

56. Chicago (from Denver via Minnesota, Phoenix, Charlotte, and Phoenix)

57. Atlanta (from Boston)

58. New Orleans (from Detroit via New York, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Orlando, and the LA Clippers)

59. Minnesota (from San Antonio via Indiana)

60. Washington (from Oklahoma City via San Antonio and Miami) Related

Winners of the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery

Clearly, the Washington Wizards are the winners of the 2026 NBA draft lottery. They had their former top pick, John Wall, as a representative at the event. Their having the worst record in the NBA at 17-65 culminated in them securing the top spot. Even their recent roster planning has turned into a huge hit. They brought in veterans Trae Young and Anthony Davis and have young pieces in Alexandre Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Tre Johnson.

Similarly, the Utah Jazz had to pay a fine for allegedly tanking, but they got what they wanted in the end. They already have solid young pieces in Lauri Markkanen, Ace Bailey, and center Walker Kessler. Plus, they also added Jaren Jackson Jr., and pairing a No. 2 pick alongside would go a long way in bringing stability. The Memphis Grizzlies also jumped three spots from #6 to #3, and with the rumors of a Ja Morant trade, they can now find another cornerstone. Apart from them, the Chicago Bulls saw the biggest jump as they entered with the ninth-best odds to sneak into the top four.

The Indiana Pacers’ gamble for the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery utterly failed

Just like the Jazz and Wizards, the Pacers made a trade to acquire a veteran and hoped the 2026 NBA draft lottery would go their way. Indiana acquired center Ivica Zubac by sending Bennedict Mathurin alongside their 2026 first-round pick with top-four protections. In theory, they had a 52% chance of remaining in the top four, and the plans were drawn so that Zubac would pair with any top-4 star. But the gamble failed, and the president apologized to their fans.

“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Kevin Pritchard, the Pacers president, posted after the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck.” They lost a franchise-altering asset, as the gamble on probability didn’t work in their favor: the Clippers now hold their #5 pick, and the Pacers don’t hold any first-round selections.

Similarly, even the Brooklyn Nets got the short end of the stick. They had the same odds as the Wizards and the Pacers for the #1 pick, but they ended up with the #6 pick. Even last year, they fell to #8. The Sacramento Kings, who were tied with Utah for the worst record in the Western Conference in the 2025-26 season, had contrasting lottery results. The Jazz got #2, while the Kings will select #7.

Another team that will miss the first round completely is the New Orleans Pelicans. They made this decision last year when they traded their first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks to acquire Derik Queen (the 13th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft). Interestingly, they also controlled the Pacers’ #5 pick, which is now the Clippers’. So, there is a scenario in which the Pelicans would’ve had the No. 5 and No. 8 picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.

The potential #1 pick for the 2026 NBA Draft

The Wizards now control the board with the #1 pick, for the first time since 2010, when they selected John Wall. The Kentucky guard is even today revered in the franchise’s history, and they have a chance to select a player with similar hype again. For some time now, the consensus #1 has been BYU’s AJ Dybantsa. And the Wizards better have a solid reason if they are to trade him after the draft, as he has the tools of a really solid wing player.

The 19-year-old led the nation with 25.5 points per game and, with a size advantage, often creates his own shots. He played against some top defenses and still finished at 51.0% from the field. His 33.1% from deep remains to be desired, but with veterans around him, the development path looks promising on paper.

Dybantsa will likely walk into a franchise that has to climb a steep slope. The Wizards have not won at least 50 games in a season since 1978-79, back when it was known as the Bullets, and have not reached the Eastern Conference finals since 1979.

The 2026 NBA Draft will take place on June 23-24, 2026, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first round will be held on Tuesday, June 23 (8 p.m. ET on ABC & ESPN), and the second round will be on Wednesday, June 24 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).