For the second straight year, the Dallas Mavericks have a chance to land a quality pick in the NBA draft.
The Mavericks are currently slotted at No. 8 after finishing the 2025-26 season with a 26-56 mark. Dallas and New Orleans finished the campaign with the same record, but the Pelicans got the seventh-best odds after the NBA broke a tie between the teams.
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Going into Sunday’s lottery reveal, Dallas has a 29% chance to move into the draft’s top four and 6.7% chance to land the No. 1 overall pick. Last year, Dallas won the lottery and eventually used the pick on rookie sensation Cooper Flagg. Can the Mavericks add to their stretch of good luck from 2025?
Here’s a look at what fans should know about the weekend’s draft lottery reveal:
How to watch the 2026 NBA draft lottery reveal
Date: Sunday, May 10
Time: 2 p.m.
TV: ABC
A look at the NBA draft’s current lottery order
Rank
Team
Record
Chance to land a top 4 pick (based on current position)
Chance to land the No. 1 pick
1
17-65
52.1%
14.0%
2
19-63
52.1%
14.0%
3
20-62
52.1%
14.0%
4
22-60
45.2%
11.5%
5
22-60
45.2%
11.5%
6
25-57
37.2%
9.0%
7
Atlanta Hawks (from New Orleans Pelicans)
26-56 (Pelicans’ record)
29.3%
6.8%
8
Dallas Mavericks
26-56
29.0%
6.7%
9
31-51
20.3%
4.5%
10
32-50
13.9%
3.0%
11
37-45
9.4%
2.0%
12
Oklahoma City Thunder (from Los Angeles Clippers)
42-40 (Clippers’ record)
7.1%
1.5%
13
43-39
4.8%
1.0%
14
44-38
2.4%
0.5%
How does the NBA draft lottery work?
Here’s a breakdown from our Mike Curtis from last year’s lottery:
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Fourteen ping-pong balls, numbered 1-14, are placed in a hopper, with the potential for 1,001 different four-ball draws. Each team is assigned a certain number of combinations based on their final record.
At least three four-number combinations will be drawn, slotting teams with picks Nos. 1-3 in this year’s draft.
In the event that a team has one of its combinations drawn more than once, the balls are drawn again until three different teams have been determined.
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