Winners, Losers from NBA Draft Lottery: Shameless tanking for the win. And Toni Kukoc.
Three of the most shameless tankers get the top three picks, while the "ethical" tanking Kings and Nets lose out.
It feels ironic that the Washington Wizards became the first team with the worst record to get the No. 1 pick since the NBA switched to these new lottery odds — just in time for the league to change everything next year to "fix" tanking. Again.
The way the ping-pong balls bounced this year left some big winners and some painful losers. Let's break down who won and who lost in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery. Winner: Shameless tanking The Washington Wizards traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis and barely played them to maintain their lottery odds (to be fair, AD was injured).
The Utah Jazz were the face of tanking in the league, got a massive fine, traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. and mostly sat him to keep their draft position. The Memphis Grizzlies were just a couple of games out of the play-in when they traded Jackson to the Jazz and started tanking in earnest, going 5-28 the rest of the way.
All three of those teams were rewarded and have the top three picks in this draft. If you wonder why the league thinks it needs a new lottery system to fix tanking, this is the prime example. Winner: Toni Kukoc, Chicago Bulls Chicago jumped up to the top four because Toni Kukoc brought the swagger.
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