Jackpot: Wizards land top pick in NBA draft lottery for first time since 2010

The Washington Wizards will pick first in next month’s NBA draft after winning Sunday’s lottery. Washington entered the drawing tied for the best odds — a 14% chance — to land the top pick for the first time since selecting John Wall first overall in 2010.

Wall was on stage in Chicago to represent the Wizards for the lottery festivities. The hope, at least among the Wizards’ success-starved fans, was that Wall could be a good-luck charm. 

It worked.

Washington landed the No. 1 pick and will have the opportunity to add an impactful rookie who could shape the franchise’s future. 

The Wizards were already tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the most No. 1 picks in NBA history. Next month’s top selection will be Washington’s seventh.

“Today is another encouraging day for Wizards fans and our entire organization,” team president Michael Winger said in a statement. “To choose first among this inspiring group of athletes is a welcomed opportunity, and challenge, for our group.  We look forward to adding another high-performing young player to our ascending team.”

Top picks aren’t a guaranteed hit, though. Long-time Wizards fans already knew that. 

Before Wall, the Wizards selected Kwame Brown with the No. 1 selection in 2001. Brown was hand-selected by then-part-owner and president of basketball operations Michael Jordan. But the forward never lived up to his draft status or the potential that “His Airness” saw. 

The Wizards traded Brown after four underwhelming seasons, where he averaged just 7.7 points per game. 

Washington’s die-hards are hoping their new addition is more like Wall and less like Brown. 

“It’s our fans that have endured the most,” Winger said. “And to me, this No. 1 pick is for them. It’s a reward for hanging in there with us. It’s a reward to continue to support us despite sometimes really bad basketball. They knew and they supported a multiyear teardown, a multiyear reinvention of the franchise.”

The Utah Jazz will pick second, followed by the Memphis Grizzlies and the Chicago Bulls, who jumped into the top four. The Brooklyn Nets dropped to the sixth pick despite entering the lottery tied for the best odds to land the No. 1 selection. 

The Los Angeles Clippers got the fifth pick, followed by No. 6 Brooklyn, No. 7 Sacramento, No. 8 Atlanta, No. 9 Dallas, No. 10 Milwaukee, No. 11 Golden State, No. 12 Oklahoma City, No. 13 Miami and No. 14 Charlotte.

The Clippers gained the fifth spot from the Indiana Pacers due to the Ivica Zubac deal at the trade deadline. The Pacers came into the lottery tied for the best odds after having only 19 wins.

The Wizards, despite years of dwelling at the bottom of the NBA’s standings, have failed to land the top pick in recent drafts. They got close, using the No. 2 pick in 2024 to add center Alex Sarr and the No. 6 selection on guard Tre Johnson last year. 

In an effort to buck that trend, Washington sent Wall to Chicago.

“This is another step in our journey,” Wizards coach Adam Keefe said. “Obviously, it’s a great day and we’re looking forward to going through the process and finding who we’re going to take with that pick, but I’m just thrilled for everybody that works with the organization and most importantly the community.”

Recent draft classes have been dominated by clear-cut top prospects that inflate the value of the No. 1 pick. Victor Wembanyama in 2023 and Cooper Flagg in 2025 were obvious choices among groups that lacked broader star power. 

The 2026 crop of prospects is different. This year’s class is widely seen as a three-man race for the top spot. Each player is expected to compete for Rookie of the Year honors and could dictate his franchise’s future in the coming years. 

BYU’s AJ Dybantsa is widely considered the likely top pick, but Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson aren’t far behind. 

Dybantsa was a first-team All-American and the nation’s leading scorer during his lone season with the Cougars. 

“Standing here is kind of crazy,” Dybantsa, who attended the lottery drawing, said. “One of these teams is going to be home.”

Peterson’s potential has been widely lauded after he averaged 20.2 points per game, though nagging issues with cramps limited his minutes and games played. Boozer was named the Naismith Player of the Year after leading the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight appearance before declaring for the draft. 

The pressure was also amplified at this year’s lottery amid the league’s announced plans to limit tanking. The team-building strategy has run rampant in recent years, as franchises intentionally field uncompetitive lineups to lose games and boost their lottery odds. 

The NBA made its first concerted effort to punish tanking teams in February when it fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 for benching their best players during close games. The Indiana Pacers received a $100,000 fine at the same time. The league hasn’t served any other punishments in the intervening three months.

“We are going to fix it. Full stop,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in March. “And I want to say that directly to our fans.”

The Wizards appear to have picked the right year to end their tank. The franchise appears to be set up to abandon its tanking ways next season after adding All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis via trade this season. The top pick, whether it’s Dybantsa, Boozer or Peterson, could be enough to give the Wizards their first postseason trip since 2021.

“They could be a team that I feel should be in playoff contention next year,” Wall said.

NBA officials began proposing a new lottery format to its general managers this spring, according to multiple reports. The revised set-up, termed the “3-2-1” proposal, would punish teams for finishing at the bottom of the league. 

Teams that finish with the fourth-to-tenth-worst records would have three balls in the lottery pool. The three worst teams, along with squads that qualify as the ninth and tenth seeds for the play-in tournament, would have only two lottery balls. The losers of the seven-eight play-in matchup would earn a single lottery ball. 

Teams would also be prohibited from earning the top pick in back-to-back or a top-five selection in three straight years. The revised system would give seven teams an 8.1% chance to secure the top pick.

The NBA draft is scheduled to begin on June 23.

This article is based in part on wire service reports.