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Two teams that took steps at the trade deadline to add veteran talent so they wouldn’t tank next season — then glued those guys to the bench for the rest of this past season, ensuring they would tank this year — were rewarded by the basketball gods with the top two picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Washington Wizards — who traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis at the trade deadline, then basically benched them and had the worst record in the NBA this past season — won NBA Draft Lottery and now have the No. 1 pick in next’s month’s deep NBA draft.
Utah jumped up to No. 2 pick after trading for (and sitting) Jaren Jackson Jr. for the stretch run of the season. The Jazz can now add an elite player — likely Kansas point guard Darryn Peterson — next to Keyonte George with a front court of Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler. Even in the West, that lineup is going to win some games.
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The Memphis Grizzlies jumped up to the No. 3 pick with the sixth-best odds, and the Chicago Bulls jumped from ninth to fourth.
That means the Sacramento Kings and the Brooklyn Nets — two teams that didn’t tank but were just bad and needed talent — fell in this draft.
Here is how the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery shook out:
1. Washington Wizards
2. Utah Jazz
3. Memphis Grizzlies
4. Chicago Bulls
5. LA Clippers (via Indiana Pacers)
6. Brooklyn Nets
7. Sacramento Kings
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. Dallas Mavericks
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Golden State Warriors
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via LA Clippers)
13. Miami Heat
14. Charlotte Hornets
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Some other notes on how the NBA Draft lottery broke down.
• This is the second year in a row that the team with Anthony Davis on their roster got the No. 1 pick.
• This is the first time the Wizards have selected No. 1 since they took John Wall back in 2010 — and Wall represented them on stage Sunday.
• Most teams have BYU’s AJ Dybantsa at the top of their board. If that’s the case in Washington, next season they could start Young, Kyshawn George (or Bilal Coulibaly), Dybantsa, Davis and Alex Sarr — that’s a quality starting five that could make some noise in the East.
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/washington-wizards-win-nba-draft-200928597.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-10 20:09:00
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