The NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday will determine the draft order for this year; here is everything you need to know ahead of this weekend
By Cameron Salerno May 9, 2026 at 9:16 am ET • 2 min read 
Imagn Images The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery will take place in Chicago on Sunday, as one of the most high-profile tank races in league history comes to a conclusion. There is no consensus top prospect like there was last year, when the winner of the lottery was widely expected to take Cooper Flagg, no matter what. However, BYU's AJ Dybantsa has started to create separation and is the projected No. 1 pick heading into the weekend.
The first 14 picks of the 2026 NBA Draft -- including the No. 1 overall pick -- will be determined with the lottery drawing this weekend. The lottery will take place in a private room in Chicago and be unveiled live on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET, with Washington, Indiana and Brooklyn having the best odds (14%) to win.
Sacramento and Utah tied for the fourth-worst record in the NBA and have an 11.5% chance of earning the top pick.
NBA Draft Lottery 2026: Which teams most deserve to land the No. 1 pick? Cameron Salerno
Per the NBA, the lottery drawings are conducted for the first four picks. The other lottery teams (outside of the top four) will pick in inverse order of their regular-season records. The lottery itself has 1,001 possible combinations. All but one of those combinations are divvied out to lottery teams in advance.
After that, the ping-pong balls are then put through the lottery. The numbers on the balls will spit out a combination to determine the order. The process will repeat for the second, third and fourth picks in the draft.
Where to watch the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery
Date: Sunday, May 10 | Time: 3 p.m. ET TV channel: ESPN | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)
What are the odds for the draft lottery?
The Wizards finished with the NBA's worst record in 2025-26, thus earning a 14% chance to win the lottery. Indiana had the second-worst record and has a 14% chance as well. The full odds board for each team to win the No. 1 pick and the chances each pick lands in the top four are below.
PICKTEAM2025-26 RECORDWIN%TOP 4#1 OVERALL1Washington17-650.20752.1%14%2Indiana-x19-630.23252.1%14%3Brooklyn20-620.24452.1%14%4Utah22-600.26845.2%11.5%5Sacramento22-600.26845.2%11.5%6Memphis25-570.30537.0%9%7Atlanta (via NOP)26-560.31729.3%6.8%8Dallas26-560.31729%6.7%9Chicago31-510.37820.3%4.5%10Milwaukee-x32-500.3913.9%3%11Golden State37-450.4519.4%2%12Oklahoma City (via LAC)42-400.5127.1%1.5%13Miami43-390.5244.8%1%14Charlotte44-380.5372.4%0.5%x - Pick may be conveyed to another team
- If Indiana's pick lands outside of the top-4 selections, the Los Angeles Clippers will receive the pick. If Indiana falls out of the top 4, its pick would be No. 5 or No. 6.
- The Bucks are the only team here unable to receive the No. 1 pick. The Hawks have swap rights with the Bucks, meaning that if the Bucks draw the first overall pick, it can be swapped. Milwaukee would then receive the Pelicans' first-round pick, via the Hawks. The Spurs own the Hawks' first-round pick, which is slotted at pick No. 20.
Which players will be picked in the lottery?
These will change before the NBA Draft, but here are the current top NBA Draft prospects on Adam Finkelstein's NBA Draft Big Board, with the full board available here.
RANKPLAYERSCHOOLYEARPOSITION1AJ DybantsaBYUFrSF2Darryn PetersonKansasFrPG3Cameron BoozerDukeFrPF4Caleb WilsonNorth CarolinaFrPF5Darius Acuff Jr.ArkansasFrPG6Kingston FlemingsHoustonFrPG7Keaton WaglerIllinoisFrPG8Mikel Brown Jr.LouisvilleFrPG9Nate AmentTennesseeFrPF10Brayden BurriesArizonaFrSG11Koa PeatArizonaFrPF12Yaxel LendeborgMichiganSrPF13Jayden QuaintanceKentuckySophC14Aday MaraMichiganJrC Join the Conversation comments
