2026 NBA Draft: How to watch, selection order, history and things to know

The Washington Wizards won the Draft Lottery and will have the first pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

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2026 NBA Draft: Complete coverage

The

2026 NBA Draft

will mark the 80th year of the event. Below you can find answers to some of the main questions regarding this year’s NBA Draft.

> When is the 2026 NBA Draft?

The 2026 NBA Draft will take place on

June 23-24, 2026

at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., home of the Brooklyn Nets. The Draft will follow a two-night format.

The first round will be held at

Tuesday, June 23 (8 ET, ABC & ESPN)*

The second round will be on

Wednesday, June 24 (8 ET, ESPN)*

*Fans outside of the US & Canada can stream both rounds on League Pass

> What are the key dates for the Draft process?

April 24:

Deadline for an Early Entry player to apply for 2026 NBA Draft (11:59 p.m. ET)

May 8-10:

AWS NBA G League Combine in Chicago

May 10:

2026 NBA Draft Lottery | 3 ET (ABC)

May 10-17:

AWS NBA Draft Combine in Chicago

June 13:

Deadline for an Early Entry player to withdraw from 2026 NBA Draft (5 p.m. ET)

June 23:

NBA Draft First Round | 8 ET (ABC/ESPN)

June 24:

NBA Draft Second Round | 8 ET (ESPN)

> What is the 2026 NBA Draft order?

2026 Draft order of selection

was determined by

the

2026 NBA Draft Lottery

, which was conducted on

May 10, 2026

at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

2026 Lottery Results

Washington

Utah

Memphis

Chicago

LA Clippers (via Indiana)

Brooklyn

Sacramento

Atlanta (via New Orleans)

Dallas

Milwaukee

Miami

Oklahoma City (via LA Clippers)

Charlotte

2026 NBA Draft: 1-60 Draft Order

The Draft selections for the remainder of the first round (

No. 15-30

) and the entire second round (

No. 30-59

), are determined by reverse order of regular season record. Each NBA team gets one selection in the first round and one selection in the second round.

Watch the full NBA Draft Lottery 2026 drawing process.

pic.twitter.com/UnqrW6f7xg

— NBA (@NBA)

> What is the format for the Draft?

The 2026 NBA Draft will see the continuation of the two-night format that began in 2024.

The first round will have five minutes between draft picks.

For the second round, the time between draft picks will be four minutes.

> Where can I learn about the top prospects in the Draft?

NBA.com and the NBA App will have complete profiles of every top prospect. Please check back.

> What is the NBA Draft Combine?

AWS NBA Draft Combine

is a week-long gathering in Chicago where the top prospects participate in skill drills, scrimmages, get official anthropometric measurements and have the opportunity to meet with NBA team officials. This year’s Combine will be held May 10-17.

> What is the history of the NBA Draft?

The first NBA Draft was in 1947 and it has been held every year since. Visit the

NBA.com History

section for a

complete list of every pick

from every draft.

Here’s a list of the last 10 first round picks:

2025

| No. 1 pick —

Cooper Flagg

(Dallas Mavericks)

2024

Zaccharie Risacher

(Atlanta Hawks)

2023

Victor Wembanyama

(San Antonio Spurs)

2022

Paolo Banchero

(Orlando Magic)

2021

Cade Cunningham

(Detroit Pistons)

2020

Anthony Edwards

(Minnesota Timberwolves)

2019

Zion Williamson

(New Orleans Pelicans)

2018

Deandre Ayton

(Phoenix Suns)

2017

Markelle Fultz

(Philadelphia 76ers)

2016

Ben Simmons

> How do you attend the 2026 NBA Draft?

Experience the energy of the 2026 NBA Draft! From college hoops to the Draft stage, watch the league’s future take shape as top prospects take the stage and start their NBA careers. With

NBA Experiences presented by DoorDash

, your package could include Meet & Greets with NBA Legends and Prospects, NBA EXP Lounge, behind-the-scenes access and exclusive photo ops.

> What is the format for the Draft Lottery?

The NBA Board of Governors approved changes to the lottery system on Sept. 28, 2017. Under the revamped format (which began with the 2019 Draft), the NBA Draft Lottery will ensure that the team with the worst record will receive no worse than the fifth pick. Under the pre-2019 system, the team with the worst record would pick no lower than fourth.

The new system levels the odds at the top of the NBA Draft Lottery so that the teams with the three worst regular-season records will each have a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery. In the pre-2019 structure, the top seed had a 25 percent of winning the lottery, the second seed had a 19.9 percent and the third seed had a 15.6 percent.

After drawings are conducted for the first four picks of the NBA Draft, the other lottery teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.

For a complete rundown on how the Lottery specifically works, please read our

NBA Draft Lottery explainer.

What were the Lottery odds for each team in 2026?

Below is the probability each team had of being awarded the first overall draft pick in the NBA Draft Lottery 2026.

> 14.00%

Indiana*

> 11.50%

> 9.00%

New Orleans

(to Atlanta or Milwaukee)

> 6.80%

> 6.70%

> 4.50%

Milwaukee**

> 3.00%

Golden State

> 2.00%

LA Clippers

(to Oklahoma City)

> 1.50%

> 1.00%

> 0.50%

* = This pick may be conveyed to the LA Clippers

** = This pick may be conveyed to Atlanta (via New Orleans)

> What is the all-time list of winning lottery teams?

Year | Team with No. 1 Pick | Winning Odds > Player Taken

2026:

Washington Wizards | 14.0% > TBD

2025:

Dallas Mavericks | 1.8% > Cooper Flagg

2024:

Atlanta Hawks | 3.00% > Zaccharie Risacher

2023:

San Antonio Spurs | 14.00% > Victor Wembanyama

2022:

Orlando Magic | 14.00% > Paolo Banchero

2021:

Detroit Pistons | 14.00% > Cade Cunningham

2020:

Minnesota Timberwolves | 14.00% > Anthony Edwards

2019:

New Orleans Pelicans | 6.00% > Zion Williamson

2018:

Phoenix Suns | 25.00% > Deandre Ayton

2017:

Boston Celtics | 25.00% > Markelle Fultz

2016:

Philadelphia Sixers | 25.00% > Ben Simmons

2015:

Minnesota Timberwolves | 25.00% > Karl-Anthony Towns

2014:

Cleveland Cavaliers | 1.70% > Andrew Wiggins

2013:

Cleveland Cavaliers | 15.60% > Anthony Bennett

2012:

New Orleans Hornets | 13.70% > Anthony Davis

2011:

Cleveland Cavaliers | 2.80% > Kyrie Irving

2010:

Washington Wizards | 10.30% > John Wall

2009:

Los Angeles Clippers | 17.70% > Blake Griffin

2008:

Chicago Bulls | 1.70% > Derrick Rose

2007:

Portland Trail Blazers | 5.30% > Greg Oden

2006:

Toronto Raptors | 8.80% > Andrea Bargnani

2005:

Milwaukee Bucks | 6.30% > | Andrew Bogut

2004:

Orlando Magic | 25.00% > Dwight Howard

2003:

Cleveland Cavaliers | 22.50% > LeBron James

2002:

Houston Rockets | 8.90% > Yao Ming

2001:

Washington Wizards | 15.70% > Kwame Brown

2000:

New Jersey Nets | 4.40% > Kenyon Martin

1999:

Chicago Bulls | 15.70% > Elton Brand

1998:

Los Angeles Clippers | 22.56% > Michael Olowokandi

1997:

San Antonio Spurs | 21.60% > Tim Duncan

1996:

Philadelphia Sixers | 33.73% > Allen Iverson

1995:

Golden State Warriors | 9.40% > Joe Smith

1994:

Milwaukee Bucks | 16.30% > Glenn Robinson

1993:

Orlando Magic | 1.52% > Chris Webber

1992:

Orlando Magic | 15.15% > Shaquille O’Neal

1991:

Charlotte Hornets | 10.61% > Larry Johnson

1990:

New Jersey Nets | 16.67% > Derrick Coleman

1989:

Sacramento Kings | 11.11% > Pervis Ellison

1988:

Los Angeles Clippers | 14.29% > Danny Manning

1987:

San Antonio Spurs | 14.29% > David Robinson

1986:

Cleveland Cavaliers | 14.29% > Brad Daugherty

1985:

New York Knicks | 14.29% > Patrick Ewing