2026 NBA Draft Lottery: odds, date, time, top prospects, how it works, future format

The NBA Draft Lottery is less than a week away. The Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets each have the highest odds — 14% — in the lottery to land the No. 1 pick in what is expected to be a loaded draft. Recent years also have seen a number of teams jump bottom of the lottery into the top three of the draft, including the Dallas Mavericks, who won the lottery last year and earned the right to take the future Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg.

The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the best record for the second season in a row, could even win the lottery. They own the Los Angeles Clippers’ pick courtesy of the Paul George trade.

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This figures to be the final NBA Draft Lottery in its current format before the league likely puts a new system in place for next season in an effort to reduce teams tanking for better odds. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 including, the top prospects.

NBA mock drafts: 3.0 • 2.0 • 1.0 | NBA Draft combine participants

When and what time is the NBA Draft Lottery?

The lottery is at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, May 10. It will be at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center and coincides with the draft combine.

Where is the NBA Draft Lottery streaming?

It will be on ABC, ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.

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NBA Draft Lottery odds to land the No. 1 pick

The 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs have a chance to land the No. 1 pick. The teams that finished with the three-worst records — Washington, Indiana and Brooklyn — each have the highest odds (14%) at winning the No. 1 pick.

Here are the odds for every team in the draft lottery, based on team records at the end of the regular season. Teams that finished the season with identical records had their draft order determined by a random drawing.

Record: 17-65
Odds for No. 1 pick: 14%

Record: 19-63
Odds for No. 1 pick: 14%

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Due to the Ivica Zubac trade with the Clippers, if the Pacers’ pick lands between the 5-9 spots on lotto night, it will go to L.A.

Record: 20-62
Odds for No….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2026-nba-draft-lottery-odds-date-time-top-prospects-how-it-works-future-format-195213064.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-05 19:52:00

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