It’s a striking irony that the Washington Wizards became the first team with the worst record to secure the No. 1 overall pick under the NBA’s current lottery odds—just as the league prepares to overhaul the system next year in an attempt to curb tanking. Again.
This year’s ping-pong ball outcome produced clear winners and painful losers. Here’s a breakdown of who came out ahead and who fell short in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery.
**Winner: Unapologetic Tanking**
The Washington Wizards acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis but barely played them to preserve their lottery positioning (Davis was injured, to be fair). The Utah Jazz became the league’s poster child for tanking, incurring a hefty fine, trading for Jaren Jackson Jr., and largely benching him to protect their draft slot. The Memphis Grizzlies were just a few games shy of the play-in tournament when they sent Jackson to the Jazz and fully embraced tanking, going 5–28 the rest of the way.
All three teams were rewarded with the top three picks. If there’s any doubt why the league believes a new lottery system is needed to address tanking, this is the prime example.
**Winner: Toni Kukoc and the Chicago Bulls**
Chicago vaulted into the top four, thanks to Toni Kukoc bringing the swagger. Six years ago, when Arturas Karnisovas took over as the Bulls’ lead executive, the team jumped from seventh in lottery odds to the No. 4 pick, selecting Patrick Williams. That pick (and its subsequent contract) became an albatross throughout Karnisovas’ tenure.
This year, Bryson Graham has assumed the lead executive role in Chicago. The Bulls again climbed from ninth in lottery odds to grab the No. 4 pick. Most likely, they’ll target North Carolina’s Caleb Willson, unless Memphis falls in love with him—in which case Duke’s Cameron Boozer could slide to Chicago. Either way, Graham needs this pick to succeed.
**Winner: Washington Wizards**
At the trade deadline last February, Washington was active in “pre-agency,” securing favorable deals for two former All-Stars that other teams were eager to move on from: Trae Young and Anthony Davis. The roster already featured promising young talents like big man Alex Sarr and last year’s first-round pick Tre Johnson. This was a team on track to improve and compete for a playoff spot in the East.
Now they’re likely to add AJ Dybantsa, the 6’9″ ultra-talented, ultra-athletic wing from BYU—a seemingly perfect fit. Suddenly, the Wizards look intriguing for next season. There have been reports, via Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, that Washington might entertain trading down. Sure, if someone offers a Godfather deal they can’t refuse, but that’s highly unlikely. The Wizards won’t surrender their first No. 1 pick since selecting John Wall in 2010—a pick that has energized the fan base—without overwhelming talent coming back.
**Loser: Brooklyn Nets**
The most talent-starved team in the league was let down by the basketball gods. While they’ll still land a quality player at No. 6—likely a star guard like Darius Acuff Jr. or Keaton Wagler—it’s not the franchise-changer or lottery luck they were hoping for. Brooklyn appears set to struggle again next season, and with the incoming “3-2-1” lottery system, their chances of adding elite talent become even longer.
**Winner: Utah Jazz**
The lottery gods finally smiled on the Jazz, which is ironic given that they became the face of tanking this season. The league fined them $500,000 for playing their stars roughly 20 minutes per game, then benching them down the stretch and losing. What the league wanted, it turned out, was for the Jazz to fabricate an injury and bench those players for entire games—which they then did. The Jazz endured all the bad press, and the basketball gods rewarded them. This is another team…