The NBA’s regular season came to a close Sunday night, ending a weekslong (if not longer) race to the bottom by many of the NBA’s worst teams to position themselves best for May’s draft lottery. While we won’t know the actual draft order for about a month, the locked-in lottery odds (minus a coin flip between Sacramento and Utah for fourth- and fifth-best odds) makes now a good time to project what could be a once-in-a-generation 2026 draft.
Who wins out for the top spot? Here’s a look at Sports Illustrated’s first mock draft:
