Celtics Benefited From 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Results

The Giannis Sweepstakes

The juiciest storyline hanging over the Celtics’ offseason is the possibility of a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

After 13 seasons, Antetokounmpo appears to be on his way out of the Milwaukee Bucks organization. He and the Bucks have been the subject of speculation about a potential split for years. With Milwaukee’s supporting cast dwindling around him, it’s likely in the best interest of both parties to go their separate ways.

So what does the lottery have to do with that?

This year’s draft order largely favored rebuilding teams, which matters in a potential bidding war. Had middle-tier teams needing an upgrade, such as the Warriors, Heat, or Hawks, jumped into the top five, they would’ve gained a premium trade asset to outbid the Celtics.

Instead, the top of the draft order consists of teams still focused on long-term development. Those late-lottery selections are still trade chips, but there’s a significant drop-off in the value of those picks.

One notable exception could be the Clippers, who are a wild card. Los Angeles is still searching for direction as it continues to move on from the failed Kawhi Leonard–Paul George experiment. The Clippers have made moves in the past year to give them more long-term flexibility. One of those moves, trading Ivica Zubac, helped them land the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft. But with Leonard coming off arguably the best regular season of his career, the Clips could target Antetokounmpo for one last push before truly resetting.

Ultimately, the Celtics may never seriously pursue Antetokounmpo. But with no rival suitors gaining a major advantage in the lottery, they remained in a good position in case they choose to go that route.

The East Is Up For Grabs

There was a scenario in which the lottery could’ve made the postseason landscape much more dangerous.

The Pacers entered the night with a 52.1% chance to land a top-four pick. While Boston and Indiana have developed a friendly rivalry in recent years, the Pacers adding any of the top talents in this year’s draft would’ve been trouble. Instead, Indiana lost the pick entirely because it fell outside of their top-four protection.

Once Tyrese Haliburton fully recovers from the injury that sidelined him for the entire 2026 season, the Pacers will be back in the mix, but their missing out on a top pick was a break for the Celtics.

For similar reasons to the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes argument, having dangerous conference rivals such as the Hawks and Heat remain in the back half of the lottery is beneficial.

The Wizards landing the No. 1 pick is intriguing, given their trade-deadline acquisitions of Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Washington has veteran top-end talent on their roster, but the supporting cast consists almost entirely of unproven youth. With an intriguing combination of assets, the Wizards are another team to keep an eye on this summer. However, if the Celtics are who they believe they are, Washington should not be a true threat — at least not yet.

Lastly, even from the Western Conference, the Thunder are on everyone’s radar. The defending champions are on another potential Finals run and are well-equipped to become the NBA’s next dynasty. While owning the Clippers’ first-round pick, they could have become even scarier. They still landed a lottery pick, 12th overall, which could be an asset — just not quite as valuable as one that could’ve landed them one of the class’s most elite prospects.

None of the Celtics’ top competitors saw game-breaking luck in the lottery — a win, considering the other issues they already need to solve.

Danny Ainge Lands No. 2 Pick

An old friend emerged as one of the lottery’s biggest winners: Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge.

Ainge spent eight seasons as a player in Boston, winning two championships, before later serving as the franchise’s president of basketball operations from 2003 to 2021. During that stretch, he assembled the 2008 title team and later orchestrated the franchise-altering trade that ultimately helped Boston land both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Now running the Jazz, Ainge controls the No. 2 overall pick.

Despite winning just 22 games last season, Utah has shown it wants to pivot toward competing sooner rather than later. Last offseason, Austin Ainge, Danny’s son and current Jazz executive, stated that they were done tanking. That did not end up being the case, as Utah was one of the faces of tanking this past season. But even then, they traded for two-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr.

With that in mind, the Jazz are one of the more interesting teams to monitor this offseason. With a pair of former All-Stars in Jackson and Lauri Markkanen still entering their athletic primes, Utah may be ready to make a push.

The Jazz may not fire off phone calls to other teams about moving that No. 2 pick, but the Celtics have assets to make those calls to Ainge — especially if the rumblings with Brown wanting out are true. A framework that sends him back to the executive who drafted him while bringing the No. 2 pick to Boston in pursuit of Massachusetts native AJ Dybantsa certainly passes the narratives test.

It’s a long shot, but there is a world in which the two teams could solve one another’s problems. If the Celtics choose to get cheaper and younger, Ainge and the Jazz will likely be one of the first calls made.

Conclusion

For a team without a direct stake in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery, the Celtics still had plenty riding on how the ping pong balls bounced.

In the end, things broke about as favorably as Boston could have hoped.

That doesn’t solve the bigger issues facing the franchise after an early playoff exit. But as the Celtics enter what could be one of their most important offseasons of the 21st century, the lottery at least removed a few potential obstacles from their path.