The Bucks are in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery; here’s what to know

The 2026 draft lottery results – for the Bucks and potential trade partners – will be another step for the organization going forward.

Here is what you need to know about the 2026 NBA Draft lottery:

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When is the 2026 NBA Draft lottery?

The lottery will be held Sunday, May 10, at 2 p.m. (Central) at McCormick Place convention center in Chicago. It will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on the ESPN app. Representatives for the 14 eligible teams will be on stage as the results are revealed.

How does the NBA draft lottery work?

League officials, representatives from teams and some objective media members will be sequestered in a room where the ping-pong balls are drawn.

There are 1,001 ping-pong combinations. Teams are assigned 1,000 combinations with the 1,001st − 11-12-13-14 − resulting in a “pick again” scenario if it were drawn.

Balls numbered 1-14 are placed into a machine.

All 14 teams are assigned a certain number of the four-ball combinations, corresponding to their odds.

For example, since the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards each have a 14% chance at the first overall pick, they each have 140 combinations.

The Bucks, with a 3% chance at the first overall pick, have 30 combinations.

If a team's designated combo came up after it had already won a pick, it would result in a redraw.

Only the top four picks are determined by the NBA draft lottery, however. The remainder of picks 5-14 will be in inverse order of the teams' finish (with tiebreakers) in the regular season.

Can the Milwaukee Bucks win the No. 1 NBA draft pick?

Technically, yes.

The Bucks would be the team called for the No. 1 selection if their combination was picked. That is because of the way the NBA categorizes trades, however. The No. 1 pick would be swapped with New Orleans because of the 2020 Jrue Holiday day trade. But, Atlanta owns the pick following a 2025 draft day trade with the Pelicans.

So, the Bucks can win the lottery but they cannot pick No. 1 overall.

Representatives of the NBA teams walk onto the stage during the 2025 NBA Draft lottery at McCormick Place in Chicago.

What is the best pick the Bucks can have?

The best-case scenario for Milwaukee is for New Orleans to win the No. 1 pick, of which it has 6.8% chance of doing. That means the Bucks can keep their original selection, which could be as high as No. 2. Milwaukee holds a 3.3% chance of winning the No. 2 pick.

The last time they held that spot in a draft, they selected Jabari Parker in 2014.

Can the Bucks really get that lucky?

Yes.

Since the NBA flattened the lottery odds in 2019 to where the worst teams shared a 14% chance, there has been some wild variance in the lottery. As intended, the teams with the worst records did not always win the top pick.

2025: Dallas had a 1.8% chance at winning the No. 1 pick and they did, selecting eventual Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg.

2024: Atlanta had a 3% chance at winning the top pick and did, drafting Zaccharie Rissacher.

2019: New Orleans had a 6% chance at winning the No. 1 pick and did, drafting Zion Williamson.

From 2020-23, a team with a 14% chance (but not necessarily with the worst record in the league) did win the top selection.

2023: San Antonio (Victor Wembanyama) tied for the second-worst record in the league.

2022: Orlando (Paolo Banchero) had the second-worst record.

2021: Detroit (Cade Cunningham) had the second-worst record.

2020: Minnesota (Anthony Edwards) had the third-worst record.

Isn’t the NBA changing the lottery?

Yes, but not for this draft.

Commissioner Adam Silver decided “tanking” was something the league had to correct after this season, so the league is debating different iterations of the lottery. Several of those proposals include flattening the odds even further, expanding the number of teams to include those which lost in the play-in tournament and even lowering the odds of the worst-performing teams.

The board of governors must approve of any changes, and a vote on any changes will be held May 28. This is so teams know the new rules as they look to make trades of future draft choices.

When is the 2026 NBA Draft?

The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft is June 23 and starts at 7 p.m. (Central) and will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN. The second round is June 24 and starts at 7 p.m. (Central) and will be broadcast on ESPN.

The draft is held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks are in 2026 NBA Draft lottery; here’s what to know