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AJ Dybantsa speaks with the media during the 2026 NBA draft
The NBA Draft’s first round is complete, and while we’re still digesting the deluge of trades, we’ve got a look at grades for all 30 of the first-round picks that were made on Tuesday night. If the activity at Barclays Center was any indication, Wednesday’s second round should be a doozy, too.
- Washington Wizards. AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU.
Grade: B+Can’t fault the Wizards for going with the 6-foot-10 scorer with springs in his shoes, but it was the safe and expected play from Washington.
Scout: “He checks every box and is going to come into the league with an All-Star’s game. He needs to get more consistent with his shooting and he needs to be better at understanding how to keep an offense moving because he can be a ball-stopper sometimes. But those are easy fixes. Everything else is an A.”… - Utah Jazz. Darryn Peterson, SG, Kansas.
Grade: A-
Poll 100 scouts and personnel execs and you’ll get at least 60 who would go with Peterson’s overall talent. The cramping issues at Kansas were weird, yes, but the Jazz probably got the best upside player in the draft.
Scout: “Peterson has tended to get the better of Dybantsa when they’ve met before. … The athleticism and the shot-making, it is all there. He is as good a scorer on all three levels as you are going to find in a guy that young (19).”
… - Memphis Grizzlies. Cameron Boozer, PF, Duke.
Grade: A
Boozer does not have the jaw-dropping physical skills of the first two picks, but he will provide a very good culture reset for a team that needs it. Can a Ja Morant trade be far off?
Scout: “He has so much skill around the basket, he knows how to win, and he makes everyone around him better. He will score 25 points and still throw elbows, set screens, dive on the floor. He is a guy you want on your team.”
… - Chicago Bulls. Caleb Wilson, PF, North Carolina.
Grade: B+There is risk with Wilson, but there is also astounding athleticism and potential. The Bulls are still in Purgatory but at least they’ve got a guy who will be fun to watch.
Scout: “He reminds me of Chris Bosh, and Bosh was a Hall of Famer. But you’ve got to remember, Bosh put in a ton of work–he was way too skinny and could not shoot when he came in, but you could see the tools. Wilson, you can see the tools but he is skinny and he needs to learn to shoot better. So the question is, how much work is he going to put in?”
… - LA Clippers (from Indiana Pacers). Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois.
Grade: B-The Clippers did the easy thing and picked a player here, rather than seeking a more interesting move that could have brought them a player and a pick, or something that would have given them more of a direction with Kawhi Leonard’s future in the balance.
Assistant coach: “Love what we saw from him, a big guard who can create, he has smarts, he is a really, really good shooter. The thing is, there is not a ton of tape because he really just broke out in the last three months of the college season. So, you’re taking a flier on the fact that he is that guy and not sort of the late first-rounder he was early in the year
… - Brooklyn Nets. Mikel Brown, Jr., PG, Louisville.
Grade: C-
There is a lot to like about Brown’s creativity, but the Nets are looking at a lop-sided, guard-heavy roster. Sure, take the best player available but with Nolan Traore and Egin Demin, this team is built around three point guards who were Top 20 picks and are 20 years old. How does that shake out?
Scout: “(Brown) makes mistakes, and you’ve got to live with those and hope he improves. But he has a ton of creativity, he can shoot from the perimeter and he pressures the rim. There’s a lot of upside.”
… - Sacramento Kings. Darius Acuff Jr., PG, Arkansas.
Grade: C
Acuff is a brilliant scorer from anywhere on the floor. He will need to play defense at some point, and that was problematic last year in college. If he improved, this grade winds up being much better. But that is a big “if.”
Scout: “He is not just a bad defender, he is an awful defender. You will need to work on him to get him up to average.”… - Atlanta Hawks (from New Orleans Pelicans). Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston.
Grade: B+
Flemings does not have the raw ability of those picked above him, but all those who have watched him closely say he works hard, plays two ways and won’t be shortchanged on his talent. Would have preferred a big guy for the Hawks here, but Flemings will be the long-term replacement forScout: “Teams will fall in love with him as they talk with him and see how he thinks the game. There are more raw talented players, but he is a worker and a thinker, and he is going to get everything out of his talent.”
… - Dallas Mavericks. Morez Johnson, PF, Michigan.
Grade: B-
You might want to hammer the Mavs for taking Johnson in the Top 10, and suggest they could have gotten him by trading down. But there just were not that many chances to move down and still get value, so Dallas just stuck with their guy. Johnson is a ready-to-play tough, physical defender.NBA exec: “He is one of those chameleon kind of players you think can just slide into whatever roster, whatever team, and make it better. He is not going to have huge numbers (13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds at Michigan) but he is going to get even better in the NBA game. He would be a Top 10 pick in most years, easy.”
… - Milwaukee Bucks. Brayden Burries, G, Arizona.
Grade: ANot the easiest time for the Bucks these days, but they did about as well as possible with the picks they got in the draft. Burries is a high-floor guy who will have a big role for this team right out of the gate.
Scout: “He is a winner, top to bottom, that is what you love about him. Really good shooter, can be a playmaker, can play off the ball, has that versatility, he defends. Super confident, maybe to a fault–he sometimes tries to force plays that are not there. So he will need to reel that in at the next level.”…
- Golden State Warriors. Yaxel Lendeborg, F, Michigan.Grade: C
This was the sensible pick for a Warriors team that really liked Lendeborg’s workout, but the Dubs had eyes elsewhere, too—Burries and perhaps even Morez Johnson.
Scout: “He’s going to be 24 in September, and that’s the big thing with him—he is ready to play in the NBA but you’d expect him to be more of a versatile, dirty-work kind of role player. That’s not a bad thing, but he fits best with a contender. Some teams might be looking for a bigger swing.”
… - Oklahoma City Thunder (from LA Clippers). Aday Mara, C, Michigan.
Grade: A
Rich get richer. The Thunder appear set to keep their two first-round picks, which means they are likely to move more players off their roster—maybe even Isaiah Hartenstein. But Mara is 7-foot-3 and figures to develop into a quality center.
NBA exec: “He is an upside play but at the beginning of the year, we were not getting much on him. Second-rounder because of his size. But by the end of the year, he’s Top 15 and that tells you he is getting better, more and more every month, especially as an offensive player, and that is probably going to continue.”
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- Milwaukee Bucks (pick to be made by Miami Heat). Nate Ament, SF, Tennessee.
Grade: AAgain, the Bucks seem to have nailed their picks. They were projected to take Ament at No. 10, but still managed to pull him in here.
Scout: “Up and down year for him. It was good he came back after getting hurt (ankle injury in late February), but there’s a lot of question marks there. He’s a shooter at 6-foot-10, though. … You just have to trust that you can develop him.”
… - Charlotte Hornets. Hannes Steinbach, C/PF, Washington.
Grade: C
So much for the Domantas Sabonis trade? Well, maybe not. The Hornets badly need size, and Steinbach was the easy guy to scoop up here. But is he NBA-ready for a team looking to make a big step?
Scout: “The concerns are, can he defend out to the perimeter, can he guard big shooters? He does not have a lot of athleticism, so that’s No. 1. But he has a lot of skill in the post and he should be able to stretch his offensive game to the 3-point line. Smart player, he understands the angles and that’s why he’s been such a great rebounder.”
… - Chicago Bulls (from Portland Trail Blazers). Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas.
Grade: C-
Swain averaged 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Longhorns, so it is not like this is a screw-loose pick for Chicago. But Cameron Carr was there, Labaron Philon was there, Karim Lopez … the Bulls could have some regrets here.
Scout: “He is 6-foot-8 and he has always been sort of a question mark. But the more this season (went) on, and the NCAA tournament, you saw him converting potential into performance. He is passing better, he is shooting better, he is making better decisions. And he’s just scratching the surface.”
… - Oklahoma City Thunder (via Memphis Grizzlies from Phoenix Suns). Bennett Stirtz, PG, Iowa.
Grade: B+
The Thunder sent two second-rounders to Memphis to move up one spot. They will need to move along some players in the coming days, but at this point, they’re adding Mara and Stirtz, a shooter who turns 23 before the season. If OKC is hoping to play both out of the gate, they’re in for a roster shakeup.
Scout: “He is a guy who probably could have come out earlier, but he stayed around because of NIL and it could help him in the long run. He needs to play for a good team where he can set up your offense and knock down shots when he needs to. He is not going to score 20 points a game, but everybody needs guys like that.”
… - Detroit Pistons (via Memphis Grizzlies from Philadelphia Sixers). Ebuka Okorie, PG, Stanford.
Grade: BThe Pistons moved up in a swap with the Grizzlies and get ACC leading scorer Okorie, who is only 6-foot-1 but has a 6-foot-8 wingspan. Detroit needs depth everywhere, but are focused on taking pressure off Cade Cunningham.
NBA exec: “He can do a lot in the stop-and-start game, he is very good at getting you unbalanced and getting a good look that way. He was not the ideal playmaker in college, but he was at Stanford–he needed to be the scorer. If you think he can run point and defend his position, he’s got a high ceiling.”…
- Charlotte Hornets (from Orlando Magic). Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech.
Grade: BThe Hornets got their big man with Steinbach, now add a point guard who can shoot. Anderson made 41.5% from the 3-point line this year and can play both on and off the ball.
Scout: “Like a lot of guys in this draft, we might be talking about him in the Top 10 in a normal year, but there is just a lot of talent here. Anderson is skilled, he is dynamic and he did a really good job working out some of the issues he had as a freshman. He just really has polished his game and he has all the confidence and poise you would want him to have. He will get better a point guard, and he’s already a really good scorer.”…
- Toronto Raptors. Allen Graves, PF, Santa Clara.Grade: B
The Raptors need shooters, especially off the bench, and graves made 41.3% from distance in college last year, at 6-foot-9. The run on point guards meant Toronto now adds a forward.Scout: “He is so efficient, he makes winning plays, he is young and he got better as the year went on. Get him in workouts and interviews and he is the kind of kid someone is going to fall in love with.”
- San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta Hawks). ). Jayden Quaintance, PF/C, Kentucky.
Grade: B+
No team was in better position to take a chance on Quaintance than the Spurs, who want to improve their backup big man situation and can afford to wait on Quaintance as he continues to come back from an ACL surgery.
Scout: “You see some Jalen Duren in him because he plays with that same kind of intensity. The injury is there but it is an ACL, and guys his age usually bounce back from that without a lot of added worry as long as the rest of the medicals are clean. That’s the big test.”
… - Memphis Grizzlies (via Detroit Pistons from Minnesota Timberwolves). Karim Lopez, F, New Zealand Breakers.
Grade: A+The Grizzlies had the 16th pick, traded it twice, first to No. 17 with OKC, then again to No. 21 with the Pistons and netted a total of five second-round picks in the bargain. And they still got Lopez, a player some projected as a Top 10 pick.
Scout: “You want to play him as a big wing and he has the build for that but he is more of a straight-ahead slasher now and you can’t be sure if he is going to develop the shooting, and the court vision you want to see there. But he is young and he is physical, he is not afraid to mix it up. That’s a good starting point.”
… - Philadelphia Sixers (from Houston Rockets). Labaron Philon, PG, Alabama.
Grade: B+
Philon was one of the big fallers as teams were scared off by his slight frame, and with a slew of point guards on the board, he was the odd man out. But his rough night was to the Sixers’ clear benefit.
NBA exec: “He is aggressive, he attacks, but he does it in a smart way and with good vision. He needs some muscle but you don’t want to put too much on him–I mean, we all said Stephen Curry needed muscle, too. So that’s not that a big worry for a lot of teams. Very heady player, you can get him on an NBA court pretty quickly, even at his weight (180 pounds).”
… - Atlanta Hawks (from Cleveland Cavaliers). ). Zuby Ejiofor, F/C, St. John’s.
Grade: A
The Hawks weighed going with size at No. 8, but got their point guard instead. Now, they circle back and add a plug-and-play big guy who averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.
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Scout: “He is going to give your team a jolt with his energy and his physicality. There are a lot of players who play too pretty and are not wanting to get dirty, but this guy thrives on that. He has the skillset to develop into a stretch 4 or 5, but even if he does not, he can still get on the floor because he hustles and defends and does not get pushed around.”
… - Los Angeles Lakers. (from New York Knicks) Cameron Carr, SF, Baylor.
Grade: A
What’s not to like? Sure, Carr is not a big guy, but he was a potential late-lottery selection who will give the Lakers a scoring boost and an overall raise in their talent level.NBA exec: “He is a very good scorer, and he needs to get some fine-tuning for sure. But he can give you a bucket any time. The decision-making will improve, and he’s not your No. 1 option but he can be a really good No. 3 as a rookie, and a No. 2 in time.”
… - Dallas Mavericks (via the New York Knicks from the Los Angeles Lakers). Sergio De Terrea, G, Spain.
Grade: C
The Mavericks had little to lose in adding De Terrea, but they could have gotten hold of this pick earlier and made a choice that better suits their needs.
… - San Antonio Spurs (from Denver Nuggets.) Tarris Reed, C, UConn.
Grade: CWe like Reed, but the Spurs just took Jayden Quaintance. Maybe there are concerns about how long Wuaintance will need to get on the floor, but there were other ways to address the backup center spot.
Scout: “He is tough and he is physical. He has a lot of natural instincts that you want to see with a big man–he loves setting screens, he is smart on the roll, he defends, you never have to tell him to play with more force. You can’t teach that or develop it. You can teach someone to shoot, and that’s what you hope for with Reed. But you can’t teach his instincts.” - Boston Celtics. Chris Cenac Jr., PF/C, Houston.
Grade: A
The Celtics needed a talented big man to develop, and they scored one here in a big way.
Scout: “He is a risk, all the big guys in this draft are a risk. You’d like to see more rim protection, you’d like to see more consistency. But he can develop into a stretch big guy, and that’s at a premium. … There’s a lot of untapped potential.”
- Brooklyn Nets (pick to be made by Minnesota Timberwolves via Detroit Pistons). Joshua Jefferson, F, ISU.
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… - Sacramento Kings (via Cleveland Cavaliers from San Antonio Spurs.) Alex Karaban, PF, UConn.
Grade: B+
Karaban is a polished veteran with a winning track record (two NCAA championships and another NCAA championship game appearance), who has worked out for just about every team in the lower part of the draft. He could stretch the floor for Darius Acuff.
NBA exec: “Karaban is a combo forward, he can slide to either spot and he is going to spread the floor and give you catch-and-shoot all day. Can he defend? That is the problem. You can imagine him getting torched on the NBA level. But he is smart on defense and they did nothing but win at UConn when he was there, so he is doing something right.”
… - Phoenix Suns (via New York Knicks via Dallas Mavericks from Oklahoma City Thunder). Koa Peat, PF, Arizona.
Grade: B
Peat decided to stay in the draft despite questions about his shooting, but this is a good spot for a swing on him. He is a fringe first-rounder, a 6-foot-8 forward who plays with some power.
Scout: “He is strong and physical and I totally get the questions about his shooting but I would say, the power he plays with right now makes it so you can get him on an NBA floor and he is going to hold his own on both ends. He is strong in the paint, he can defend multiple positions. The shooting is the one big thing.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including "Fun City," "Before Wrigley became Wrigley," and "Facing Michael Jordan." More about Sean Deveney