2026 NBA Draft order, lottery odds: Wizards, Pacers and Nets have best shot at No. 1 pick

NBA Draft Lottery odds will be set on Sunday night as the regular season wraps up

Sam Quinn

Apr 12, 2026

10:43 am ET

•

9 min read

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The 2025-26 NBA regular season will officially come to a close on Sunday night. It means the postseason bracket is about to be set, and it also means a good chunk of June's draft order is about to be locked in place. So, what do we know now?

- The lottery slots and odds for the five worst teams in each conference. While the lottery itself will not come until May, the Bucks, Bulls, Wizards, Nets, Pacers, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Jazz, Kings and Hawks (via Pelicans) all know where they'll start on lottery night. The Wizards secured the worst record in the league. Washington has a 14% chance at the No. 1 overall pick and will pick no lower than fifth in June.

- The top-six playoff seeds in each conference all locked into place as well as none of the top six in either conference have a worse record than a Play-In team in the other conference.

- The eight Play-In teams will slot somewhere between No. 11 and No. 18, with the four Play-In losers joining the lottery pool in reverse order of record while the four winners will pick between No. 15 and No. 18 in reverse order of their records.

So where does that leave us? Below is the NBA Draft order as of now, with the final order coming after the lottery next month on May 10.

Note: All tiebreakers are determined via a random drawing that is set to be held later in April.

2026 NBA Draft order, lottery odds

Lottery SlotRecordLottery Odds1. Washington Wizards

17-64

14%

2. Indiana Pacers

19-62

14%

3. Brooklyn Nets

20-61

14%

4. Utah Jazz

22-59

11.5%

4. Sacramento Kings

22-59

11.5%

6. Memphis Grizzlies

25-56

8.3%

6. Dallas Mavericks

25-56

8.3%

8. Atlanta Hawks (via Pelicans)*

26-55

6.0%

9. Chicago Bulls

31-50

4.5%

10. Milwaukee Bucks*

32-49

11. Golden State Warriors

37-44

12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Clippers)

41-40

1.5%

13. Miami Heat

42-39

14. Charlotte Hornets

43-38

0.5%

-------- End of lottery --------

15. Chicago Bulls (via Trail Blazers)

41-40

N/A

16. Memphis Grizzlies (via Suns)

44-37

N/A

16. Oklahoma City Thunder (via 76ers)

44-37

N/A

18. Toronto Raptors

45-36

N/A

18. Charlotte Hornets (via Magic)

45-36

N/A

20. San Antonio Spurs (via Hawks)

46-35

N/A

21. Detroit Pistons (via Timberwolves)

48-33

N/A

22. Atlanta Hawks (via Cavaliers)

51-30

N/A

22. Philadelphia 76ers (via Rockets)

51-30

N/A

24. Los Angeles Lakers

52-29

N/A

25. New York Knicks

53-28

N/A

25. Denver Nuggets

53-28

N/A

27. Boston Celtics

55-26

N/A

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Pistons)

59-22

N/A

29. Cleveland Cavaliers (via Spurs)

62-19

N/A

30. Dallas Mavericks (via Thunder)

64-17

N/A

*The Hawks will receive the higher pick between the Pelicans and Bucks. If the Bucks give their pick to the Hawks, they will receive the Pelicans' spot in the lottery.

On a number of levels, 2026 stands to be one of the most significant NBA Drafts in recent memory. The 2026 class is considered one of the strongest in league history, with prospects like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson pegged as future stars since their high school days and later risers like Darius Acuff and Caleb WIlson making similar cases for themselves throughout their lone collegiate seasons.

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Meanwhile, the 2027 and 2028 draft classes aren't nearly as highly regarded. If you want to get an impact player in the draft, now seems to be the time to do it. Even if those classes were stronger, the NBA is poised to institute significant draft reform this offseason due to the tanking epidemic that has swept through the league this season, with many of those lottery teams seemingly built around intentional losing for the sake of draft position. That may not be an option moving forward, so with the 2026 draft still coming, let's look at what this draft means for the 10 teams we know to be in the lottery.

What's at stake in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery?

In addition to the circumstantial stakes at play in June's draft, each individual team in the mix is relying on a lucky lottery night for specific reasons related to their roster-build:

- The Pacers took an enormous risk when they traded their top-four protected 2026 first-round pick in a package for Ivica Zubac. With Tyrese Haliburton coming back, the Pacers likely won't have another shot at a high draft pick for a long time. However, having lost Myles Turner in free agency, the Pacers needed to spend big to get a suitable replacement at center. The Zubac trade was their attempt at splitting the difference. If the pick lands in the top four, they get the best of both worlds: a high-end center and a top rookie. Tha