Isaiah Evans Declares For 2026 NBA Draft
Duke wing Isaiah Evans has declared for the 2026 NBA draft, he announced on Wednesday (via Instagram). The university’s basketball program confirmed the report on Twitter.
Evans is a 6’6″ wing who spent two seasons with the Blue Devils and made the 2025/26 All-ACC third team after making the third-most three-pointers in the conference this season. He averaged 15.0 points and 3.2 rebounds while knocking down 36.1% of 7.4 three-point attempts per game. Last season, in a more limited role, he hit 41.6% of his threes on 4.1 attempts per contest.
Evans currently sits at No. 21 on ESPN’s big board, and Jeremy Woo describes him as a gifted movement shooter with good positional size. The 20-year-old from North Carolina is very thin, weighing in at 175 pounds, which has raised questions about his ability to hold up defensively against stronger wings. Still, he was an active defensive play-maker in college and showed solid instincts, averaging 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game this year.
Evans’ teammate at Duke, Caleb Foster, is returning to Duke, the team announced (via Twitter). Foster, who is unranked on ESPN’s board, averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 assists on .447/.398/.582 shooting splits in 33 games this season.
College underclassmen who want to go pro or test the NBA draft waters have until the end of this Friday to file their paperwork. Our early entrant tracker can be found right here.
Darius Acuff Declares For 2026 NBA Draft
Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of NBA Today on ESPN, Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff told host Malika Andrews that he has decided to declare for the 2026 NBA draft (Twitter video link).
The announcement comes as no surprise, given that Acuff is widely expected to be a top-10 pick in June. He’s ranked sixth overall on ESPN’s big board and shows up at No. 5 in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.
A 6’3″ guard, Acuff started all 36 games he played as a freshman in 2025/26 and led the SEC with 23.5 points and 6.4 assists in 35.1 minutes per contest. He also pulled down 3.1 rebounds per game and posted an excellent shooting line of .484/.440/.809.
The 19-year-old’s standout season, which included a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament, earned him several year-end honors, including the SEC Player of the Year award and a consensus first-team All-American nod.
As ESPN’s Jeremy Woo observes, NBA scouts and executives have some concerns about Acuff’s defense, due in part to his size. However, he’s a dynamic offensive player who handles the ball well, creates – and makes – his own shots, and is a savvy finisher and play-maker.
Arkansas head coach John Calipari believes NBA teams are underrating Acuff. He has stated that Acuff is as talented as any freshman guard he has ever coached and told Marc J. Spears of Andscape last month that clubs who pass on the Razorbacks star will “regret it.”
“I said it about Tyrese (Maxey). I’ve said it about a bunch of guys,” Calipari said. “I said it about Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander): ‘You’re going to regret passing on this kid.’ And I know there are other good players, but this kid (Acuff) is unique.”
College underclassmen who want to go pro or simply test the NBA draft waters have until the end of this Friday to file their paperwork. Our early entrant tracker can be found right here.
Draft Notes: Allen, Ngongba, Samodurov, Suigo, Dawes
Following his freshman year at Alabama, forward Amari Allen will test the NBA draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, he announced on Instagram.
Allen is viewed as a possible first-round pick — he currently ranks 29th on ESPN’s big board, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report had him all the way up at No. 18 in his post-NCAA tournament mock draft. The 6’8″ wing is said to have good positional size and versatility and is considered a solid passer and shooter. Although he made just 1-of-16 three-pointers during SEC and NCAA tournaments, he had made 37.7% of 4.4 tries per game in 28 regular season outings before that.
In 32 total games, including 24 starts, Allen averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 28.2 minutes per contest, earning a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- Duke’s Patrick Ngongba had been considered a possible first-round pick, but he’ll be returning to the Blue Devils for his junior season, according to the school (Twitter link). The big man emerged as Duke’s starting center in his sophomore year, averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 32 games (21.9 MPG). ESPN’s Jeremy Woo previously noted that some evaluators believed Ngongba wasn’t ready for the NBA’s level of physicality and would benefit from another year in college.
- Alex Samodurov, a 21-year-old power forward who plays for the Greek team Panathinaikos, is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). According to Givony, Samodurov is also considering the possibility of coming stateside to enroll in a college program. He played a limited role for Panathinaikos in 2025/26, averaging just 6.2 minutes per game in 13 EuroLeague appearances.
- Italian center Luigi Suigo, the No. 41 prospect on ESPN’s board, is still weighing whether to enter the NBA draft or play college basketball, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, St. John’s, Duke, and BYU are among the programs that have been linked to Suigo, who is currently playing for KK Mega Basket in Serbia, Skerletic adds.
[UPDATE: Suigo will test the draft waters while continuing to weigh his options, Givony reports (Twitter links). - Junior forward Keanu Dawes is testing the draft waters this spring, according to Givony (Twitter link). Dawes may end up returning to school for his senior year though. After spending the past two years playing for Utah, he entered the transfer portal and has signed with Kansas. In 32 starts last season for the Utes, the 6’9″ forward averaged 12.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 30.8 MPG.
Potential Lottery Pick Thomas Haugh Returning To Gators
Junior forward Thomas Haugh was viewed as a potential 2026 lottery pick, but he has decided to put off going pro for another year. He tells Shams Charania, Jeff Borzello, and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Twitter link) that he’ll return to Florida for his senior year.
A 6’9″ forward, Haugh won a national championship with the Gators as a sophomore in 2025, but primarily came off the bench for that title team. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2025/26, starting all 34 games he played and averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block in 33.3 minutes per contest.
Haugh was a consensus second-team All-American as a junior and was ranked 13th on ESPN’s big board of 2026 prospects before deciding not to enter the draft. Woo has described him as a tough, high-effort player with good size and an improving outside shot who could’ve been ready to play a rotation role at the NBA level immediately.
Instead, Haugh will use his final year of NCAA eligibility and look to win another championship with the Gators, who appear well positioned to enter next season as the top-ranked team in the country after being upset in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. As Charania observes, the senior forward could also be in the mix for 2027 Player of the Year honors if he continues to improve.
“Most guys in my position in the draft, it would be a no-brainer to go to the NBA,” Haugh told ESPN. “It’s not just the NIL. It’s a chance to play with my boys. To play for coach (Todd) Golden. To go to the school I love to play for. It was definitely a tougher decision than last year, but it was best for my career and future.”
While Haugh downplayed the NIL factor, Woo and Borzello indicate that he projects to “easily” earn more with the Gators than he would in the NBA in 2026/27 if he were drafted in the middle of the first round.
Haugh’s frontcourt teammate Alex Condon previously announced that he’ll be returning to the Gators as well. Another member of 2025’s championship team, center Rueben Chinyelu, announced on Monday (via Instagram) that he’ll enter the 2026 NBA draft but will leave the door open to the possibility of playing one more college season by maintaining his NCAA eligibility.
2026 Pre-Lottery NBA Draft Order
The NBA conducted its draft tiebreakers on Monday, further cementing the draft order for 2026. While we’ll have to wait until the May 10 draft lottery to learn the exact order for this year’s event, we now know what most of the 60 selections look like.
Listed below is the pre-lottery 2026 NBA draft order. Each lottery team’s chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick is noted in parentheses. We’ve also included notes for picks whose status remains up in the air depending on the lottery results.
[RELATED: 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Odds]
The second-round draft order for teams with identical regular season records is the inverse of their first-round order. This rule applies even if one club made the playoffs and one didn’t.
We’ll provided an updated list after the May 10 lottery, once the official draft order is set, but here’s the tentative 2026 NBA draft order:
First round
- Washington Wizards (14.0%)
- Indiana Pacers (14.0%)
- The Clippers will receive this pick if it falls out of the top four (47.9%).
- Brooklyn Nets (14.0%)
- Utah Jazz (11.5%)
- Sacramento Kings (11.5%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (9.0%)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans) (6.8%)
- The Hawks will receive the most favorable of this pick and the Bucks’ pick.
- Dallas Mavericks (6.7%)
- Chicago Bulls (4.5%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (3.0%)
- The Bucks will receive the least favorable of this pick and the Pelicans’ pick.
- Golden State Warriors (2.0%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers) (1.5%)
- Miami Heat (1.0%)
- Charlotte Hornets (0.5%)
- Chicago Bulls (from Trail Blazers)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Suns)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Sixers)
- Charlotte Hornets (from Magic)
- Toronto Raptors
- San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
- Detroit Pistons (from Timberwolves)
- Philadelphia 76ers (from Rockets)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Cavaliers)
- New York Knicks
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Denver Nuggets
- Boston Celtics
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Pistons)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Spurs)
- Dallas Mavericks (from Thunder)
Second round
- New York Knicks (from Wizards)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Pacers)
- Brooklyn Nets
- Sacramento Kings
- This pick would move to No. 35 if the Kings pick higher than the Jazz in the lottery.
- San Antonio Spurs (from Jazz)
- This pick would move to No. 34 if the Kings pick higher than the Jazz in the lottery.
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Grizzlies)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Mavericks)
- This pick would move to No. 38 if the Mavericks pick higher than the Hawks/Bucks (via Pelicans) in the lottery.
- Chicago Bulls (from Pelicans)
- This pick would move to No. 37 if the Mavericks pick higher than the Hawks/Bucks (via Pelicans) in the lottery.
- Houston Rockets (from Bulls)
- Boston Celtics (from Bucks)
- Miami Heat (from Warriors)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Trail Blazers)
- Brooklyn Nets (from Clippers)
- San Antonio Spurs (from Heat)
- Sacramento Kings (from Hornets)
- Orlando Magic
- Phoenix Suns (from Sixers)
- Dallas Mavericks (from Suns)
- Denver Nuggets (from Hawks)
- Toronto Raptors
- Washington Wizards (from Timberwolves)
- Los Angeles Clippers (from Cavaliers)
- Houston Rockets
- Golden State Warriors (from Lakers)
- New York Knicks
- Chicago Bulls (from Nuggets)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Celtics)
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Pistons)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Spurs)
- Washington Wizards (from Thunder)
2026 NBA Draft Lottery Odds
The NBA will be using its current lottery system for the eight – and possibly last – time this year. The format, instituted in 2019, smoothed out the odds for top picks, reducing the league’s worst team’s chance of getting the No. 1 selection from 25.0% to 14.0%.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: NBA Draft Lottery]
The changes had an immediate impact in 2019, when the Pelicans and Grizzlies were tied for the seventh-best lottery odds, but jumped up to No. 1 and 2, respectively, allowing them to land Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. The flattened format has paid off repeatedly for lower lottery teams in recent years, as the Hawks won the No. 1 pick with the 10th-best odds in 2024 and the Mavericks moved up to No. 1 with the 11th-best odds in 2025.
This year’s draft lottery will take place on Sunday, May 10.
With the help of data from Tankathon.com – which is worth checking out for all sorts of draft-related info – the draft lottery odds for 2026 are listed in the chart below.
The numbers in the chart indicate percentages, so the Wizards‘ pick, for instance, has a 14% chance of becoming the No. 1 selection and a 47.9% chance of ending up at No. 5. If a team’s odds are listed as >0, that percentage is below 0.1%. Odds are rounded to the nearest decimal place.
Here’s the full chart:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAS | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 47.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| IND* | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 27.8 | 20.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| BKN | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 14.8 | 26 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| UTA | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11 | 7.5 | 27.1 | 17.9 | 2.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| SAC | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11 | 2 | 18.2 | 25.5 | 8.5 | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| MEM | 9 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | – | 8.6 | 29.7 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| NOP* | 6.8 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 7.9 | – | – | 19.8 | 35.6 | 13.8 | 1.4 | >0 | – | – | – |
| DAL | 6.7 | 7 | 7.4 | 7.8 | – | – | – | 32.9 | 31.1 | 6.6 | 0.4 | >0 | – | – |
| CHI | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 50.8 | 25.9 | 3 | 0.1 | >0 | – |
| MIL* | 3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 65.9 | 19 | 1.2 | >0 | >0 |
| GSW | 2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0 |
| LAC* | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 86.1 | 6.7 | 0.1 |
| MIA | 1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 92.9 | 2.3 |
| CHA | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97.6 |
Notes:
- The Pacers‘ pick will be sent to the Clippers if it lands outside the top four.
- The most favorable of the Pelicans‘ and Bucks‘ picks will be sent to the Hawks.
- The least favorable of the Pelicans‘ or Bucks‘ picks will end up with the Bucks.
- The Clippers‘ pick will be sent to the Thunder.
The full pre-lottery draft order can be viewed here.
2026 NBA Draft Tiebreaker Results
Tiebreakers among teams with identical regular-season records were broken on Monday through random drawings to determine the order for this year’s draft prior to the lottery.
The NBA has posted a video of the tiebreaking procedure (Twitter link). The results are as follows, according to a press release from the league (Twitter link):
- Utah Jazz (No. 4) over Sacramento Kings (No. 5)
- The Jazz’s pick will land in the top eight, meaning their obligation to the Thunder will be extinguished.
- New Orleans Pelicans (No. 7) over Dallas Mavericks (No. 8)
- The Pelicans will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Mavericks.
- The Pelicans’ pick will be sent to the Hawks (if it’s more favorable than Milwaukee’s) or Bucks (if it’s not).
- Phoenix Suns (No. 16) over Philadelphia 76ers (No. 17) over Orlando Magic (No. 18)
- The Suns’ pick will be sent to the Grizzlies.
- The Sixers’ pick will be sent to the Thunder.
- The Magic’s pick will be sent to the Hornets.
- Toronto Raptors (No. 19) over Atlanta Hawks (No. 20)
- The Hawks’ pick will be sent to the Spurs.
- Houston Rockets (No. 22) over Cleveland Cavaliers (No. 23)
- The Rockets’ pick will be sent to the Sixers.
- The Cavaliers’ pick will be sent to the Hawks.
- New York Knicks (No. 24) over Los Angeles Lakers (No. 25)
While the tiebreaker winner will pick ahead of the loser(s) in the first round, that order will be flipped in the second round.
For instance, the Magic’s second-round pick will be at No. 46, followed by the Sixers’ pick (traded to Phoenix) at No. 47, and the Suns’ second-rounder (traded to the Mavericks) at No. 48 — that’s the opposite of their order in the first round.
For lottery teams that finished with identical records, the second-round order is still to be determined depending on the lottery results.
For example, if the Jazz’s first-round pick stays at No. 4 and the Kings’ first-rounder stays at No. 5, Sacramento’s second-round pick would be at No. 34 and Utah’s (traded to San Antonio) would be at No. 35. But if the Kings win the No. 1 overall pick on lottery night, moving ahead of Utah in the first round, then the Jazz’s second-round pick (to San Antonio) would be No. 34, while Sacramento would move down to No. 35.
We’ll publish the full lottery odds and pre-lottery draft order for 2026 later today.
Houston’s Kingston Flemings Declares For 2026 NBA Draft
Houston guard Kingston Flemings announced Sunday that he’s declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, per Joseph Duarte of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter video link).
Flemings comes in at No. 7 on ESPN’s best available players list, making him a probable mid-lottery pick. He earned numerous accolades for his stellar freshman campaign with the Cougars, whose season ended after losing to Illinois in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
The San Antonio native averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 37 games (31.7 minutes per contest) for the Cougars in 2025/26. His shooting slash line was .476/.387/.845.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo praises Flemings’ “size, pace and upside” and calls him a “winning player” who’s also an “explosive play-maker.” There are some question marks about the 19-year-old’s outside shot (he only attempted 2.9 threes per game), but Flemings largely had excellent season on team that went 30-7, Woo writes.
This coming Friday, April 24, is the deadline for early entrants to declare for this year’s draft.
Braylon Mullins To Play Another Season At UConn
Braylon Mullins, who was considered a potential lottery pick in this year’s draft, has decided to return to Connecticut for his sophomore season, according to Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 (Twitter link).
The 20-year-old guard produced a legendary March Madness moment last month when he drilled a long three-pointer in the final second to oust top-seeded Duke in the Elite Eight. He turned in a solid first season for the Huskies, averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 33 games while shooting 42.1% from the field and 33.5% from three-point range.
Mullins hopes to become a guaranteed top-10 pick after another season in college, Goodman adds, noting that he was “highly compensated” through NIL money to continue playing at UConn for his sophomore season.
Mullins, who earned a spot on the Big East All-Freshman team, ranked 17th on ESPN’s latest list of the top 100 draft prospects.
He impressed scouts with his shooting ability and willingness to take clutch shots, but there’s also a desire to see what else he has in his offensive game. ESPN notes that he’ll have a strong chance to move up the board in 2027, with fewer stars projected to be in the draft class.
Post-Play-In Update On 2026 Draft Order, Lottery Standings
As we explained on Monday following the conclusion of the NBA’s 2025/26 regular season, the results of the play-in tournament helped move the lottery standings and the 2026 draft order one step closer to being officially set.
Here’s what we know now…
Lottery teams
The lower seeds won three of this week’s six play-in games, but in the end, the teams that finished seventh and eighth in the East and West during the regular season are the ones advancing to the playoffs, with the ninth and 10th seeds having been bounced.
The only deviation from the regular season standings was the Suns and Trail Blazers flipping spots in the Western Conference as a result of Portland’s upset victory on Tuesday.
As a result, the tentative lottery standings are the same as the ones we laid out on Monday. Here’s what they look like, per Tankathon:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAS | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 47.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| IND* | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 27.8 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| BKN | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 14.8 | 26 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| UTA | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11 | 7.5 | 27.1 | 17.9 | 2.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| SAC | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11 | 2 | 18.2 | 25.5 | 8.5 | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| MEM | 9 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | – | 8.6 | 29.7 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| NOP* | 6.8 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 7.9 | – | – | 19.8 | 35.6 | 13.8 | 1.4 | >0 | – | – | – |
| DAL | 6.7 | 7 | 7.4 | 7.8 | – | – | – | 32.9 | 31.1 | 6.6 | 0.4 | >0 | – | – |
| CHI | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 50.8 | 25.9 | 3 | 0.1 | >0 | – |
| MIL* | 3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 65.9 | 19 | 1.2 | >0 | >0 |
| GSW | 2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0 |
| LAC* | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 86.1 | 6.7 | 0.1 |
| MIA | 1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 92.9 | 2.3 |
| CHA | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97.6 |
(* Asterisks denote traded picks)
- The Pacers‘ pick will be sent to the Clippers if it’s outside the top four.
- The Jazz‘s pick will be sent to the Thunder if it’s outside the top eight.
- The most favorable of the Pelicans‘ and Bucks‘ picks will be sent to the Hawks, with Milwaukee receiving the least favorable of the two.
- The Clippers‘ pick will be sent to the Thunder.
Multiple tiebreakers will still be required before the pre-lottery draft order is locked in, since two pairs of lottery teams finished the regular season with identical records. The teams listed above in italics were tied, so the following spots in the chart could still be flipped, pending the results of random tiebreakers:
- Utah Jazz / Sacramento Kings (22-60)
- New Orleans Pelicans / Dallas Mavericks (26-56)
The Jazz and Kings will share identical odds at a top-four pick, while the winner of the Pelicans/Mavericks tiebreaker will get one extra ping pong ball in the draft lottery, giving that team the slightest possible edge at a top-four selection. The most meaningful aspect of the tiebreaker results is the fact that they set the floor for how fall a team’s pick can fall.
For instance, if Utah wins its tiebreaker with Sacramento, the most likely landing spot for the Jazz’s pick would be No. 6 overall and it would be guaranteed to land in the top eight, meaning it won’t be conveyed to the Thunder. On the other hand, if the Kings win that tiebreaker, the most likely slot for the Jazz’s pick is No. 7, and there would be a slight chance (0.6%) it could drop all the way to No. 9, in which case it would be sent to Oklahoma City.
Traded first-round picks
The play-in results also provided some clarity on certain first-round picks that were traded with protections.
Most notably, the Trail Blazers‘ playoff berth ensured that Chicago will receive Portland’s 2026 first-round pick, which featured top-14 protection. Since the Blazers had the worst regular season record of any playoff team, it’s a best-case scenario for the Bulls, who will get the 15th overall selection from Portland.
The Thunder are also now assured of receiving the Sixers‘ pick as a result of Philadelphia’s playoff berth. That pick included top-four protection, so if the 76ers had been eliminated in the play-in tournament, there would’ve been an outside shot of it moving up on lottery night and remaining in Philadelphia. Instead, it’ll convey to Oklahoma City and will be in the 16-18 range, pending a tiebreaker.
While the Thunder would’ve received the Clippers‘ first-round pick whether or not L.A. made the playoffs, it’s worth noting that the Clippers’ loss to Golden State on Wednesday means it will be a lottery selection. There’s a 7.2% chance that Oklahoma City will move into the top four with that Clippers pick, which would be a nightmare scenario for the rest of the NBA.
Playoff teams
Based on the play-in results, the draft order outside of the lottery will be as follows, pending tiebreakers:
- Chicago Bulls (from Trail Blazers)
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Magic) *
Charlotte Hornets (from Suns) *
Oklahoma City Thunder (from Sixers) * - San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks) *
Toronto Raptors * - Detroit Pistons (from Timberwolves)
- Atlanta Hawks (from Cavaliers) *
Philadelphia 76ers (from Rockets) * - Los Angeles Lakers *
New York Knicks * - Denver Nuggets
- Boston Celtics
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Pistons)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Spurs)
- Dallas Mavericks (from Thunder)
It remains possible that the Grizzlies could end up with the Suns’ pick instead of the Magic’s selection, with the Hornets getting Orlando’s first-rounder in that scenario. Memphis has the right to the most favorable of the two picks, which will be determined by a tiebreaker. Each selection could land anywhere from No. 16 to No. 18.
The random tiebreakers for draft positioning are expected to be conducted on Monday. Once those tiebreakers are completed, we’ll publish a full pre-lottery order for both rounds of the 2026 draft.