Washington Wizards win the first pick in the 2026 NBA Draft

NBAWashington wins first pick in 2026 NBA DraftThe 2026 draft class has been lauded by experts and people around the NBA as a loaded one, highlighted by three players who have an argument to go first overall.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 10, 2026, 3:38 PM EDTBy Rohan NadkarniCHICAGO — The Washington Wizards won the NBA draft lottery on Sunday, earning them the first overall pick in June’s NBA Draft. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The Wizards entered with a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 selection. The lottery was held at Navy Pier in Chicago, with executives from all 14 lottery teams and 16 reporters present for the drawing.Washington and the Utah Jazz landed picks No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.This year’s draft class has been widely praised as one of the deepest in recent memory, headlined by three players with legitimate cases to go first overall: BYU forward A.J. Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, and Duke forward Cameron Boozer.Dybantsa, who was the consensus top recruit in the high school class of 2025, averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in his lone season with the Cougars, shooting 51% from the field. He is coveted in part because of his prototypical size on the wing.Peterson averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24 games for the Jayhawks. He is considered by many to be the best scoring prospect in this year’s draft class. Peterson’s freshman season at Kansas was in part derailed due to a cramping issue, which caused Peterson to miss 11 games and leave several others early. He told ESPN earlier this month that doctors concluded the cramping was a result of high doses of creatine consumption. Boozer, the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists for the Blue Devils. He earned both the Naismith and AP Player of the Year awards and helped lead Du...