For most fanbases, winning the NBA Draft Lottery is ridiculously exciting. For Washington Wizards fans, what happened on Sunday afternoon—the team was awarded the first selection in this summer’s draft, and with the opportunity to select a franchise-changing talent—it also felt genuinely confu sing. Not in a bad way. More in a wait, are we sure this is real? kind of way. Because good things don’t happen to the Wizards. This is an organization that has spent so long wandering through basketball irrelevance that even its moments of competence now feel half-remembered, like old stories people tell each other at bars. In this century alone, the list of truly joyful Washington moments is alarmingly short. There were the Gilbert Arenas years, when every fourth-quarter heat check felt like a citywide event. There were the John Wall playoff teams, highlighted by a dramatic, last-minute, jump-on-the-scorer’s-table postseason victory over the Boston Celtics … in Game 6 of a second-round series that the Wizards lost in seven. There was the Russell Westbrook experience, a season of furious and chaotic triple-doubles, culminating in a play-in game win and a first-round playoff exit. And also, there was that one time 40-year-old Michael Jordan pinned Ron Mercer’s shot against the backboard with two hands. And that’s it. That’s basically the list. Which is why Monday night hit differently. Represented by their last #1 pick John Wall at the lottery, the basketball gods looked in Washington’s direction and shrugged, sure, why not? So now, for the first time in years, Wizards fans get to do something unfamiliar: argue about a future worth caring about. The two players considered the best in this draft class, BYU forward AJ Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, are both seen as potential franchise saviors, the sort of players worth tanking away an entire season for—which Washington unabashedly just did. Add either of them to a roster that includes Alex Sarr, some other promising young players, and recently-acquired All-Star talents in Anthony Davis and Trae Young, and that just might be a playoff team. Immediately. Of course, there are reasons to be skeptical. Neither Dybantasa nor Peterson are believed to be quite as can’t-miss as Cooper Flagg and Victor Wembanyama, two already-thriving recent No. 1 picks whom the Wizards missed out getting a chance to take after coming up exactly one (!) lottery ping-pong ball short. Moreover, the No. 1 pick is no guarantee of getting a star—remember Kwame Brown? And yes, the lottery is a reward for being absolutely terrible. The Wizards had the best odds of snagging this year’s top pick because they were the league’s worst team; it’s hard to imagine them becoming actually good just a few months from now. Hope can die quickly, and a fanbase that suffered through draft picks like Jan Veseley and Johnny Davis knows that better than anyone. But that’s loser talk! On Sunday, the cursed Washington Wizards finally had a bounce go their way. And for one night, at least, the team’s fans got to taste what it feels like to win something. The post The Wizards Won the No. 1 Pick in the NBA Draft. Seriously. first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less