After finishing the 2025-26 regular season with a record of 56-26, the Boston Celtics entered Sunday afternoon's NBA Draft Lottery as mere spectators. But, as far as their reported pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is concerned, Boston got a lot of luck with the way the lottery panned out. 

The Celtics have two picks in the 2026 NBA Draft, which takes place in Brooklyn beginning on June 23. As a result of their regular-season record, Boston holds the No. 27 pick in the first round of the draft. They also own Milwaukee's second-rounder, No. 40 overall, thanks to a Draft Day deal with the Orlando Magic in 2025.

As far as how the results of the lottery impacted the Celtics' reported pursuit of the two-time MVP, there were few teams that fared better. 

This year's lottery featured plenty of teams on the verge of being contenders, like the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, and Atlanta Hawks, all three of whom have been linked to potential deals for Antetokounmpo. As for Milwaukee itself, which missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years in 2026, we'll start with them. 

The key detail in the Antetokounmpo trade saga is that Milwaukee has not yet decided whether to move on from its superstar forward, with co-owner Jimmy Haslam telling reporters the team will decide on its big man's future before the NBA Draft. 

Antetokounmpo values winning above all else and wants to be in a place where he can compete for his second NBA championship. Milwaukee's path back to prominence didn't get any easier as the ping pong balls bounced. The Bucks entered the lottery with the No. 10 pick, and that is where they remained. 

While this draft class is viewed as being much deeper than past classes, Milwaukee remains out of reach of the true franchise-changing talent that may be necessary to sway Antetokounmpo to stay. 

Atlanta acquired a 2026 unprotected pick as part of a 2025 Draft night trade with New Orleans in exchange for the rights to Maryland big man Derik Queen. New Orleans missed the playoffs, handing Atlanta a lottery pick, which landed at No. 8 in Sunday afternoon's lottery, a one-spot slide from where New Orleans ended the season. 

Miami and Golden State both were in the 2026 play-in tournament, losing before the main playoff bracket. And they feature varying degrees of closing windows. Both are hot in their pursuit of Milwaukee's superstar, and could have used some lottery luck as they look to improve their assets to potentially send the Bucks way in a potential deal. Once again, the ping pong balls were not in their favor, as both remained in their initial draft slot. Golden State will own the No. 11 pick, while Miami will select at No. 13. 

Unless Boston is willing to include a superstar of their own in Jaylen Brown, it will likely be an uphill battle to offer the necessary assets to acquire the services of the former back-to-back MVP, unless, of course, the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo decides that Boston is his preferred destination. But the fact that every other contender for Antetokounmpo's services did not see major boosts to their war chest can only be viewed as a positive in Boston's pursuit. 

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