How the NBA draft order was impacted by league's tiebreaking process
How the NBA draft order was impacted by league's tiebreaking process
Bryan Kalbrosky, USA TODAYTue, April 21, 2026 at 5:16 PM UTC
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How the NBA draft order was impacted by league's tiebreaking process
The league officially decided several crucial tiebreakers between teams on Monday, April 20 before the NBA draft lottery is held on May 10 in Chicago.
While the process is often referred to as a coin flip between teams that finished with the exact same record to determine the draft order, it is actually random number drawings conducted by the league. The tiebreakers between picks 15 through 60 are the official draft order. There were six total tiebreakers in the 2026 NBA Draft.
However, tiebreakers between teams picking in the lottery will not become set in stone until the draft lottery is concluded next month. Here were the most interesting results.
1 / 0See NBA mock draft first‑round projections
1. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa TEAM: BYU | POSITION: Wing | BORN: Massachusetts | HEIGHT: 6-9 | DRAFT AGE: 19 – The Wizards have the second-worst offense in the NBA and could instantly inject life into their offense by selecting AJ Dybantsa, the NCAA scoring champion and Julius Erving Award winner. He emphasized that point during his one game for BYU in March Madness, putting up 35 points and 10 rebounds. The Big 12 Rookie of the Year led the nation in unassisted points scored (680) by a wide margin this season, per CBB Analytics. The emerging star also had 40 points against Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament on March 10 and averaged 28.8 points per game over his final 17 appearances.
Biggest winner from the draft order tiebreakers
The Utah Jazz walked away as the team that benefited the most from this process.
They won the tiebreaker over the Sacramento Kings and will now have the fourth-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
With the fourth-best odds, the lowest the Jazz can pick in this class is now No. 8 overall. However, if they lost the tiebreaker and had the fifth-best odds, they would have had a 0.6 percent chance of falling to No. 9 overall.
That is significant because they traded a top-8 protected pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a Derrick Favors salary dump.
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Now, it went from unlikely to impossible that Oklahoma City can get this pick from Utah. The Jazz now owe the Thunder a second-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.
What other lottery teams benefited from the tiebreaking process?
While the Jazz were the most impactful winners, others benefited from the tiebreakers as well.
The New Orleans Pelicans (who owe the better pick between their own and the Milwaukee Bucks pick to the Atlanta Hawks due to the Derik Queen trade) won the tiebreaker for the seventh-best odds over the Dallas Mavericks.
This means the Hawks improved their chances at a top-four pick via the Pelicans from 28.9 percent to 29.3 percent.
Which non-lottery teams benefited from the tiebreaking process?
The following picks were also determined via the NBA's tiebreakers:
The 16th pick goes to the Memphis Grizzlies, via Phoenix Suns
The 17th pick goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder, via Philadelphia 76ers
The 18th pick goes to the Charlotte Hornets, via Orlando Magic
The 19th pick goes to the Toronto Raptors
The 20th pick goes to the San Antonio Spurs, via Atlanta Hawks
The 22nd pick goes to the Philadelphia 76ers, via Houston Rockets
The 23rd pick goes to the Atlanta Hawks, via Cleveland Cavaliers
The 24th pick goes to the New York Knicks
The 25th pick goes to the Los Angeles Lakers
The 2026 NBA Draft is held in Brooklyn, New York on June 23 and June 24 at the Barclays Center.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: How NBA tiebreaking process reshaped draft order
Source: “AOL Sports”
