Draft Calendar · Sunday, May 10, 2026
2026 NBA Draft Lottery Simulator
Run the lottery using the official odds — once, ten times, a thousand times. Then carry the order straight into our NBA mock draft creator and pick the players from your own big board.
Every Team’s Chance at Every Pick
The official 2026 NBA Draft Lottery odds for picks 1 through 11. Top-three teams share identical 14% chances at the #1 pick after the league flattened the bottom of the lottery in 2019. Each team’s tiebreakers are already baked into seed order.
| Seed · Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Washington Wizards | 14.0% | 13.4% | 12.7% | 12.0% | 47.9% | 3.7% | — | — | — | — | — |
2  Indiana Pacers | 14.0% | 13.4% | 12.7% | 12.0% | 27.8% | 20.1% | 3.9% | — | — | — | — |
3  Brooklyn Nets | 14.0% | 13.4% | 12.7% | 12.0% | 14.8% | 26.0% | 7.0% | 4.1% | — | — | — |
4  Utah Jazz | 11.5% | 11.4% | 11.2% | 11.0% | 7.5% | 27.1% | 17.9% | 2.4% | 4.6% | — | — |
5  Sacramento Kings | 11.5% | 11.4% | 11.2% | 11.0% | 2.0% | 18.2% | 25.5% | 8.5% | 0.6% | 4.8% | — |
6  Memphis Grizzlies | 9.0% | 9.2% | 9.4% | 9.6% | 8.6% | 29.7% | 20.6% | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5.5% | — |
7  Atlanta Hawksvia NO | 6.8% | 7.1% | 7.5% | 7.9% | 19.8% | 35.6% | 13.8% | 1.4% | <0.1% | 6.4% | — |
8  Dallas Mavericks | 6.7% | 7.0% | 7.4% | 7.8% | 32.9% | 31.1% | 6.6% | 0.4% | <0.1% | 6.9% | — |
9  Chicago Bulls | 4.5% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 5.7% | 50.8% | 25.9% | 3.0% | 0.1% | <0.1% | 8.0% | — |
10  Milwaukee Bucks | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.6% | 4.0% | 65.9% | 19.0% | 1.2% | <0.1% | <0.1% | 9.2% | — |
11  Golden State Warriors | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 77.6% | 12.6% | 0.4% | <0.1% | — | 10.3% | — |
12  Oklahoma City Thundervia LAC | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 86.1% | 6.7% | 0.1% | — | — | 11.4% | — |
13  Miami Heat | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 92.9% | 2.3% | — | — | — | 12.5% | — |
14  Charlotte Hornets | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 97.6% | — | — | — | — | 13.7% | — |
Sources verified across Tankathon, ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA.com. Pick-1 odds for picks 1-4 are drawn by lottery; picks 5-14 fall in inverse standings order among teams that didn’t jump into the top four.
Fourteen Teams, Fourteen Balls, One Thousand Combinations
The NBA Draft Lottery decides only the top four picks. Picks five through fourteen fall in inverse regular-season standings order among the teams that did not jump into the top four. Picks fifteen through thirty go to playoff teams in inverse finishing order.
The mechanic is fourteen numbered ping-pong balls and one thousand combinations. Of the 1,001 possible four-ball combinations, one is reserved as a redo and ignored; the remaining 1,000 are distributed to the fourteen lottery teams in proportion to their odds. The bottom three teams each receive 140 combinations — a flat 14% chance at the number-one pick — after the league flattened the lottery in 2019 to discourage tanking.
On lottery night, four balls are drawn one at a time. The unordered set of four numbers maps to a team. Four picks are awarded this way, with redraws if a combination points to a team that has already won a top-four pick. Once the top four are set, picks five through fourteen are filled out by reverse standings.
Tiebreakers are resolved before lottery night. When two teams finish with identical records, the league holds a coin-flip-equivalent random drawing to determine which seed each team takes. Both tied seats receive the same odds, but the seeding still matters for picks five through fourteen and for the second round.
Our simulator samples directly from the cumulative combination distribution rather than animating fourteen physical balls. The statistical outcome is identical: the chance any team lands at any pick matches the league’s published odds to within rounding error.
Frequently Asked
- When is the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery?
- Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET. The drawing takes place at McCormick Place in Chicago and is broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN App.
- Who has the best odds at the #1 pick?
- Three teams are tied at 14% — the Washington Wizards (17-65), the Indiana Pacers (19-63), and the Brooklyn Nets (20-62). The NBA flattened the lottery in 2019 so the bottom three records share identical odds.
- How many teams are in the lottery?
- Fourteen — the fourteen NBA teams that missed the playoffs. Picks 15 through 30 go to playoff teams in reverse playoff finishing order.
- What happens if my team doesn’t jump into the top 4?
- You pick in inverse standings order among the ten lottery teams that didn’t jump. The team with the worst record that didn’t move up gets pick 5, second-worst gets pick 6, and so on.
- How do tiebreakers work?
- Teams that tie on regular-season record get the same lottery odds — but the league holds a random drawing to decide which seed each team takes. The seeding still matters for picks 5–14 and second-round order. For 2026, Utah won the drawing over Sacramento at 22-60, and Atlanta won over Dallas at 26-56.
- Can the Charlotte Hornets really win the #1 pick?
- Yes — they have a 0.5% chance at #1 and a 2.4% chance at any top-four pick. Improbable but live. The Hornets are the 14th seed because, of the lottery teams, they had the best regular-season record.
- What is the difference between a draft lottery and a mock draft?
- The lottery determines the order in which teams pick. A mock draft is your prediction of which player each team takes once the order is known. Our mock draft simulator launches alongside the lottery — turn any lottery result into a mock draft from your own big board.