Two teams that took steps at the trade deadline to add veteran talent so they wouldn’t tank next season — then glued those guys to the bench for the rest of this past season, ensuring they would tank this year — were rewarded by the basketball gods with the top two picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Washington Wizards — who traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis at the trade deadline, then basically benched them and had the worst record in the NBA this past season — won NBA Draft Lottery and now have the No. 1 pick in next’s month’s deep NBA draft.
Utah jumped up to No. 2 pick after trading for (and sitting) Jaren Jackson Jr. for the stretch run of the season. The Jazz can now add an elite player — likely Kansas point guard Darryn Peterson — next to Keyonte George with a front court of Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler. Even in the West, that lineup is going to win some games.
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The Memphis Grizzlies jumped up to the No. 3 pick with the sixth-best odds, and the Chicago Bulls jumped from ninth to fourth.
That means the Sacramento Kings and the Brooklyn Nets — two teams that didn’t tank but were just bad and needed talent — fell in this draft.
Here is how the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery shook out:
1. Washington Wizards
2. Utah Jazz
3. Memphis Grizzlies
4. Chicago Bulls
5. LA Clippers (via Indiana Pacers)
6. Brooklyn Nets
7. Sacramento Kings
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. Dallas Mavericks
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Golden State Warriors
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via LA Clippers)
13. Miami Heat
14. Charlotte Hornets
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Some other notes on how the NBA Draft lottery broke down.
• This is the second year in a row that the team with Anthony Davis on their roster got the No. 1 pick.
• This is the first time the Wizards have selected No. 1 since they took John Wall back in 2010 — and Wall represented them on stage Sunday.
• Most teams have BYU’s AJ Dybantsa at the top of their board. If that’s the case in Washington, next season they could start Young, Kyshawn George (or Bilal Coulibaly), Dybantsa, Davis and Alex Sarr — that’s a quality starting five that could make some noise in the East.
• Memphis and Chicago jumping up can help them get players to start the retooling (or, for Memphis, rebuilding) that will come.
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• The LA Clippers get a big win as they get set to retool for whatever is next (and whatever happens with Kawhi Leonard this summer). The Clippers should be able to land a top point guard — Kingston Flemmings, Darius Acuff Jr. — to be part of the foundation going forward.
• Not ideal for Indiana, but they got Ivica Zubac to be the big they need with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton next season. That team will be a contender, they just are not adding a top-four pick.
• Oklahoma City — the defending champions who are undefeated in these playoffs (7-0) after winning 64 games this season, will have two first-round draft picks, Nos. 12 and 17, both via trade. Sam Presti is a wizard.
• Charlotte, coming off a breakout season after drafting Kon Knueppel No. 4 a year ago, will have two first-round picks, Nos. 14 and 18. They are just getting deeper and better.
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• Atlanta has two picks as well, Nos. 8 and 23; while Dallas has 9 and No. 30.
• This is the last time we will see this NBA Draft Lottery format. Whatever comes forward next season — the league appears to be leaning toward a modified “3-2-1″ system with 18 teams in the mix — it will be different. For better or worse. (You can be sure Adam Silver and the league will take a victory lap about how there is less, if any, tanking next season, but that is far more about the quality and depth of the draft than the lottery system.)
• Here is what the rest of the first round looks like:
15. Chicago Bulls (via Portland)
16. Memphis Grizzlies (via Phoenix)
17. Oklahoma City (via Philadelphia)
18. Charlotte Hornets (via Orlando)
19. Toronto Raptors
20. San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta)
21. Detroit Pistons (via Minnesota)
22. Philadelphia 76ers (via Houston)
23. Atlanta Hawks (via Cleveland)
24. New York Knicks
25. Los Angeles Lakers
26. Denver Nuggets
27. Boston Celtics
28. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Detroit)
29. Cleveland Cavaliers (via San Antonio)
30. Dallas Mavericks (via Oklahoma City)
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• The NBA Draft occurs on June 23-24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
