The 2026 NBA draft lottery is almost here, which means you and a lot of basketball fans probably have a lot of questions about the annual event. We have the answers. Last year, the Mavericks stunningly won the draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance of winning, and they used their pick on Duke product Cooper Flagg . What lucky—and unlucky—surprises could be in store for teams this May? Who are some of the top prospects expecting to hear their name called in the draft? SI answers is our AI answer engine trained on human-created content. Here’s all you need to know about the NBA draft lottery. When is the NBA draft lottery? The 2026 NBA draft lottery will take place at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 10 in Chicago. The lottery is over a month before the actual NBA draft, which will get underway in mid-June. The first round of the draft is on Tuesday, June 23 and the second round is on Wednesday, June 24. How to watch NBA draft lottery The draft lottery will be nationally broadcast on ABC and ESPN.…