While the Finals roll on, the rest of the league is two weeks from reshaping itself. The 2026 NBA Draft tips off June 23 at Barclays Center, and the Washington Wizards sit on the No. 1 pick after a season miserable enough to earn it.
Washington won the lottery and will make the first selection on June 23, with the draft returning as a two-day event. The Wizards backed into the top pick the hard way, losing 26 of their final 27 games to lock up the best lottery odds.
The prize at the top
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa has been pegged as the likely No. 1 selection, a wing prospect whose arrival in Provo turned the Cougars into a national story.
For a Wizards franchise that has been rebuilding for years, a player of that profile is the kind of foundational talent a long teardown is supposed to produce. The pick is the payoff for all the losing, and the pressure to get it right is enormous.
The board behind him
Utah holds the No. 2 pick and is deep into medical evaluations and pre-draft workouts, sorting through a class scouts consider loaded at the top.
Beyond the lottery, the draft doubles as the unofficial start of trade season, with star names like Giannis Antetokounmpo hovering over the proceedings and contenders weighing whether to cash picks for win-now help.
Why this draft matters more than most
A strong top of the class gives bad teams a real path out, and several rebuilding franchises are positioned to add cornerstone talent at once. The draft is also where the offseason’s biggest trades tend to crystallize, since picks are the currency that makes blockbusters work. Two weeks from now, the bottom of the league could look meaningfully different, and Washington’s choice at No. 1 will set the tone.
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