The Washington Wizards, who posted the worst record in the NBA this season, secured the top pick in the draft lottery.
CHICAGO — Twenty seconds. That is the required wait time for each new number drawn during the NBA’s draft lottery. From the moment NBA lawyer Matt Doria announces the number on a ping pong ball until league attorney Shane Rogers, facing away from the transparent drum containing the fortunes of 15 teams, raises his left arm to signal Doria to stop the machine for the next draw, the tension builds. It is an unusually tense moment that stretches and lingers. Time can feel frozen between numbers.
But on Sunday afternoon, the suspense evaporated quickly. Three ping pong balls emerged from the Smartplay machine used by the NBA for the lottery, and they were decisive: 4, 2, and 1. As everyone awaited the fourth ball, the No. 1 pick was already determined, whether they knew it or not.
The lottery consists of 1,001 different four-number combinations, with 1,000 distributed among 14 teams. No team holds more than a 14 percent chance to win, and the outcome typically hinges on the fourth and final number. This time, as observers waited on the third floor of the Navy Pier building jutting into Lake Michigan, only one result was possible. Any of 11 different ping pong balls could emerge, and each would give the Washington Wizards the winning combination.
It remains unclear if Michael Winger, the team’s president of basketball operations, realized this as he awaited the answer. But when a white ball numbered 13 popped out, he barely moved. The Wizards—the worst team in the NBA this season, and 20 games worse than any other team over the past three seasons combined—had won the lottery.
The Washington Wizards celebrate receiving the first pick during the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on May 10, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
This victory felt like karmic justice. In 2023, when Victor Wembanyama was the top prize, the Wizards entered the final drawing with six outs, while the Spurs and four other teams had just one. San Antonio won, leaving a Wizards executive stunned in silence.
It was a fitting end to the last draft lottery of its kind. After a season marked by extreme tanking that prompted Commissioner Adam Silver to demand reform, the tankers prevailed. The Wizards will select first in next month’s NBA draft. The Utah Jazz, fined in February for blatant tanking, secured the No. 2 pick. The Memphis Grizzlies, who traded their top player and attempted to deal their other star in a midseason teardown, will pick third. The Chicago Bulls, who finally embraced tanking in the second half after years of half-hearted efforts, claimed the No. 4 pick.
The lottery also produced significant consequences. The Indiana Pacers, also fined in February, lost their first-round pick because it fell outside the top four. The Pacers had traded that pick to the LA Clippers in a deal for Ivica Zubac, with a condition: if the pick landed between 5 and 10, it would go to the Clippers; otherwise, the Pacers would keep it. Now, the Clippers will pick fifth next month.
The Brooklyn Nets endured another tough lottery result. After stripping down the roster for a second straight season and finishing with the league’s third-worst record, they will pick sixth. Nets owner Joe Tsai, representing the team in the lottery room, looked dejected.
Nonetheless, the lottery rewarded some long-suffering teams.
