There's no denying that the Washington Wizards start to the season has not been hard to watch for not just fans of the Wizards, but fans of the NBA as a whole.
Sitting at the bottom of the standings with a league-worst 6-32 record, the Wizards are currently sitting in the driver seat in the race for the No. 1 overall draft pick as the season continues to unfold. And while fans will have to wait until the NBA Draft in the offseason to officially find out who their next cornerstone will be, they may be able to get some clarity sooner than originally expected.
As the season continues to unfold. majority of team continue to fight for a chance to compete in the NBA playoffs come April and May. As for Washington, the ship for the Wizards to make the playoffs has long sailed after the slow start top the year.
Although the postseason will have most of the hype around that time, the Wizards and other lottery bound teams will have their eyes set on the NBA Draft lottery set to take place on May 12th.
On that date, Washington will find out their draft pick in the upcoming draft and NBA prospects, especially top options such as Cooper Flagg will get a better idea of where their fate lands as they plan to enter the league.
How does the NBA Draft Lottery work?
The Wizards by no means will be guaranteed the top pick in the upcoming draft. The NBA Draft Lottery truly is the luck of the draw, but with a bit better odds for teams with the worst records. For example, the top teams with the worst record will get a 14% chance at the top pick, while the fourth best team gets 12.5% and the fifth would get 10.5% and so on.
That said, the lottery doesn't always end as expected, which could be Wizards fans biggest fear as they hope Cooper Flagg is repping Washington D.C. in 2025. Last offseason, the Atlanta Hawks earned the top pick despite having a 3% chance to pick No. 1 overall.
However, going off what is expected and what is most likely to happen, the Wizards as of now are the team positioned to land Duke's freshman sensation. With Flagg in Washington paired alongside Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and Carlton "Bub" Carrington, the team's young core will be in good hands moving forward.
Nonetheless, the date fans of the Wizards need to be looking forward to is May 12th.