The NBA teams that accidentally tanked for nothing

For the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls, their miserable 2025-26 seasons paid off Sunday at the 2026 NBA draft lottery. The Wizards landed the No. 1 overall pick, the Jazz got the No. 2 pick, the Grizzlies got the No. 3 pick and the Bulls got the No. 4 pick. All four are now in line to land franchise-changing prospects in the star-studded 2026 draft.

That quartet didn’t go into the lottery with the best odds of landing a top-four pick, though. The Wizards and Jazz both had at least a 40-percent chance of snagging one, but the Grizzlies were more likely to land at either No. 7 or No. 8 than they were to jump into the top four. The Bulls, meanwhile, had only about a 20-percent chance of moving up that high.

Their gain was other teams’ loss. The following three teams in particular may now be wondering whether their wasted 2025-26 campaigns were worth it.

Indiana Pacers

When Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers were effectively condemned to have a gap year in 2025-26.

That part went according to plan. The Pacers finished 19-63, which was the second-worst record in the league. They entered the draft lottery with a 14-percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 52.1-percent chance of snagging a top-four selection. At worst, they could fall no lower than No. 6.

However, the Pacers decided to gamble at this year’s trade deadline. Despite knowing they were in line for at worst a mid-lottery pick, and potentially much more, Indy traded a conditional 2026 first-rounder along with a fully unprotected 2029 first-rounder, plus Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and a 2028 second-round pick, to the Los Angeles Clippers for veteran center Ivica Zubac.

The Clippers would only receive the Pacers’ 2026 pick if it fell between Nos. 5-9. Otherwise, L.A. would get the Pacers’ unprotected 2031 first-round pick instead.

On Sunday, the lottery broke in the Clippers’ favor. And the Pacers now have to hope that Zubac is worth more than the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft along with their fully unprotected 2029 first-rounder.

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets didn’t even bother trying to assemble a competitive roster in 2025-26; they were Process Sixers-esque in that regard. Their reward for punting on the season? Despite entering the lottery with the third-best odds and a 52.1-percent chance of landing a top-four pick, they tumbled three spots to No. 6.

This draft class is deep enough that they should still be able to find an impact prospect at that spot. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer and Caleb Wilson figure to be off the board by then, but at least one of Kingston Flemings and Darius Acuff Jr. will be available.

The bad news is that the top prospects outside of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer and Wilson are all point guards. The Nets just spent multiple first-round picks on point guards last year. That shouldn’t dissuade them from taking the best available player at No. 6, but it could result in some additional roster shuffling.

The worse news is that the NBA appears hell-bent on overhauling the lottery structure next year. Under the proposal that’s currently being considered, no team would have greater than an 8.1-percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, and the teams with the three worst records would only have a 5.4-percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick and a 28-percent chance of getting a top-five pick, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic.

So, the Nets aren’t getting a shot at one of the franchise-changing prospects at the top of this year’s draft, and they’ll have far less incentive to punt on next season if the NBA adopts its proposed lottery reform. Their path out of the league’s basement will soon be far more treacherous than it seemed a month or two ago.

Sacramento Kings

Unlike the Pacers and Nets, the Sacramento Kings didn’t go into the 2025-26 season intending to be terrible. They just put together a roster that didn’t fit together at all.

Domantas Sabonis played only 19 games due to a meniscus injury, while Keegan Murray played only 23 because of ankle and thumb injuries. With those two sidelined for most of the year, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Russell Westbrook weren’t able to keep the Kings afloat.

Sacramento began tearing down its roster at the trade deadline by sending Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder to the Cleveland Cavaliers for De’Andre Hunter. They seemed likely to continue selling off their veterans for parts this offseason, at least prior to the NBA’s proposed lottery reform.

That would have been an easier sell had the Kings landed a top-three or top-four pick. Instead, they fell to No. 7 despite entering the lottery with the fifth-best odds. Now, the Kings could be heading into a full-scale rebuild without a clear face-of-the-franchise prospect.

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