Wizards secure top pick in 2026 NBA draft lottery
wizards-secure-top-pick-2026-nba-draft-lottery
The Washington Wizards won the 2026 NBA draft lottery on Sunday at Chicago’s Navy Pier, claiming the No. 1 overall selection and becoming the first team with the league’s worst record to top the lottery in the current format.
Washington, which finished 18-64, was followed by the Utah Jazz at No. 2, the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 3 and the Chicago Bulls at No. 4. The Jazz, fined $500,000 earlier this season for conduct deemed detrimental to the league, moved up in the lottery for the first time in franchise history.
The Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets, who shared the best odds with the Wizards, slipped to fifth and sixth. Because Indiana’s pick landed outside the top four, it transfers to the Los Angeles Clippers under February’s trade that sent center Ivica Zubac to the Pacers; Indiana instead regains its protected 2031 first-rounder.
“It’s our fans that have endured the most,” Wizards top executive Michael Winger said after the draw. “This No. 1 pick is for them—a reward for hanging in there during a multiyear teardown.” Washington added All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis in mid-season trades and aims to accelerate its rebuild.
Prospects atop a celebrated class
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson are widely viewed as the leading candidates for the first pick. Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points as a freshman, the nation’s best mark, while Peterson posted 20.2 points but missed 11 games because of injuries.
Duke’s Cameron Boozer—son of former All-Star Carlos Boozer—and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson are projected to go third and fourth. Boozer put up 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 39.6% from three, and Wilson averaged 19.8 points with 9.4 rebounds despite hand injuries that shortened his season.
Dybantsa, Boozer, Wilson and several other potential first-rounders were on site for the television reveal. “I’m betting on myself to be the No. 1 pick,” Dybantsa said. Boozer noted the possibility of joining either the Bulls or Jazz, two of his father’s former teams, calling it “surreal.”
Change on the horizon
This lottery is expected to be the last under the current rules. The NBA’s Board of Governors will vote later this month on measures designed to curb tanking after two consecutive seasons of widespread roster stripping late in the year.
The 2026 draft takes place June 23, when Washington will make the franchise’s first No. 1 pick since selecting John Wall in 2010.
Source: ESPN
