The 2026 NBA Draft has come and gone, but it's always worthwhile to reflect on the picks and hauls that might shape the future of the league. Let's examine the teams that excelled and the prospects who landed in ideal situations, alongside those who made puzzling decisions or found themselves in challenging spots.

The Good

This felt like a draft in which teams largely avoided making massive mistakes. That said, many of the prospect-team fits look great. However, there can only be so many standouts when looking to single out teams and players, and these were some of the most obvious ones: 

Memphis Grizzlies

Cameron Boozer (3), Karim Lopez (21), Richie Saunders (32) 

Boozer was the top-ranked prospect on our RealGM board, and getting him at No. 3 is massive for the Grizzlies. Boozer is a pro’s pro, he has an NBA body, and his skillset is severely underrated. He should be an alpha from the second he steps on the court, and he’s going to fit in very nicely between Cedric Coward and Zach Edey. 

The Grizzlies also got another top prospect at No. 21 in Lopez, who was a top-15 player on most boards. Lopez is pretty good at everything you need to do on a basketball court, and he has good size and mobility. He should give Memphis good minutes at both forward spots very soon. 

It’s also hard not to love the Grizzlies drafting Saunders at 32. It might take him some time to get back on the floor after having suffered a torn ACL late in the season for BYU last year. However, Saunders is an A+ shooter that should really thrive playing off Boozer and Edey. 

Atlanta Hawks 

Kingston Flemings (8), Zuby Ejiofor (23), Henri Veesaar (52)

The Hawks were close to landing on the other list. While Flemings should be a very good guard in the NBA, this Atlanta team has passed on some great opportunities to land strong two-way contributors at the center position. That’s exactly what the Hawks had with Aday Mara on the board at No. 8, and that would have been a great direction to go with the team having been bullied by the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

However, Atlanta landed one of the best values of the entire draft in grabbing Veesaar at No. 52. He was a top-20 prospect for some talent evaluators and draft analysts, and his presence makes the Hawks’ draft haul look a heck of a lot better. 

Flemings gives Atlanta a future starting point guard, Ejiofor is an energetic small-ball big that can play right away, and Veesaar is a stretch five with some other strong offensive skills at the center spot. The Hawks continue to move in the right direction. 

Milwaukee Bucks 

Brayden Burries (10), Nate Ament (13), Malique Lewis (60)

Had Ament been the No. 10 pick in the draft for the Bucks, which was what was rumored before the team acquired a second first-round pick, Milwaukee would have been on the other list. However, with the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade netting the Bucks the 13th pick, Milwaukee was able to draft two lottery-level prospects. At No. 10, the Bucks drafted a falling Burries, who has great size at the two, can score at all three levels, and actually gives a damn on defense. Having him makes Milwaukee’s future look much better. Ament also looks much better as a flier towards the end of the lottery than a reach at No. 10. It’s likely he’s never more than just a three-and-D player, but you never know. Either way, Burries is the most important prospect in the organization now. 

Oklahoma City Thunder 

Aday Mara (12), Bennett Stirtz (16), Otega Oweh (41)

It doesn’t seem fair that Oklahoma City continues adding high-level talent in the draft, but Sam Presti is working his magic in the front office and it isn’t stopping anytime soon. And this year’s draft went especially well. After Chet Holmgren got bullied by Victor Wembanyama in the Western Conference Finals, it was clear the Thunder would need to add some size. Well, OKC got the best center in the draft, as Mara is a 7-foot-3 big man that can put a lid on the rim, impact the battle on the boards, and do some intriguing things offensively. 

Stirtz should also be a really good player for the Thunder. He’s an absolute bucket-getter, can knock down triples, and can make plays for others. He was the main guy for an Iowa team that made a deep NCAA Tournament run, and his analytical profile is superb. 

Even Oweh is an interesting addition for Oklahoma City. He really needs to find a way to make some outside shots, but he has an NBA body, can attack the rim, and plays defense. The Thunder will work hard on the jumper to try to make him into a Diet Lu Dort. 

San Antonio Spurs 

Jayden Quaintance (20), Tarris Reed Jr. (26), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (42), Maliq Brown (44)

The Spurs shouldn’t expect much from their second-round picks, but how can you not like what they did with their two firsts? Quaintance’s knee is a huge concern, and it’s likely he’ll need another surgery that will end his 2026-27 season before it begins. However, before he tore his ACL at Arizona State, he was viewed as a potential top-five draft pick. Things only got worse when he transferred to Kentucky, but he’s still a rare athlete and mover for a player his size, giving him All-Defense potential. The idea of him playing with Wembanyama should be terrifying for opponents. 

Until Quaintance does return, Reed is capable of being an instant contributor as a backup big. At UConn, the big man was a dominant force inside, and he’s not going to need to be that in the NBA. He just needs to set hard screens, finish when the ball finds him inside, and work his butt off on the glass. That’s all doable with Reed being an older player, with an NBA body. 

The Spurs just needed to address their frontcourt depth this summer, so grabbing two good bigs was a nice little win, on paper. 

Cameron Carr 

Drafted by Lakers at 24 

Carr was the talk of the 2026 NBA Draft combine, as his athleticism is off the charts and teams were enamored with his 7-foot-0.75 wingspan. Carr also shot the three-ball well at Baylor last season, and he looked very comfortable knocking down jumpers in the combine scrimmages. The issues with Carr are that he’s a little thin and a little raw. However, with his ability to bury triples, catch lobs, and score in transition, he’s a perfect fit as a role player next to Luka Doncic. This is the best basketball situation imaginable for him, and he should end up making a lot of money as long as he works hard to make life easy on the Slovenian. 

The Questionable

Chicago Bulls

Caleb Wilson (4), Dailyn Swain (15) 

In a vacuum, Chicago ended up with a pretty nice haul in the 2026 NBA Draft. Wilson is a freakish athlete, a big-time competitor, and someone that legitimately has the potential to develop into a star. Meanwhile, Swain is a talented wing that can attack downhill and make plays for others. 

The reason the Bulls find themselves on this list is that their core consists of players that don’t fit well with one another. Chicago is really lacking in shooting, and the young guys on this roster lack polish. 

Bryson Graham, the team’s new decision-maker, doesn’t deserve the blame for any of that. He simply took the guys he liked the most, and the Bulls grabbed good players in both draft slots. But will they regret not taking guys that might make some of the other young pieces better? Nobody benefits from being in a rough environment, and some of Chicago’s young players will struggle to develop if the team isn’t playing good basketball. 

Brooklyn Nets

Mikel Brown Jr. (6), Joshua Jefferson (28), Tyler Bilodeau (UCLA) 

The Brown selection at No. 6 is the reason Brooklyn’s haul was somewhat questionable. Brown is an electric shotmaker, capable of feeling it up from deep. He’s also an outrageous pick-and-roll playmaker. However, the back injury that derailed his freshman season is something that could come up again. Brown also lacks the ability to apply significant rim pressure on opponents. On top of that, the Nets had the ability to select Darius Acuff Jr., which would have given them a clear face of the franchise and something to truly excite the fanbase. 

Brown could be a very good pro, but passing on Acuff felt like a mistake. We’ll see how the two look on the basketball court, but Acuff could have given the Nets some much-needed relevance in what is the Summer of the Knicks.