The NBA’s 2025-26 play-in tournament settled several key questions about this year’s draft order, moving the league one step closer to a finalized 2026 board.
Lottery landscape unchanged
Although lower seeds captured three of the six play-in matchups, the clubs that finished seventh and eighth in both conferences ultimately claimed the final playoff spots. The lone standings change came in the West, where Portland’s upset of Phoenix flipped the Trail Blazers and Suns.
With that result, the provisional lottery lineup remains identical to Monday’s post-season finish. Washington holds the best odds for the No. 1 pick, followed by Indiana (pick owed to the Clippers if it lands outside the top four), Brooklyn, Utah, Sacramento, Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, Milwaukee, Golden State, the L.A. Clippers (pick owed to Oklahoma City), Miami and Charlotte.
Two tiebreakers still pending
Random drawings scheduled for Monday will separate:
- Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings (22-60)
- New Orleans Pelicans vs. Dallas Mavericks (26-56)
The Utah-Sacramento winner is guaranteed a top-eight selection, protecting the Jazz’s pick from conveying to the Thunder. The Pelicans-Mavericks tiebreaker adds one extra lottery ball for the victor and determines how far each pick can fall.
Protected-pick clarity
The play-in also resolved several conditional first-rounders:
- Trail Blazers → Bulls: Portland’s playoff berth triggers conveyance of its top-14-protected pick; Chicago will receive No. 15.
- 76ers → Thunder: Philadelphia’s postseason entry guarantees Oklahoma City the top-four-protected pick, projected between 16 and 18 after tiebreakers.
- Clippers → Thunder: Regardless of L.A.’s finish, the selection was headed to OKC; the loss to Golden State keeps it in the lottery with a 7.2 percent chance of jumping into the top four.
- Pacers → Clippers: Indiana’s pick conveys only if it lands outside the top four.
- Jazz → Thunder: Utah sends its pick to OKC if it falls outside the top eight.
- Pelicans/Bucks ↔ Hawks/Bucks: Atlanta will receive the more favorable of the two selections, leaving the less favorable one for Milwaukee.
Post-lottery portion of Round 1
Subject to upcoming tiebreakers, the current order for non-lottery teams is:
- Chicago (via Trail Blazers)
- Memphis (via Magic) *
- Charlotte (via Suns) *
- Oklahoma City (via 76ers) *
- San Antonio (via Hawks) *
- Toronto
- Detroit (via Timberwolves)
- Atlanta (via Cavaliers) *
- Philadelphia (via Rockets) *
- Los Angeles Lakers
- New York Knicks
- Denver Nuggets
- Boston Celtics
- Minnesota (via Pistons)
- Cleveland (via Spurs)
- Dallas (via Thunder)
* Memphis could swap Orlando’s pick with Phoenix’s depending on Monday’s drawing; both selections fall between Nos. 16 and 18.
The NBA will conduct all remaining tiebreakers Monday and release a complete pre-lottery draft board for both rounds shortly afterward.
Source: Hoops Rumors
