Wizards win NBA Draft lottery, land No. 1 pick

The Wizards converted a 14% shot into the No. 1 pick and, in a few sealed minutes in Chicago, changed the shape of the 2026 draft. Washington finished 17-65 and will pick first overall for the first time since selecting John Wall in 2010, with Wall back on stage as the team’s representative when the lottery numbers were revealed.

The lottery was held at McCormick Place in Chicago and aired at 3 p.m. ET on ABC and the ESPN App, but the real stakes went far beyond the broadcast. The top tier of this class is widely viewed as unusually strong, with BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke big man Cameron Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson all mentioned as candidates who could credibly shape a franchise. For Washington, the prize is not only access to the best player in the class, but the leverage that comes with controlling a draft where the first pick could set off a chain reaction of trade calls and roster recalculations.

The result also underscored how much the league has tried to dull the incentive to bottom out. The NBA’s 2019 reform flattened the odds: before the change, the bottom three teams had a 60.5% chance at No. 1 and teams in the 5-14 range had 27.6%. Under the current system, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%. This year’s lottery was framed as the final one under the current format before another possible tweak aimed at further discouraging tanking, a sign that the league still sees the lottery as a pressure point in the competition for high draft position.

The rest of the board carried immediate consequences for teams tied to traded picks. Utah moved up to No. 2, Memphis landed No. 3 and Chicago got No. 4. The Clippers’ pick fell to No. 5 through a trade with Indiana, and Oklahoma City owns that selection through its own deal. Brooklyn slid to No. 6, Sacramento to No. 7, Atlanta to No. 8, Dallas to No. 9, Milwaukee to No. 10, Golden State to No. 11, Oklahoma City to No. 12, Miami to No. 13 and Charlotte to No. 14. Atlanta will receive the more favorable of the Bucks and Pelicans picks, while Milwaukee gets the less favorable one.

The draft itself is set for June 23-24 in New York, and Washington now sits at the center of the market. A franchise that spent the season in the league’s basement suddenly controls the most valuable asset in the room, and that changes what every front office around it is willing to discuss.