{"id":611187,"date":"2026-04-16T17:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611187\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:49:13","slug":"nba-draft-standings-solidifying-as-play-in-games-wrap-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611187\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Draft Standings Solidifying as Play-In Games Wrap Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5e\">This year\u2019s iteration of the NBA Play-In tournament has been a wild success, issuing several tightly-contested games that have ended in fireworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5h\">Both of Wednesday\u2019s games were competitive, with the 76ers\u2019 pressing the gas late on the Magic, and the Warriors using an Al Hoford and Stephen Curry-fueled run to eliminate the Clippers. Tuesday\u2019s games saw the Hornets outlast the Heat in a thrilling overtime bout, and the Trail Blazers punch their ticket to the postseason as the seven-seed.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">PLAYOFF STEPH AVOIDS ELIMINATION \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n<p>35 POINTS IN WARRIORS WIN \ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cDzshGaAdT\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/cDzshGaAdT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsCenter\/status\/2044639860955152398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">Now, only two Play-In games remain, one in each conference, with the winners locking themselves into the Playoffs and the losers going home.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">Alongside all of the Play-In action, the standings for the 2026 NBA Draft have also started to materialize.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">With the end of the regular season, the top 10 teams in the reverse standings were officially locked into their spots. The Wizards owned the worst record in the league with just 17 wins, following by the Pacers and Nets, who helped to own the coveted 14% chance at a top pick. The Jazz and Kings both finish tied for fourth, issuing an eventual coin flip, with the Grizzlies close in tow at No. 6. The Hawks, picking via the Pelicans, finished tied with Dallas with 26 wins, and the Bulls and Bucks capped things off at No. 9 and 10, respectively.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">Now, via the Play-In, we also have more information on the late-lottery.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">So far, both the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder \u2014 picking via the Clippers \u2014 have been locked into lottery spots. Their official position isn\u2019t set just yet, with Miami having the option to go as high as No. 12, or as low as No. 14. The Thunder will sit at No. 11 with a Warriors\u2019 postseason berth, and No. 12 should Phoenix muscle its way in.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\">The remaining two Play-In games will officially lock in the reverse standings. Any four of the remaining Play-In teams could soon own lottery picks, though both the Suns and Magic\u2019s picks will convey to Memphis and Charlotte, making things even more interesting.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">On the other side, the 76ers and Trail Blazers are offically postseason teams, with the former conveying to Oklahoma City at either No. 17 or 18, and the latter conveying to the Chicago Bulls at No. 15, a big win for Chicago.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">The 2026 NBA Draft has been lauded as one of the best in some time, offering three No. 1-level talents, and depth throughout the lottery and first round. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s iteration of the NBA Play-In tournament has been a wild success, issuing several tightly-contested games that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-611187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}