2026 NBA Mock Draft: Projecting All 14 Selections Following Sunday’s Draft Lottery
For the first time since the shift in the NBA’s lottery odds in 2019, the worst team in basketball has secured the top overall pick in the draft.
On Sunday, the Washington Wizards, who finished the season with a 17–65 record, won the 500m sprint to the tanking finish line, dropping their last ten games and obtaining the best possible odds to land a top-4 pick, did just that, staying static through the middle movement in the lottery and earning the first selection in June’s NBA Draft.
The Wizards, in a draft highly regarded as one of the most elite of its kind in terms of talent at the top of the board, are officially “on the clock”.
Additionally, all three of Utah, Memphis and Chicago jumped from their original positions, with the Bulls leaping up five spots to snag the fourth overall pick, while the Jazz and Grizzlies moved slightly higher.
Dropping teams include the Pacers (whose top-4 protected pick will now convey to the Los Angeles Clippers from February’s deadline deal involving center Ivica Zubac) who slid three spots to fifth, the Nets falling three spots after winning less than 30 games for the second consecutive season and the Sacramento Kings, who couldn’t hold off the gas down the stretch for long enough to acquire a higher probability at a guaranteed superstar talent.
Although a less chaotic draft lottery, I’m certain the collective basketball world released their long exhale after a deep breath-in as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 12th overall pick was slowly revealed by Mark Tatum and were somewhat relieved to not have one of the few play-in teams leap over certifiably worse rosters for a widespread generational prospect.
Now, with the selection spots set, it’s time to hit the ground running with one of my favorite seasons of the year: mock draft season (fall finishes in a close second). Who will have the opportunity to select one of three blue-chip talents in AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson? Which teams finds themselves in a win-now position, and who can afford to take a big swing on a high-upside talent?
2026 NBA Mock Draft: Projecting All 14 Selections Following Sunday’s Draft Lottery