The Sacramento Kings were one lottery ball off from landing the third overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery. Instead, they\u2019ll be selecting seventh.<\/p>\n
Deuce Mason of NBC Sports Bay Area and The Deuce & Mo Podcast joined Matt George and Kayla Anderson on The Matt & Kayla\u00a0Show\u00a0from Chicago, the day after he was one of the few reporters to witness the real NBA Draft Lottery drawing in person.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going from 14, 13 down,\u201d Mason shared. \u201cThe first draw, that\u2019s who gets the number one pick. And we have a piece of paper that\u2019s got the 1000 combinations that are distributed amongst the lottery teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, Washington was able to get the first pick. The second draw was Utah. The third draw actually happened to be Utah again, so obviously, they don\u2019t get another pick, but in that moment, it\u2019s kind of chaotic. Oh my goodness. Okay, so Sacramento\u2019s got another chance at this. Then, you know, Memphis moves in. The Kings, they were one ball off from picking third.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason continued to say that Sacramento was also one ball off from being fourth overall, but the number three they needed to see pulled didn\u2019t show up.<\/p>\n
The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery order ended up being Washington, Utah, Memphis, Chicago, LA Clippers (via Indiana), Brooklyn, and then Sacramento in seventh. Atlanta (via New Orleans), Dallas, Milwaukee, Golden State, Oklahoma City (via LA Clippers), Miami, and Charlotte rounded out the remaining picks.<\/p>\n
With the Kings not jumping into the top four, while Memphis and Chicago did, they fell two spots from fifth to seventh. General manager Scott Perry obviously would\u2019ve preferred to end up higher, as you could see on his face when the Kings were announced at seven, but Mason reminds everyone that the best players in drafts aren\u2019t always within the first few picks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys who go one through five in the draft three, four years from now, when we look at one through five, I can almost guarantee you that those will not be the best five players in the draft,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery draft. Like you go back to the Bagley, Deandre Ayton draft. Those guys were one two. They\u2019re not the best. (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) went 12 in that draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for Sacramento, can you be the team that finds the guy,\u201d he continued, \u201cObviously you want to be the team that gets the guy that maybe surprises people. It\u2019s bound to happen. And now the Kings\u2019 got to get lucky. And now the work starts immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Check out the full conversation at the top of the page or by heading over to the\u00a0Sactown Sports YouTube channel.<\/a><\/p>\n Listen to\u00a0The Matt & Kayla Show\u00a0from 10 a.m. \u2013 2 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday, on\u00a0Sactown Sports 1140.<\/a><\/p>\n More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports<\/p>\n Upcoming Sacramento Kings & NBA Offseason Schedule<\/p>\n Thursday, June 4th\u2013 NBA Finals begin Thank you for reading\u00a0SactownSports.com<\/a>. Follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Google News<\/a>, and subscribe to our\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n
\nThursday, June 25th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Draft (Round 1)
\nFriday, June 26th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Draft (Round 2)
\nTuesday, June 30th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Free Agency negotiation period begins (3 PM PT)
\nThursday, July 9th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Las Vegas Summer League begins
\nMonday, July 13th\u00a0\u2013 Free Agency moratorium ends \/ signings can become official<\/p>\n