The absolute biggest losers of the NBA Draft Lottery: Rebuilds losing momentum

The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery featured plenty of movement. The Washington Wizards won the No. 1 overall pick after posting the league’s worst overall record, but Indiana and Brooklyn — with the very same odds — both fell three spots.

Here is the finalized order atop the 2026 NBA Draft.

Now, let’s dive into the teams who got the shortest end of the stick.

Indiana Pacers

Indiana was willing to tempt fate, which is a dangerous game. The Pacers tanked hard in their Tyrese Haliburton gap year, but attempted to thread the needle by trading a top-four protected pick (and more) to the Clippers for Ivica Zubac.

Zubac is an incredible player and he should help the Pacers win a bunch of games next year, but this is a difficult blow for Indiana. Especially given the lingering uncertainty around Haliburton’s health as he deals with not only his Achilles rehab, but shingles, too.

For the Clippers, the decision to half-smash the reset button pays off. James Harden and Zubac are out, with a star guard in the Darius Acuff or Keaton Wagler very likely coming in. Now the question becomes: Does this top-five pick ever share the floor with Kawhi Leonard?

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets dealt away Cam Johnson and put all their eggs in the lottery basket this past season, only to slide from No. 3 (tied for the best odds) to No. 6. After sliding to No. 8 and whiffing on the Egor Dëmin pick a year ago, this leaves the Brooklyn rebuild in a precarious position.

There isn’t much talent on this Nets roster and their 2027 first-round pick belongs to Houston, so another tank effort would be mute. Brooklyn has the cap space and the trade assets to rebuild on the fly, and Michael Porter Jr. was a pleasant surprise, but Brooklyn is so far from meaningful contention.

This is a deep class, so finding a franchise-caliber superstar at No. 6 isn’t out of the question. It does, however, mean the Nets are probably taking another guard after selecting three guards (and a point center) in the 2025 draft. How exactly Brooklyn balances its roster and charts a rapid path to success is unclear.

Ace Bailey

This is an incredible outcome for the Jazz, but there’s a roster squeeze coming. The Jaren Jackson Jr. trade loads up the frontcourt, with Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler also entrenched as cornerstone pieces. Keyonte George was a borderline All-Star at point guard last season. Now, conventional wisdom suggests that Darryn Peterson will join him in the backcourt.

There will still be a role for Ace Bailey, but Utah has a lot of mouths to feed and an upcoming win-now mandate. Bailey put up big numbers down the stretch, but he feels more suited to fighting it out in a rebuild, not necessarily hitting spot-up 3s as the seventh man on a No. 6 seed.

Maybe a trade benefits him ultimately, but Bailey’s future now has more uncertainty than it did an hour ago.

Onsi Saleh

One of Mikel Brown Jr., Kingston Flemings, Darius Acuff Jr. or Keaton Wagler will fall to Atlanta at No. 8. The Hawks could also address their center position with Aday Mara. This is not a disastrous outcome.

Still, a lot of folks clowned the Pelicans (and crowned the Hawks) for the Derik Queen trade a year ago. Queen was awesome as a rookie, and he’d look especially good in a more competitive context like Atlanta.

If you ask the Hawks who they’d prefer between Queen or Mikel Brown (or Mara, etc.), there’s a good chance Queen is not the answer. But still, this trade feels a lot less lopsided in hindsight, especially if Queen can take a big year-two leap in New Orleans.

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr just landed a new two-year contract to become the highest-paid head coach in the NBA, so he’s probably at home counting his money without a care in the world. His focus is on Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, too, not what happens five or 10 years down the road.

That said, the Dubs were an extremely depressing watch this season. Unless Golden State can win the Giannis sweepstakes, which would’ve been much easier with a top-four pick, odds are the Warriors are a 40-win team fighting for a Play-In spot yet again. Steph is getting older. Draymond has already fallen off the cliff, at least partially.

The Warriors really could’ve used this luck, deserved or not. Kerr is stuck in a downward spiral for the next two years barring a transformative change. But also, never count ’em out.

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