In a season filled with moral victories, the Washington Wizards got a dose of good news after the results from Saturday's slate of games
Don't look now, but the Washington Wizards' odds to land the top overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft took another step in the right direction after Saturday's slate of games.
The Wizards suffered their 11th consecutive loss on Saturday night after falling by 11 points against the Boston Celtics in what proved to be a game they were outmatched for the first 36 minutes, unable to trim the deficit back to single digits in their late fourth quarter comeback efforts. But the latest loss may have helped Washington in the end.
On the other side of the country were the Sacramento Kings taking down the Los Angeles Clippers, 118-109, behind a strong first half - and Kawhi Leonard going down with a sprained ankle - to pick up their third win in four games.
That recent spurt of success has pushed Sacramento to 17-51 overall while Washington's latest loss moved the team to 16-50 this season, giving the Wizards the second best odds to land the top overall pick, per Tankathon.
Washington still drew a 52.1% chance to earn a top four overall pick while they join the Kings and Indiana Pacers with a 14% to land the top overall pick, but the Wizards also have a chance to see the slide continue with a tough slate of games through the final month of the regular season.
Washington is set to face Golden State on Monday with the next five games against four opponents all safely in the current outlook of the NBA playoffs.
Per Tankathon, Washington also has the fourth-toughest schedule remaining with the upcoming opponents combining for a .535 win percentage this season. Ironically, the Pacers are one of the three teams alongside the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns who own a tougher upcoming stretch of games to close the regular season with Indiana reeling after their NBA Finals finish a year ago.
Yet with 16 regular season games remaining, Washington is inching closer toward a position to add an impact piece to a revamped roster that is now headlined by Trae Young and Anthony Davis, who has yet to make his debut, alongside the young core. Of course, the lottery luck will still need to fall Washington's way as they hope for the top overall pick for the first time since drafting John Wall in 2010. But in a season filled with moral victories, the Wizards could be inching closer toward their biggest and most important of them all with 16 games left in the 2025-26 regular season.
Sunday will prove another critical day with the Kings back in action at home against the Utah Jazz, who sit fifth in the Tankathon standings at 20-47 overall.