NBA Number One Draft Picks by Year (Recent List)

The most recent NBA number one overall pick is Cooper Flagg, taken by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2025 draft. He followed Zaccharie Risacher in 2024 and Victor Wembanyama in 2023, two of the most hyped prospects of the decade.

The first pick is not simply handed to the worst team. It is decided by the draft lottery, a weighted draw among the teams that miss the playoffs. Below is the recent year-by-year list of number one picks, the famous names and the busts, and how the lottery actually works. Figures are current through the 2025 draft.

Recent NBA number one overall picks

Here are the number one overall picks from 2010 through 2025, with the team that selected each.

Year	Player	Team
2025	Cooper Flagg	Dallas Mavericks
2024	Zaccharie Risacher	Atlanta Hawks
2023	Victor Wembanyama	San Antonio Spurs
2022	Paolo Banchero	Orlando Magic
2021	Cade Cunningham	Detroit Pistons
2020	Anthony Edwards	Minnesota Timberwolves
2019	Zion Williamson	New Orleans Pelicans
2018	Deandre Ayton	Phoenix Suns
2017	Markelle Fultz	Philadelphia 76ers
2016	Ben Simmons	Philadelphia 76ers
2015	Karl-Anthony Towns	Minnesota Timberwolves
2014	Andrew Wiggins	Cleveland Cavaliers
2013	Anthony Bennett	Cleveland Cavaliers
2012	Anthony Davis	New Orleans Hornets
2011	Kyrie Irving	Cleveland Cavaliers
2010	John Wall	Washington Wizards

Cleveland took three number one picks in four years from 2011 to 2014, more than any other franchise in that span, though only Irving became a long-term star for them.

The famous first picks

Some number ones define an era. LeBron James went first to his hometown Cleveland in 2003 and became arguably the greatest player of his generation. Shaquille O’Neal (1992) and Tim Duncan (1997) each anchored multiple championship teams, and Allen Iverson (1996) built a Hall of Fame career on scoring alone.

The pick can transform a franchise overnight, which is exactly why teams chase it. Anthony Davis (2012), Karl-Anthony Towns (2015) and Anthony Edwards (2020) all became All-NBA regulars, and Wembanyama arrived in 2023 with more hype than any prospect since James. For where these players rank on the numbers, see our list of the most points in NBA history, a leaderboard several number ones sit near the top of.

The busts that haunt the lottery

For every LeBron there is a cautionary tale. Anthony Bennett, the 2013 top pick, is the name most often reached for: he never found a role and washed out of the league within a few seasons. Greg Oden (2007) had the talent but not the knees, and injuries ended what might have been a great career. Kwame Brown (2001) and Michael Olowokandi (1998) round out the list of first picks who never came close to justifying the selection.

The lesson teams keep relearning is that the number one pick guarantees potential, not production. A franchise can bottom out for a season, win the lottery, and still get the wrong player.

How the draft lottery works

The lottery exists to stop teams from losing on purpose. Introduced in 1985 — Patrick Ewing to the New York Knicks was the first pick decided this way — it hands the top selections to a weighted draw rather than straight to the worst record.

The 14 non-playoff teams enter. Since a 2019 reform, the three worst teams share equal 14 percent odds at the number one pick, a deliberate flattening so that finishing dead last no longer offers the best shot. The top four picks come out of the draw; the rest of the first round follows reverse standings order. It means the team picking first is often not the team that finished bottom, which reshapes every rebuild.

One last piece of trivia the lottery can’t explain away: in 1984, the number one pick was Hakeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan went third. Getting the first pick right is hard, and even the picks after it can rewrite history.

Think you can spot a future number one? Test your knowledge with Guess the NBA Player, or see which first picks turned into franchise cornerstones in our list of the most NBA championships by a player. Cooper Flagg is the newest name on the list, and the next number one is only a lottery draw away.