CHICAGO (AP) — The league’s worst team this season is getting the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
The Washington Wizards won the draft lottery on Sunday and are poised to pick No. 1 overall for the first time since choosing John Wall in that spot in 2010. Wall was the Wizards’ on-stage representative for the lottery.
The Phoenix Suns were not eligible for a lottery pick, which is those Nos. 1-14, because they made the playoffs after winning a play-in game. Having traded away their first-round pick (No. 16 to Memphis Grizzlies) entirely, their only pick is slotted for No. 47 via the Philadelphia 76ers.
ADVERTISEMENT
Washington had a 14% chance of winning No. 1, tied with Brooklyn and Indiana for the best odds. The Wizards had basically a 50-50 chance of getting either a top-four pick or the No. 5 spot.
But three consecutive years of losing — the three worst seasons in the franchise’s 65-year history — finally paid off Sunday for the Wizards, who went 17-65 this season and even allowed Miami’s Bam Adebayo to score 83 points for the league’s second-highest single-game total ever.
The Wizards swung deals to land Trae Young and Anthony Davis last season, and now they have a chance to add an immediate impact player with the No. 1 pick.
Utah will pick No. 2, Memphis will pick No. 3, Chicago will pick No. 4.
The draft begins June 23 in New York. The draft combine in Chicago starts on Monday.
No. 1 pick possibilities
There are four candidates that generally are considered front-runners to be the No. 1 pick, all of them entering the draft after their freshman years of college. They are:
— BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game in his lone college season.
— Duke’s Cameron Boozer, the AP player of the year who averaged 22.5 points and 10.1 rebounds.
— Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, who averaged 20.2 points in 24 games for the Jayhawks.
— North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, who averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds on 58% shooting.
All four of those players, and a few other likely first-round selections, were all among those in the studio for the announcement of the lottery results Sunday at Chicago’s Navy Pier.
“Standing here is kind of crazy,” Dybantsa said. “One of these teams is going to be home.”
Full 2026 NBA draft lottery order
Washington Wizards
Utah Jazz
Memphis Grizzlies
Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers
Brooklyn Nets
Sacramento Kings
Atlanta Hawks
Dallas Mavericks
Milwaukee Bucks
Golden State Warriors
Oklahoma City Thunder
Miami Heat
Charlotte Hornets
Last of this format (probably)
This was the eighth, and likely final, year of this version of an NBA draft lottery, with the worst teams having a 14% chance of winning.
ADVERTISEMENT
Framework fell into place last month on changes meant to further discourage tanking, and the league’s Board of Governors is expected to ratify that plan in the next few weeks — with general managers meeting in Chicago on Tuesday to discuss them presumably for one last time.
The three worst teams, starting next season, would have a 5.4% chance of winning — with the next seven teams all having an 8.1% chance of winning. The lottery would grow from 14 to 16 teams if the plan, as expected, is approved.