NBA Draft Lottery: The 7 biggest winners (Wizards finally!) and losers (tough break, Pacers)

Thanks to the annual NBA Draft Lottery ( here are the final results and the full order of picks ), Sunday was an essential day for the Association’s future. In a June draft featuring so many possible star players , Sunday even had more stakes than usual. Finally, the Washington Wizards and their fans had the glorious moment they were looking for .

The Brooklyn Nets , meanwhile, unfortunately, look like they’re destined to be mired in basketball Purgatory for at least a little while longer. The Indiana Pacers also didn’t have the best Sunday , but they should still be plenty OK on the court next season. And wasn't it so cool to see mothers beaming with joy for their children, realizing their dream on Mother's Day ?

Is someone cutting onions in here? With another NBA lottery in the books, let’s unpack the biggest winners and losers from Navy Pier in Chicago. Winner: The Wizards, who can cement a rebuild that may finally turn them into one of the NBA's most formidable teams Finally, the Wizards can be validated.

For years, a perpetual rebuild has tortured both organization and fans alike. For years, the Wizards were one of the league's preeminent butts of the joke, a franchise that, at a certain point, it felt almost mean to make fun of because it seemed like needless punching down. But no longer.