The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery is a wonderful event where the worst teams in the NBA send out representatives for a public humiliation ritual on ESPN, one-by-one learning they are not winning the no. 1 pick, camera locked in on their reactions, an auditorium full of teenagers and their parents enjoying a free meal on the NBA’s dime.
The final results from the NBA Draft Lottery 2026:
- Washington Wizards
- Utah Jazz
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Chicago Bulls
- LA Clippers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Sacramento Kings
- Atlanta Hawks
- Dallas Mavericks
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Golden State Warriors
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
The Draft Lottery is a major event, and with every major event, there are winners and there are certainly losers.
Let’s start with the host of my new favorite prank show.
Winner: Anthony Davis
About a month ago, an NBA reporter said Anthony Davis will request a trade from Washington, preferring a win-now destination.
After winning the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, Washington will be adding a potential future All-Star to the roster, on a cheap rookie deal. The organization may feel like AD is too old for their championship timeline but an asset capable of bringing back an interesting crop of role players.
Winner: Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers stumbled backward into one of the cleanest rebuilds in the NBA.
After almost a decade of treating the NBA Draft like the military draft, the Clippers sit in an interesting position to add an impact player.
Loser: Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi wanted to ball for his home city of Los Angeles.
The Lakers no longer an option, under The King’s thumb, he made claim to the Clippers.
But he didn’t win enough.
And now, with the no. 5 pick and a chance to start from scratch, years of Oklahoma City snatching their draft picks over, Kawhi Leonard is most likely on the trade block, his next destination out of his control.
Loser: Brooklyn Nets
The 6th pick. All that losing and the Nets are drafting the 6th best player, and even that’s too kind to the Nets, a team that punted all their picks last season, selecting a roster full of future-8th and 9th men.
Winner: New York Knicks
Since trading 5 first round draft picks, the Knicks have won 104 regular games and are now playing in their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals.
The Nets have 46 wins and have a roster full of teenagers who suck at basketball, another one incoming.
Winner: Doug Christie
Doug Christie is the worst head coach in the NBA. He should not still be employed. And now, when he is inevitably fired, Christie gets to point at this exact moment as the reason why. No mention of the NBA investigating him for blatantly tanking mid-game, only to realize Doug Christie wasn’t losing on purpose. He just devised a garbage game plan.
See, if the Kings landed the No. 1 pick, suddenly, Doug Christie is the scapegoat (even though he deserved to be).
Now, it’s the lottery’s fault.
Doug Christie is still the king of the country club of whatever weird place he hangs.
Loser: Brian Keefe
Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looked so excited to see his squad land the No. 1 pick.
A shame Keefe seems to have no idea he won’t be working there by this time next year.
The Wizards allowed Bam Adebayo to score 83 points against his team.
This is the last time we see him smile.
Winner: Heat Culture
Landing the 13th pick, the Miami Heat both missed the playoffs and missed out on an opportunity to draft one of the stars available. The Heat have the NBA just where it wants it.
A top pick Miami could package for a star would be too easy. That’s not Heat Culture.
We grind.
We get it out the mud.
We win 41 games and lose 41 games.
Heat Culture.
Loser: Indiana Pacers
I’m really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.
— Kevin Pritchard (@PacersKev) May 10, 2026
You know your team is headed in the right direction when the team president must apologize to fans for losing their first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Ivica Zubac.
A full season of losing and Indiana has a worse roster, expecting Tyrese to come back from a torn Achilles and shingles, apparently.
The Pacers are a loooooong way from the NBA Finals.
We’ll always have the memories…
Loser: Tyrese Haliburton
With Haliburton out of the lineup, the Pacers were the second-worst team in the East. They replaced Myles Turner with Ivica Zubac and Benedict Mathurin with no one.
And now they don’t have a first-round pick.
Good luck, Tyrese.
Winner: Ja Morant
Ja sitting in a win-win.
Either Memphis uses the no. 3 pick to select a young star to play with Morant, Ja gets to big brother the whole team, his moody ass bossing around a locker room full of kids who don’t know any better, Gilbert Arenas drawing his arsenal, history always repeats.
OR
Memphis builds around Cedric Coward and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, freeing Ja from an organization clearly over his whole thing.
Loser: Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are trading Giannis. It’s Joever.
But if a few ping pong balls bounced a different way, imagine if the Bucks had a Top 3 pick AND a team like the Heat or the Warriors landed in the Top 3 with them, trading that pick to Milwaukee for Giannis.
Milwaukee could’ve potentially left this draft with AJ Dybantsa AND Darryn Peterson.
That didn’t happen.
They have the no. 10 pick and whatever slop they’re forced to absorb because Giannis hates them.
Ranking 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Teams Based on Who Deserves The No. 1 Pick Most
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