With John Wall representing his former team, the Washington Wizards won the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery and will be picking first overall in one of the most loaded draft classes in recent memory. They will now have their choice of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, or Cameron Boozer. Each of those premier prospects has sky-high potential, and the Wizards need to ensure they hit on whomever they decide to select.
This is the seventh time that the Wizards franchise will have the number one choice, which breaks the NBA record and ends a tie with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course, the last time the Wizards had the number one pick, they drafted Wall, so it was a full-circle moment when Wall was center stage as the ping pong balls went the way of the team that drafted him back in 2010.
Wall was productive as a Wizard, and expectations will be grand for whoever the team takes this year, but the Wizards have had a rocky relationship with the first overall pick. They've draft both superstars and massive draft busts before, but just who has gone 1-1 to Washington in the past?
1953: Baltimore Bullets – Ray Felix, Manchester British-Americans (ABL), C
The Baltimore Bullets competed in the American Basketball League from 1944 to 1947 and the Basketball Association of America from 1947 to 1949. When the BAA merged with the National Basketball League, the team officially became an NBA franchise in 1949. Unfortunately, their time in the NBA was short-lived and filled with losing. The organization would fold in 1954, but not until after taking two first overall selections. Now, the Wizards own all of the Bullets' history because the Bullets' name was revived in 1963, and the team relocated to Washington to become the Washington Bullets in 1973.
The draft sure was different back in the '50s. The lottery system fans know today was still decades away from being a reality. Back then, teams were allowed to forfeit their first-round pick and instead use a territorial selection, meaning they could draft a local player before the draft even began. Because of that, three players were already off the board by the time the Bullets picked first overall in 1953.
With the pick, they drafted Ray Felix, who became the first African-American drafted number one in league history. The Long Island University product didn't hail from a basketball program that is well-renowned today. He also left college in 1951 because of a point-shaving scandal and spent two years with the Manchester British-Americans of the ABL before being drafted to the NBA.
Felix was arguably the first great prospect to come out of New York City, the mecca of basketball. He earned Rookie of the Year and All-Star nods in his first season, which made him just the second African American All-Star ever. Unfortunately, that 17.6-point, 13.3-rebound season was far and away the best of his career. Baltimore traded him after that rookie campaign, and he was never quite the same player again. Felix is perhaps best known for being knocked out cold by a Bill Russell punch.
1954: Baltimore Bullets – Frank Selvy, Furman, SG
One year after drafting Felix and just months before the team folded, the Bullets again drafted first overall. This time, no territorial picks were made, so Baltimore had the authentic number one choice. Again, they took a player who would make the All-Star Game in year one, but one who wasn't long for Baltimore.
Frank Selvy was the choice. In college at Furman, he scored 100 points. While not as well-known as Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in the NBA, Selvy's performance still stands as a Division I record. Selvy averaged 22.1 points over 11 games with the Bullets before the team folded, which led to him playing for the Milwaukee Hawks.
The two-time NCAA scoring champion would go on to make one more All-Star appearance as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Like Felix, though, his numbers were a whole lot better with the Bullets than they were anywhere else. He averaged 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for his career. Selvy was drafted one pick before Bob Pettit, a two-time MVP and 11-time All-Star.
1961: Chicago Packers – Walt Bellamy, Indiana, C
While they hold the history of the Bullets, the Wizards franchise was officially established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers. As an expansion team, the Packers were awarded the first overall pick ahead of their very first season. The team selected Walt Bellamy, who was fresh off an iconic career at Indiana.
With the Hoosiers, Bellamy became the program's all-time rebounds leader, and he still holds the Big Ten Conference record for rebounds in a game (33), something he did in his final collegiate performance. Bellamy immediately made an impact at the NBA level. His rookie season is one of the best in history. He averaged 31.6 points and 19.0 rebounds per game, marks that rank second and third all-time among rookies.
Bellamy made four All-Star Games in total, which coincided with his four full seasons with the organization that drafted him. He is yet another example of someone who peaked early and had too short a prime, though. He famously played a record 88 regular season games during the 1968-69 season when he was traded from the New York Knicks.
1962: Chicago Zephyrs – Bill McGill, Utah, C
One year after becoming a team, the Chicago basketball program changed their name to the Zephyrs. Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas were already off the board as territorial picks, so the Zephyrs went with Bill McGill first overall in 1962. The Utah product was known for inventing the jump hook, and he averaged 38.8 points per game in his final collegiate season.
While the '60s were an era dominated by big men, drafting back-to-back centers with the number one pick proved to be a mistake. McGill was glued to the bench as Bellamy's backup. He averaged just 9.8 minutes and 7.4 points per game as a rookie. His numbers were even worse in year two. By that point, the Zephyrs had relocated to Baltimore and taken the Bullets' name back, and the team traded him to the Knicks.
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He found immediate success in New York, even averaging 16 points per game with the team. McGill was traded to the St. Louis Hawks the very next year, though, and his production dropped all the way to 2.3 points per game. A knee injury suffered in high school likely contributed to the downfall, and McGill was off to the North American Basketball League by 1964.
2001: Washington Wizards – Kwame Brown, Glynn Academy HS, C
The organization's fifth time holding the number one pick was their fourth time doing so with a different name. They were officially the Washington Wizards by 2001. The greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, was the one making the calls in Washington at this point.
He settled on Kwame Brown as the top choice. The high school center was a high-risk, high-reward prospect, but the late '90s and early 2000s were a time when tons of high school prospects were finding success at the NBA level. Brown was the first high schooler to actually go number one, though. Unfortunately, he became one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.
The lack of experience proved to be costly for Brown. His immaturity held him back, and he wasn't physically prepared to compete with NBA centers. Brown stuck around in the NBA until 2013, but he only once averaged double-digit scoring figures. The career 6.6 point-per-game scorer was traded from Washington to the Lakers after four seasons. His struggles even led Jordan himself to come out of retirement to try to save the team on the court himself.
2010: Washington Wizards – John Wall, Kentucky, PG
Mark Tatum the NBA Deputy Commissioner and Washington Wizard (left) guard John Wall pose for photos after Wizards won the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier.
David Banks-Imagn Images
The Wizards' most recent number one pick, John Wall, became one of the best players in franchise history. In 2010, the team selected the electric guard from Kentucky. Wall was an explosive dunker and a creative finisher around the rim. He could finish over or around the league's best rim protectors. He even popularized the 360 layup.
Wall would make five All-Star Games with the Wizards. His best season came in 2016-17, when he averaged 23.1 points per game. Unfortunately, injuries started to derail his career starting in 2017. He played just 147 games from 2017 to 2023, and he missed the entirety of two seasons during that span.
Even so, the former Dunk Contest champion was a revolutionary player who helped lift the Wizards out of a dark era. He brought entertainment and joy to Washington basketball, and it was a special moment when he represented the Wizards while they won the lottery yet again.
1951: Baltimore Bullets – Gene Melchiorre, Bradley, PG
It is worth noting that, while most sites consider the 2026 NBA Draft to be the seventh time that the Wizards franchise will select first overall, they technically did so for the first of eight times in 1951. As the Baltimore Bullets, the franchise took Gene Melchiorre, a 5-foot-8 point guard with blazing speed and impressive playmaking abilities.
However, Melchiorre was involved in a point-shaving scandal at Bradley that resulted in the NBA banning him for life. Melchiorre never suited up for Baltimore nor any other NBA team, and the league has practically erased his selection from history.
With John Wall representing his former team, the Washington Wizards won the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery and will be picking first overall in one of the most loaded draft classes in recent memory. They will now have their choice of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, or Cameron Boozer.