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CHICAGO — The Wizards won the NBA tank war—and were rewarded with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Washington will pick No. 1 in the 2026 NBA draft after finishing with a league-worst 17–65 this year. The Wizards had a 14% chance of winning the lottery, tied with the Pacers and Nets for the best odds at winning the draft.
The Wizards swapped with the Pacers and Kings for the league’s worst record for most of the season, but lost 24 of their final 25 games to lock in the top spot.
Wizards president Michael Winger told reporters after the lottery that winning the No. 1 pick doesn’t “accelerate” a rebuild because the team was already set to compete next year after acquiring All-Star Trae Young from the Hawks in January, then Anthony Davis from the Mavericks in February. (Young played just five games after he was acquired, while Davis has yet to play a game in a Wizards uniform.)
“I think it’s just another opportunity to add another high-level player to the group,” Winger said.
Washington also had the best odds of winning the draft the last two seasons, finishing a combined 50–196 over the last three years. They had the No. 2 pick in 2024 and chose Alex Sarr. They fell to No. 6 last year and took Tre Johnson.
Winger said he didn’t expect to land the No. 1 pick just based on simple math, but he said the lottery luck is a reward for their teardown over the last few seasons.
“It is certainly rewarding to know that the work we put in and the risks that we took to have the opportunity to draft high over a period of years could potentially be rewarded with this pick,” Winger said. “But ultimately, we still have to draft the right player. We still have to raise that player.”
The Jazz, who had the fifth-best odds, won the No. 2 pick. The Grizzlies will pick No. 3 after having the sixth-best odds. The Bulls made the biggest leap of the afternoon, jumping to No. 4 after having the ninth-best odds.
Indiana and Brooklyn both fell outside the top four.
The Pacers traded a top-four protected pick in this draft to the Clippers in exchange for Ivica Zubac. Because Indiana fell to No. 5, Los Angeles will be the pick. The Nets will select No. 6.
One team that didn’t jump up received some reaction from inside the draft lottery venue at Chicago’s Navy Pier.
The defending champion Thunder, who are a win away from advancing to the Western Conference finals, had the 12th-best odds at the No. 1 pick—and a 7.1% chance of moving into the top four. The pick came from the Clippers in the trade that also sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Oklahoma City.
Audible sighs of relief were heard around the room when the Thunder stayed put at No. 12, though they will also have the No. 17 pick and will be a threat to consolidate their assets with huge paydays set for their big three.
The 2026 NBA rookie class has been touted as one of the best classes in recent years, particularly because of an impressive top three: BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, and Duke big man Cameron Boozer. In recent weeks, UNC forward Caleb Wilson has started to work his way into the mix, turning a prized trio into a coveted foursome.
After several years of blatant tanking, the NBA has been exploring changes to the lottery rules as early as next season. Late last month, ESPN reported that the NBA proposed a “3–2–1 lottery” system that would expand the lottery to 16 teams (from 14) at a board of governors meeting.
