NBA Draft 2026, Washington wins the Lottery: here are the best profiles

Washington wins the NBA Lottery, the Wizards will choose with the first call in the 2026 Draft. The team with the worst regular season record, just 17 wins and 65 defeats, is rewarded by luck in Chicago: it had a 14% chance of grabbing the number 1 pick, and it succeeds. John Wall, the former director of the Wizards, the representative of the franchise from the US capital, turns out to be a talisman. Washington, which had already won the Lottery in 2010, when it chose Wall, and in 2001 when the designated player was the “fiasco” Kwame Brown, will now have to decide which prospect to add to its roster among the elite ones of a Draft that promises well, at least for the first five calls. At the moment the number 1 candidate is AJ Dybantsa, a 19-year-old winger returning from a superlative collegiate season in Brigham Young, Utah. The Draft is scheduled for June 23 (first round) and 24 (second round) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

from 1 to 14

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The order of calling established by the Lottery: 1) Washington Wizards 2) Utah Jazz 3) Memphis Grizzlies 4) Chicago Bulls 5) Los Angeles Clippers 6) Brooklyn Nets 7) Sacramento Kings 8) Atlanta Hawks 9) Dallas Mavericks 10) Milwaukee Bucks 11) Golden State Warriors 12) Oklahoma City Thunder 13) Miami Heat 14) Charlotte Hornets.

NEW WIZARDS

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Washington has the prospect of an intriguing quintet on paper. The high-sounding names are those of the two veterans with an All Star past, Anthony Davis and Trae Young, even though they have probably both already given their best, worn out and often bruised, and are on payrolls with heavy salaries, the former Lakers also with a long contract. Then there are the young people with perspective. French center Alex Sarr, pick no. 2 of the 2024 draft, guard Kyshawn George, drafted no. 24 from two years ago, and indeed Mister X, choice no. 1 of the 2026 Draft. Work in progress. The unfortunate recent history of the franchise leads to maximum caution, but at least we can now see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

winners and losers

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Among the winners, in addition to Washington, are Chicago and Memphis. The Bulls, the home franchise as the location of the event, represented by Toni Kukoc, were looked upon with a benevolent eye by fortune: they were ninth in terms of pick percentage, they got the fourth call. The Grizzlies were sixth by probability calculation among the 14 protagonists of the Lottery which (barring exchanges) involves the teams that do not compete in the playoffs, and are awarded the third call. Utah is also happy that he will be able to choose immediately behind the Wizards. Instead it went badly, very badly in Indiana and Brooklyn. The Pacers had to receive a call among the first four to keep the pick, but instead they got the 5 and therefore lost it to the Los Angeles Clippers by virtue of the agreements of the trade that in February brought the Croatian center Ivica Zubac from California to Indianapolis. Brooklyn, which like Washington and Indiana had a 14% chance of winning the Lottery, instead relegated to sixth place due to the whims of fate, which was malevolent towards the Nets.

the prospects

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This Draft is excellent at the top, perhaps without the presumed epochal player, the obvious choice in front of everyone, but with five talents that promise wonders. In addition to Dybantsa, 25.5 points per game for the Cougars in college, we should mention Cameron Boozer, 18 years old, college player of the year for Duke, a flexible, cerebral and winning big man. Not the prospect with the most potential of the lot, but the sure bet, the one who on paper will never leave anyone stranded. Among other things, his father, former NBA All Star big man Carlos Boozer, works for the Utah Jazz now… Darryn Peterson, a 19-year-old guard from Kansas University, is the opposite of Boozer in terms of warnings and instructions for use. In the sense that he is the least reliable talent for collegiate performance among the top ones because he played in fits and starts, highlighting limitations in physical fitness and raising doubts about functionality compared to the team’s successes. But he has sensational peaks, as a franchise player of tomorrow. Fabulous athlete, with highlights. Like Caleb Wilson, the 19-year-old big man from North Carolina University, with infinite arms, a diamond in the rough who missed the NCAA tournament due to an injury to his right thumb. He has enormous room for improvement, but the 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game show an already top-level production. And then there’s Darius Acuff, director from Arkansas University. Small, but great achiever. An irrepressible first step, recalls Stephon Marbury. A nice consolation prize for the Clippers or Brooklyn if he wasn’t selected by whoever chooses before them.