Biggest Winners and Losers from 2026 NBA Draft Lottery
The 2026 NBA Draft lottery is in the books. And we can now start to imagine specific destinations for incoming potential superstars like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson.
Following Sunday's drawing, the order heading into the draft is set:
The results gave us some obvious winners and pretty big losers. And we're ready to break it all down below.
Winner: Memphis Grizzlies (No. 3 Pick)
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After trading Desmond Bane last offseason and Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline, the Grizzlies moved up three spots on Sunday and now have a chance to add Dybantsa, Boozer, Peterson or Wilson to a core that already includes Cedric Coward and Zach Edey.
Given the versatility of Coward and any of those four incoming players, the Grizzlies can't really go wrong on draft night.
And honestly, with the strength of this class, being third might have some small advantage over going first or second. Those decisions will be tough, and coming in after them means the Wizards and Jazz will have done a little legwork for Memphis and taken two options off the board.
In other words, the decision will have mostly been made for the Grizzlies, making it tougher to blame them if things go wrong.
Moving into the top three should also clarify where Memphis stands with Ja Morant. It was already likely to trade him if or when the right deal came along, but this bit of good fortune should accelerate that process.
The Ja era is over. And it's time to embrace a full rebuild around Coward, Edey and whoever falls to the Grizzlies at No. 3.
Loser: Sacramento Kings (No. 7 Pick)
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The Sacramento Kings entered 2025-26 with Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and delusions of playoff contention dancing in their heads.
But when things unsurprisingly went haywire during the season, instead of leaning into a tank, Sacramento played DeRozan in 77 games and was just competent enough to avoid a bottom-three record and a better-than-50-percent chance at a top-four pick.
Instead, the Kings entered the lottery with a 45.2 percent chance to get there, dropped two spots and will pick in the middle of a lottery that might've finally delivered them a franchise cornerstone.
Winner: Chicago Bulls (No. 4 Pick)
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The Bulls, on the other hand, picked a lane, unloaded Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, angled for better lottery odds during the back end of the season and made the biggest jump (five spots) on lottery day.
Going fourth means they'll likely end up with Boozer or Wilson, both of whom are versatile enough to play either frontcourt position alongside Matas Buzelis.
And of course, Chicago has even more of the grace described in Memphis' slide, since only one member of the consensus top four will be on the board when it picks.
Loser: Brooklyn Nets (No. 6 Pick)
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The Nets kept all five of their first-round picks from last year, played them over 900 minutes each during the regular season, finished with a bottom-three record (thus, securing the best possible odds for the No. 1 pick) and tumbled three spots down to sixth.
For a team without an obvious "face of the franchise" candidate on the roster, ending that sequence of events outside the top five is a massive loss.
Still, every year provides a handful of good players and even some potential stars later in the lottery.
Perhaps the basketball gods are just making Nets fans wait just a bit longer before delivering such a player to develop alongside Egor Dёmin.
Winner: Utah Jazz (No. 2 Pick)
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For years, the Jazz have famously had some of the very worst lottery luck in the league. And while some of the fans are probably bummed to have missed out on the top spot by one pick, they did move up and now look primed to add one of Peterson, Boozer, Wilson or Dybantsa (who seems likeliest if Washington doesn't take him).
Regardless of whose name is called at that spot, Utah will be adding a potential superstar to a young core that already includes Keyonte George, Ace Bailey and Walker Kessler. And those prospects will have a relatively soft landing spot with veterans like Lauri Markkanen and JJJ on the team, too.
Two-track rebuilds have sort of a checkered history, but the Jazz suddenly have a very intriguing group of younger players who could be getting developmental minutes for a team competing for a play-in spot.
Loser: Indiana Pacers (Lost Draft Pick)
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There's really no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster for the Indiana Pacers.
They and their fans suffered through a 19-63 "gap year" without Tyrese Haliburton, wagered the pick that should've been the product of all that record in a trade and lost big time.
Had it stayed in the top four, Indiana would've kept it. It's fifth, which means the Clippers will make the selection.
What they got in return is Ivica Zubac, a solid center who should fit well with Haliburton. But he's almost 30 and has just one accolade (a 2024-25 All-Defense nod) to his name. He's certainly not the potential superstar Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer and Wilson are.
If Haliburton is healthy for 2026-27, the Pacers should be competitive. But adding a top-four pick from this class would've supercharged their long-term outlook.
Winner: LA Clippers (No. 5 Pick)
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It still feels like there's an axe hanging over the LA Clippers that could include the forfeiture of this pick for circumventing the salary cap. But for now, L.A. is on the board at No. 5.
For a team whose post-Kawhi Leonard future looked pretty murky a few months ago, this is a massive win.
The Clippers now have 26-year-old Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin's restricted free agency this summer and whoever they take fifth.
It's obviously not an Oklahoma City Thunder-level refresh or anything, but there's more of a long-term identity than L.A. would've had without the Zubac deal.
Losers: The Long-Odds Dreamers
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The teams that wound up with the four or five worst records in the league this season were far from the only ones that prioritized losing over the last few months.
And while the long odds they entered the lottery with don't give them much reason to gripe, not moving up still has to sting a bit.
The Bucks, who may soon be forced to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, certainly would've felt better about their future if they'd moved up. Mavericks fans would've been thrilled to pair one of this class' potential stars with Cooper Flagg. And without a top-four pick, it's hard to imagine the aging Warriors being much different than they were in 2025-26.
Winner: Washington Wizards (No. 1 Pick)
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The Washington Wizards have spent much of the last four decades as an NBA doormat. Among the 30 franchises with at least 1,000 games, they're 25th in all-time winning percentage.
With all due respect to Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, and Bilal Coulibaly, the rebuild they're currently in hasn't really yielded any certain future stars.
But over the last several months, they bought low on Trae Young and Anthony Davis. And now they can supplement that duo with their pick of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer or Wilson.
In the East, that could be enough talent to instantly vault the Wizards back into play-in contention. And meaningful basketball in his rookie season could accelerate the development of whoever Washington takes first overall.
Winning this lottery dramatically improves both the short- and long-term prospects of a franchise that desperately needed that improvement.
