NBA Draft Night 2026

  Historically, I think a lot has to go right for a lot of these offensively skilled smaller guards (in which there were like 5-6 in this first round, a lot compared to other drafts) to all succeed. It'll be interesting to see which ones were the right choices/right spots to land.

 

top 3 winners of the draft. what are your opinions?

So far, after the 1st round?

Charlotte, Memphis, Kings, Spurs are all up there.

Lakers, Jazz, Wizards, Mavs are up there as well. Hawks, too.

Its a deep draft pool, class this year.
And many teams will be addressing their needs.

  Labaron Philon Jr is the steal of the draft for me. Just a very advanced scorer, fantastic ball handler, elite shooter, decent playmaker as well. How many players averaging per 36 minutes: 25.6 pts on 62.6 TS% with 5.8 assists go at pick 22? I am bummed OKC didn't pick him when they went for a guard, I need to watch a lot of Stirtz, but he is 2.5 years older and already had a worse individual season than Labaron last season so... yeah I just think Labaron has All NBA upside, he is special, you can't teach the way he scores and maneuvers around the court.

I think Darryn Peterson is the best player in the draft, and a future MVP.
I don't judge primarily by the college tape because he was clearly not himself, as you can see in the video here with high school stuff that showcases his true potential: https://fromsmash.com/diTgleDKxR-dt -> press the button in the bottom middle to be able to watch the video.

Great horizontal athlete, decent vertical athlete, elite shooter & very advanced scorer, fantastic ball handler, great touch, great defensive instincts & motor, decent playmaker, tough, strong, clutch, great size & length for a guard and a great off-ball player as well, shown by his Reggie Miller playstyle at Kansas. Just the complete package, which you can not say for the other guys in the top 3. My player comparison is a modern era Kobe Bryant -> thus more focus on threes over long twos in his game.

I also like the potential of Mikel Brown Jr, Ebuka Okorie and Cameron Carr who looks like a guard version of Giannis physically with his incredibly long legs relative to his height, and long arms. What happens when he fills out that frame of his like Giannis did? Probably nasty things at the rim.. considering he already did great there in college with that skinny frame.

I think Morez Johnson Jr and Lendeborg are winning players, great defenders. Lendeborg has some late bloomer upside offensively as well, if the shooting is consistent... great all around player.

I like Aday Mara for OKC, you can't teach that size/length, big man passing and inside touch.

Unfortunately I also really like the Spurs picks. Quaintance and Wemby is on paper a disgusting defensive PF and C tandem. It's worth the risk for them. And Tarris Reed Jr is great at all the big man stuff they lacked: rebounds, physicality/strength, interior defense, inside scoring etc...

I like Zuby Ejiofor, 1 inch smaller Bam Adebayo. Winning player.

Keaton Wagler is the enigma of this draft for me, he is hard to figure out. I find him a bit like a "Luka Light", a smaller and weaker Luka that still gets stuff done due to his great positional size, ball handling, timing, decent playmaking & great shooting, but the athleticism and lack of strength is a problem and he isn't as creative a dribbler as Luka is. So the question is, will him adding strength & weight make him a potential All Star? And I am leaning yes, I think he will be great, but it's going to take a while since he is too weak right now, but the talent is there. I think he should play point guard though, he isn't really long for a shooting guard due to his short wingspan, but he is tall for a shooting guard so he will still get better looks to the rim than shorter guards, but at point guard he has good size.
Also the defense is probably not ever going to be good, but if he could become neutral that would be great.

I think Anderson will fit nicely into the Hornets uptempo offense.

And there seems to be a lot of solid players - Flemings, Burries, Steinbach etc...which I have deemed with less upside compared to other players. I haven't watched enough of all of these guys like Graves or DeLarrea, I mainly went deeper into the ones I found more interesting.

 

Pacers have zero picks in this draft. I guess the team they ended the year with, plus Zubac and Haliburton, is the squad next season.

That should be enough to scare Knicks fans

Yup.

A healthy Pacers squad with Haliburton will be back.

 

Pacers have zero picks in this draft. I guess the team they ended the year with, plus Zubac and Haliburton, is the squad next season.

Niether the Pacers nor the TBlazers have picks in this year's draft.
Unless some crazy stuff happens in the 2nd round (take trade offers from another team).

  Quite like the Acuff pick for Sacramento. He looks tailor made for an uptempo offense with scoring and polished playmaking skill.

 

I look at him as a guard version of Yaxel: high level pro ready contributor that can carry the load for brief periods of time. Efficient, plays defense and makes great decisions. Not a lot of ceiling, but perfect for a playoff contender looking for a boost.

Milwaukee is a long way from being a playoff contender, I think, but they have some movable pieces in Turner, Herro and Jaquez (no one wants Kuzma), so let's see what they do during the summer. I imagine they are holding onto Ware and Kasparas. The good thing is that Burries and Ament don't overlap position wise with the two young guys they traded for.

On the other hand, the Bucks have a hodgepodge of players that don't make sense on paper like Gary Trent Jr, AJ Green, Taurean Prince, Gary Harris (opted in), Ousmane Dieng (rfa), Kevin Porter Jr (po). Some might just have to be waived to clear out the roster.

It's not a total disaster, but it's ugly in Brewtown.

 

Not a fan of Burries.

Me too, he gives me Gary Harris vibes.

In a best case scenario, he could be a poor man's Brandon Roy. I like that he is a physical guard that isn't afraid to try and dunk on a big. However, there are some flaws in consistency. And he's 21 already, not 19 like a lot of other players. Nevertheless, a guard who is physical and a willing defender will earn playing time as a rookie. We also can't forget that Taylor Jenkins is one of the best development head coaches in the NBA (Melton, Bane).

I look at him as a guard version of Yaxel: high level pro ready contributor that can carry the load for brief periods of time. Efficient, plays defense and makes great decisions. Not a lot of ceiling, but perfect for a playoff contender looking for a boost.

 

I love that the Grizzlies picked up so many extra assets to move back but I'm surprised they didn't take any of the 2nd tier of PGs. Stirtz, Anderson or Philon each would have been good value at their original spot and trading back and STILL taking Philon would have been a home run. Don't really know how he fell that far, I love that Philon showed a good proof of concept for being a lower usage defensive guard his freshman year and then showed he could take on more usage and be a true lead guard this year. Lopez just feels like a boring wing prospect to me that might stick around the league but never be too impactful. In terms of raw value though, Lopez and 5 2nds is good work

Same thoughts about Lopez, although his age and pro experience do make him a little more intriguing than similar prospects. The Grizz are building a weird team, not sure I like it.

 

Not a fan of Burries.

Me too, he gives me Gary Harris vibes.

In a best case scenario, he could be a poor man's Brandon Roy. I like that he is a physical guard that isn't afraid to try and dunk on a big. However, there are some flaws in consistency. And he's 21 already, not 19 like a lot of other players. Nevertheless, a guard who is physical and a willing defender will earn playing time as a rookie. We also can't forget that Taylor Jenkins is one of the best development head coaches in the NBA (Melton, Bane).

 

Not a fan of Burries.

Me too, he gives me Gary Harris vibes.

  My takes on the three Michigan guys I know really well:

1) Morez is a great pick at 9. I’m pissed at Dusty for bailing so soon, but he knows his own guys. Morez has a high ceiling as a defensive big forward with range. He can be the new JJJ that actually likes to play physical basketball and rebound in traffic. Fantastic fit with Flagg.

2) Yaxel is a weird pick at 11. Zero doubt he’ll contribute for the Warriors, but such a strange choice for an old team that should be looking towards the future. Yax may start and put up numbers that put him in the conversation for first team all-rookie, though. And a team with real vets to lean on is probably something he needed. Still think it’s a strange pick for the org, though.

3) Mara is a swing that makes sense at 12 for OKC, but I just don’t think it’s going to work out. I get the need for size to deal with Wemby, but Mara makes the relatively slow Wemby look like a track star. Mara isn’t ready to play at NBA speed, and there’s no way the Thunder slow down their pressure defense and quick hitting style for him. He’s a project for a team that wants to win now. Would not be surprised if he gets dealt quickly to a team that has a longer leash for his development. I really thought Golden State would take him, and Yaxel makes more sense for OKC, so the whole thing is bizarre.

  I feel very fortunate as a Sixers fan to get Philon at 22. I was hoping a lotto talent would fall & I’m happy it was him.

Quiantance makes me apprehensive for the Spurs because of his medicals but I do like Reed a lot for them. It’ll be good to have a lunchpail type center with some genuine skill as his front court partner.

And I like OKC’s draft more than most. Aday is a good swing at a jumbo center (and they get Sorber back next year). Stirtz is a versatile guard for them & will be an immediately playable secondary ball handler for them, which was a position of need.

  I love that the Grizzlies picked up so many extra assets to move back but I'm surprised they didn't take any of the 2nd tier of PGs. Stirtz, Anderson or Philon each would have been good value at their original spot and trading back and STILL taking Philon would have been a home run. Don't really know how he fell that far, I love that Philon showed a good proof of concept for being a lower usage defensive guard his freshman year and then showed he could take on more usage and be a true lead guard this year. Lopez just feels like a boring wing prospect to me that might stick around the league but never be too impactful. In terms of raw value though, Lopez and 5 2nds is good work

 

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Kawhi will be known as the man who WRECKED Clippers. He got them to ship a future MVP and all-stars for a bum, and get them snared into illegal cap circumvention. That's his tarnished legacy.

 

I get the concern. However, I think his upside is worth gambling on at pick 27. I see a poor man’s Jabari Smith Jr. right now with potential for more.

The thing is, he's really big. He's a legit 6'11 in shoes. But I watched probably 25+ Houston games last year (I like Kelvin Sampson), Mazzulla is going to have to really dig deep to get the dawg out of him. Illinois and Arizona punked him this past season.

Having also watched a lot of Houston games last season, I agree with your assessment that he has to get mentally tougher and want to impose his will on a game. But, if he did that in college, he would have been a top-10 pick.

As a guy who saw every single game Cenac played at Houston, he should have stayed one more year under Sampson if we are being real. He sorta got lucky a little bit being picked by a great organization but he could have gone much higher next year in a weaker draft.

  Thoughts:
1. Mavs have a very interesting frontcourt, especially if Lively can stay healthy.
2. I don't see Mara ever playing more than 15 minutes a game, not shocked he went that high but seems ripe to disappoint.
3. Grizz frontcourt is going to look like it's moving in sand.

  Some takes...

I have a gut feeling Caleb Wilson is going to end up being the best player in this draft. Hes got KG and Rasheed Wallsce w/ good temperament written all over him. Dailyn Swain is a really nice pickup as well. Love his slashing defense and ballhandling.

Mikel Brown jr over Acuff was NOT a bad gm decision. Brown jr checks more boxes in terms of nba talent evaluation than Acuff. More dynamic guard with higher ceiling.

Kingston Flemings for hawks was the perfect landing spot for him learning under Cj Mccollum. It wont be very long before hes handed the keys to be their franchsje pg.

Morez Johnson for Mavs at #9 seems like a reacj initially but I think his familiarity w/ Dusty May and vice versa ensures at the very least he wont be a bust and will be a serviceable role player for them.

  There's no audio so how would they know what this reaction is for or whether it's even a complaint?

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That should be enough to scare Knicks fans

Honestly, I don't know what to make of the Pacers. They have the 9th (technically it's 7th) highest payroll in the NBA without doing anything (picking up Micah Potter's team option?).

Nembhard and Nesmith had down years last year. So did McConnell. If you include Toppin, all four main role guys were snakebit by injuries too. I'm sure they are going to come into next season hungry to get back to where they were, but I still feel like something's missing. It kind of sucks that Mathurin and Walker didn't pan out.

Like Indiana, the sum of all their parts is still quality, but if Siakam falls off even a little bit, they could top out as a 46 win team.

Rotation: Haliburton/Nembhard/Nesmith/Siakam/Zubac
Bench: McConnell/Toppin/Furphy/Walker (?)/Huff/Ben Sheppard/Quentin Jackson/Kam Jones

How good is this team to you? If they win 55 games, Haliburton should win MVP. Real talk.

their finals run was a miraculuous fluke. zubac isnt taking them anywhere

Why was it a fluke? We won 4-1, 4-1, 4-2. Lost in game 7. Pretty dominant. They had the 2nd best record to OKC from Jan 1. Far from a fluke run. We didn't just suddenly turn it on in the playoffs.

Zubac does not have to "take them" anywhere. He just has to be better than Turner was. Turner didn't exactly play very well in the playoffs.

The Pacers are more of a sum of many parts than just a few players. Haliburton makes things go though.

We had tons of injuries to our main guys. It wasn't just Haliburton being out. Can we recapture the chemistry? That's the big question. Every team looks different a year later.