Former Washington Wizards guard and five-time All-Star John Wall stood alongside NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum after the franchise won the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday.
CHICAGO — A season of struggles on the court finally paid off for the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards secured the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Sunday, roughly a month after finishing the regular season with the worst record in the league.
“Ultimately, it’s our fans who have endured the most,” said Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger, who represented the Wizards in the room during the lottery drawing. “To me, this No. 1 pick is for them. It’s a reward for sticking with us through thick and thin. It’s a reward for continuing to support us despite some truly poor basketball. They understood and backed a multiyear rebuild and reinvention of the franchise. I think this is a moment to celebrate them.”
The 2026 draft class is widely regarded as one of the deepest at the top in recent years. The top four prospects are BYU wing AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke big man Cameron Boozer, and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson.
Winger, who oversees the umbrella organization comprising the Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go, noted that his front office has not yet decided who they will select at No. 1. However, the team is expected to invite Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, and Wilson for individual workouts and extensive interviews in Washington over the coming weeks.
“Obviously, I’ve been working on myself for a while to become a No. 1 pick, so initially I’m just thinking about how I would fit into the team,” Dybantsa said when asked about the Wizards winning the lottery. “I think I’m pretty versatile and adaptable, so I believe I can play anywhere.”
The Utah Jazz will pick second in the draft after a 22-60 season that gave them the league’s fourth-worst record. The Memphis Grizzlies will select third, and the Chicago Bulls will choose fourth.
The Indiana Pacers finished the season with the second-worst record at 19-63 but fell to fifth in the lottery. Due to a trade deadline deal with the LA Clippers that sent center Ivica Zubac to Indiana — with the condition that the Pacers would keep their pick only if it landed in the top four — the Pacers must convey the No. 5 pick to the Clippers.
“I’m deeply sorry to all our fans,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard wrote in a social media post after the lottery. “I own this risk. I’m surprised it came up fifth after this year. I thought we deserved some luck. But remember — this team needed a starting center to compete with the best teams next season. We’ve always been resilient.”
Other top prospects in the draft class include guards Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas, Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville, Brayden Burries of Arizona, Kingston Flemings of Houston, and Keaton Wagler of Illinois, as well as big man Aday Mara, who helped Michigan win the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
But Sunday belonged to the Wizards, who previously won the lottery in 2001 (selecting high school big man Kwame Brown) and again in 2011 (taking point guard John Wall from Kentucky).
