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Darius Acuff Jr. #5 of the Arkansas Razorbacks is a wildcard in the NBA Mock Draft
The deadline for players to withdraw from the NBA draft passed this week and while there were some surprise decisions, nothing truly set NBA front offices back on their heels. The biggest eye-opener was probably Tounde Yessoufou, who not only decided to not return to school but is not returning to Baylor, either, taking a big new deal from St. John’s. But for NBA Mock Draft 2026, that’s of no big consequence. Yessoufou was a fringe first-rounder.
Two players who stayed in–Koa Peat and Meleek Thomas–drew mixed reviews from talent evaluators. Both are low-end first-rounders who really could have used some more collegiate polish.
All in all, though, a big chunk of players who might have come out four or five years ago returned to school, including Amari Allen (Alabama) and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt). And there was a bigger bunch who never really considered the draft because they’re planning to continue collecting NIL money before weighing the risks of going pro.
Some in the media have noted this as a very bad thing for the NBA–NIL has thinned the pool of incoming talent. But that’s not a universal view. Something I’ve heard from multiple NBA types is that NIL is only beginning to help the NBA by adding information and making the draft less risky.
“When you look at the second round, and even in some cases in the first round, you are seeing more guys who we’ve been able to watch for two, three years, maybe they transferred, maybe they’ve been in a winning situation and a losing situation, maybe a coaching change,” one NBA executive said. “There is only going to be more of that. That means we have a lot more to go on when we have to make a pick. Talent is still there, it’s just less guesswork.”
Speaking of (educated) guesswork, here’s the latest NBA Mock Draft 2026 …
Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer … Again
- Washington Wizards. AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU. Cameron Boozer might be the ideal pick here, and maybe there’s a world in which he slingshots from behind and wins the Wizards’ hearts in the end. Meanwhile, though, would the Wizards trade the pick, so that the Jazz could move up and select Dybantsa, a BYU guy? Peterson would easily have been the pick over Dybantsa before the season–he got the better of him consistently when both were prep players–but obviously that changed with the kinds of years each had. So the likely outcome is Dybantsa to the Wiz or Jazz, depending on whether Washington wants a deal. 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. Same as above, the question is whether someone in the Jazz front office falls hard in love with Boozer. Utah has three expensive bigs now and it’s possible Boozer will be the pick here, with Walker Kessler (sign-and-trade) or Lauri Markkanen put on the block. Certainly, if the Wizards pick here, Boozer is in the running alongside Peterson. But most scouts have Peterson either No. 1 or 2 in this class, so we’re leaving him here. Many in the NBA were put off by Peterson’s strange trip at Kansas this year because of his cramping issues, and some are dubious about his creatine explanation. Still, his talent is too much to pass on. Also of note, though: The Jazz worked out Mikel Brown, which could indicate a Utah trade … but down the board, not up.
… - Memphis Grizzlies. Cameron Boozer, PF, Duke. The Grizzlies pretty much need help at every position so can sit tight and let the first two picks fall where they may, and clean up on Door No. 3. Here’s what one scout said on Boozer: “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.”
NBA Mock Draft 2026: A Big Swing for a Big Man
- Chicago Bulls. Caleb Wilson, PF, North Carolina. The we’re settling into a consensus that Wilson will, in fact, round out the Top 4 in this draft. The Bulls need a star, and Wilson has that capability. He is a lot less polished than the guys going ahead of him, which is why he is slotted consistently at No. 4. 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). Aday Mara, C, Michigan. Yes, we’ve heard the rumor that the Clippers are zeroing in on Keaton Wagler. Makes sense, but it is still May, so no one is completely zeroed in yet. We also know it’s absolutely a stretch for the Clippers to take Mara here. But, remember, this pick is found money for the Clips, who had about a 50% chance to land it after the Ivica Zubac trade. Might as well take a big swing, and versatile defensive big men are very hard to find. Mara is raw but he showed tremendous improvement over the course of last year so there is hope that continues to accelerate as he goes into the NBA. Yes, the Clippers can trade down from here, but Mara is expected to go at No. 8 to the Hawks at the latest. If they want the most promising big guy in the draft, this is the one.
… - Brooklyn Nets. Darius Acuff Jr., PG, Arkansas. We’d certainly understand if the Nets looked at their spot in the draft and pretty quickly decided to move down in hopes of landing added assets. There isn’t a great fit here, and if the Nets don’t trade, they will weigh stretching for a wing like Yaxel Lendeborg or Nate Ament. But ultimately, Acuff’s scoring ability might be too much to pass up, though he is a notably bad defensive player. As one scout said, “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.”
… - Sacramento Kings. Mikel Brown, Jr., PG, Louisville. Brown is the wildcard among the point guard grouping in that he might have the most talent of any of the PGs but he also was very inconsistent. He does have star power and he tested well in Chicago and his stock is on the rise–and the Kings, let’s face it, need to take a big swing here. The Kings are in for some major changes in the coming weeks, if they can get some nibbles on their array of trade bait.
GettyMikel Brown Jr. #0 of the Louisville Cardinals will be a top pick in the NBA draft
It’s a Point-Guard-Heavy Draft
- Atlanta Hawks (from New Orleans Pelicans). Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois. Wagler is big a combo guard who averaged 17.9 points with 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season, shooting 39.7% from the 3-point line. Scout: “His upside is not as high as some other guys, but he is a very smart, very purely talented scorer and ballhandler. I love how he sees a game and picks it apart. That’s a skill that translates to the next level.” The Hawks could use a young point guard to develop if/when they bring back CJ McCollum.
… - Dallas Mavericks. Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston. There will be questions about whether Flemings’ 6-foot-3 measurement on his wingspan–small compared to other guards in the draft–will do serious damage to his draft position. Surely, it won’t help. But he is a proven two-way guard, even with a small wingspan, and that will matter to the Hawks. He is not a prototypical NBA point guard, but he is a good shooter who can develop his 3-ball. He shot 38.7% on 3s at Houston, though he took only 2.9 per game. Scout: “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.”
… - Milwaukee Bucks. Labaron Philon, PG, Alabama. Philon can be a bit of a wildcard, but he an effective point/combo guard. There’s little telling where the Bucks will be in three weeks, and whether the future includes Giannis Antetokounmpo or whether it’s a rebuild. That will affect this pick. Scout: “He is all over the board. I think where he lands will depend on whether he gets a team who sees him as a starting point guard—and the way he played to close the season and into the tournament, I think his stock is up.”
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Miami Heat Get a Draft Slider
- Golden State Warriors. Yaxel Lendeborg, PF, Michigan. It’s possible someone is going to reach for Lendeborg in the Top 10, and it’s not hard to imagine the Nets at No. 6 or the Hawks at No. 8 making that leap. But he is an older player, and while that is a negative in a lot of places, it’s not the case for the Warriors. 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). Nate Ament, SF, Tennessee. The Thunder could trade this pick or choose a high-upside type like Ament, who will need some development. Ament is one of those players who has left enough of impression on talent evaluators that they will overlook what was a down year as a freshman (16.7 points, 39.9% shooting). He will come into the NBA as a big outside threat, but he shot just 33.3% from the 3-point line in college. Still, at 6-foot-9.5 and a 6-foot-11.5 wingspan, teams will see a useful starter in their future. 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.”
… - Miami Heat. Cameron Carr, SF, Baylor. Carr will be an interesting case because he could go in the back end of the Top 10, or he could slide to the 20s. Scouts are split here. Many believe his off-ball ability will translate to the NBA. He is 6-foot-5 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and good shooting ability–he has the raw tools teams are looking for, and has noticeably improved over time. “I think he is moving up the more NBA people get a closer look at him,” one personnel man said. “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.”
… - Charlotte Hornets. Morez Johnson, PF, Michigan. The Hornets could reach for a big man here, or they could simply find a guy who can defend the frontcourt. Johnson is that type–excellent in his role as a defensive star who can chip in offensively. His measurements (9-foot standing reach, 7-foot-3 wingspan) in Chicago were impressive and Johnson has shown himself to be more versatile and efficient than his reputation held coming into the season after spending last year with Illinois. He’s a rim-runner first and foremost, but he can defend, score out of dribble handoffs and has excelled in the double-big lineups.
Grizzlies Go International
- Chicago Bulls (from Portland Trail Blazers). Brayden Burries, G, Arizona. The concerns about Burries are obvious ones–he is older as an outgoing freshman (he will be 21 in September) and he is a 6-foot-4 combo guard. He is a potential Top 10 pick, but again, the more big guys who slide upward, the more point guards will slide downward. He is an excellent two-way guard, though, and while he can’t carry a team offensively, he can be a winning player. The Bulls need more of those. They could gamble on Caleb Wilson at No. 4 and take a safer pick here.
… - Memphis Grizzlies (from Phoenix Suns). Karim Lopez, F, New Zealand Breakers. Lopez’s measurements in Chicago were not overwhelming (6-foot-8.25 height, 6-foot-11.5 wingspan) and he didn’t quite put it together in his NBL season this year, averaging 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 49% shooting. He is a 12-to-18 prospect now, but could move up in a draft with a point guard logjam if he works out well. 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.” If the Grizzlies can add Lopez and Boozer to their frontcourt, they’re on a good path to rebuilding.
… - Oklahoma City Thunder (from Philadelphia Sixers). Jayden Quaintance, PF/C, Kentucky. Quaintance is one of the big wildcards of this draft, athletic at 6-foot-10 but coming off ACL surgery this season. He went out again after a brief return this winter, an unfortunate bit of punctuation on a frustrating year. The knee is an obvious concern, but he held a workout in Chicago that quelled some worries. 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.”
… - Charlotte Hornets (from Orlando Magic). Hannes Steinbach, C/PF, Washington. Steinbach is a big rebounding machine who can play either frontcourt spot after leading the nation in college with 11.8 boards per game. We’ve got the Hornets grabbing Morez Johnson already, and doubling down with another frontcourt pick here. This is a team that has promising young pieces on the perimeter, but needs to add talent up front. A double-big draft makes some sense.
… - Toronto Raptors. Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas. Swain is a risk-reward type, a potential-laden pick for the second half of the first round. He averaged 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds after transferring from Xavier, and was a key to Texas’ Sweet 16 run. Toronto would love a big guy and could go with a point guard, but the roster needs more talent all over. Scout: “He is 6-foot-8 and he has always been sort of a question mark. But the more this season has gone on, and now the NCAA tournament, you see 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.”
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Spurs Build Frontcourt Depth
- San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta Hawks). Allen Graves, PF, Santa Clara. If Graves is on the board, you’d have to think he is a good San Antonio fit. The Spurs big roster hole remains young frontcourt depth. Graves is a late climber and made the right choice to stick in the draft. He is the kind of do-it-all contributor that the analytics folks will love, and a glue-type guy for an organization that knows how to use them. Scout: “If he comes out, he is probably going to move up, because 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.”
… - Detroit Pistons (from Minnesota Timberwolves). Bennett Stirtz, PG, Iowa. The Pistons are looking for depth up and down the roster, especially if they can get it cheap. That makes Stirtz an attractive piece–he is ready to play. He probably would go higher, but Stirtz will be 23 years old in the fall, in a draft deep with point guardsStirtz will need to add strength and physicality, but he is a polished playmaker who can shoot from deep.
… - Philadelphia Sixers (from Houston Rockets). Chris Cenac Jr., PF/C, Houston. The Sixers need a big guy they can start to develop and build around, and while Cenac has questions, he is an intriguing prospect. He helped his stock (his 7-foot-4 wingspan is key to that) recently, and could riser into the late lottery depending on workouts. He could do well with good NBA development, too, having failed to live up to his pre-college billing. 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, so he probably winds up in the lottery. There’s a lot of untapped potential.”
… - Atlanta Hawks (from Cleveland Cavaliers). Koa Peat, PF, Arizona. Peat decided to stay in the draft despite questions about his shooting, but this is a good spot for the Hawks to take a swing on him. He is a fringe first-rounder, a 6-foot-8 forward who plays with some power. How a team views him is probably based on whether it thinks he can develop a 3-pointer (6-for-19 in his college career). He might have been better off doing that in the NCAA, but now he’ll do it in the G League.
… - New York Knicks. Zuby Ejiofor, F/C, St. John’s. We keep coming back to Ejiofor as a potential Knicks big man. There will be several candidates here–Alex Karaban, Henri Veesaar, Tarris Reed. But Ejiofor’s grit fits here. Ejiofor came in with a 7-foot-2 wingspan at the combine, and an 8-foot-11 standing reach, offsetting his 6-foot-7.5 height measurement. He finished last year strong. Ejiofor is a fast-rising center who needs offensive work but plays with energy and physicality. He averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks last year.
… - LA Lakers. Alex Karaban, PF, UConn. Can the Lakers afford to take a project player who will need time to develop? Maybe. But they need to contend, and they’ll need an NBA-ready guy for that. That’s Karaban a polished veteran with a winning track record (two NCAA championships and another NCAA championship game appearance), who has worked out for the Lakers. Karaban will be 24 in November, and that is not a huge negative for the Lakers, who would welcome a polished, tough, floor-stretching big man who made 37.4% of his 3s in college.
GettyAlex Karaban #11 of the Connecticut Huskies
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Celtics Go Big
- Denver Nuggets. Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech. The fact that teams are more likely to be looking for size in this draft is probably the only thing that would hold Anderson’s stock into the 20s. He is a very good shooter (41.5% from the 3-point line this year) and playmaker who can play on and off the ball. The Nuggets are in a payroll crunch and could dump this pick, but they do need cheap depth all over the roster.
… - Boston Celtics. Henri Veesaar, C, North Carolina. Does Veesaar play enough defense for the Celtics? That would be the question here. He was a highlight on a North Carolina team that disappointed, averaging 17.1 points and 8.7 rebounds after transferring from Arizona. He can be the much-needed lob threat, and also flashed stretch-5 capability by making 42.6% of the 94 3-pointers he tried last season. Whether he can hold his own defensively is the big question. The Celtics might need to go big with this pick, with few options available on the free-agent market or on the current roster.
… - Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit Pistons). Ebuka Okorie, PG, Stanford. Playing for the Cardinal meant that Okorie has been largely overlooked, but he is a candidate to rise up some boards in the coming weeks. The 6-foot-8 wingspan he registered at the combine will help. He averaged 23.2 points in the ACC last year, though there are questions about how his game translates to the NBA.
… - Cleveland Cavaliers (from San Antonio Spurs). Meleek Thomas, SG, Arkansas. It might be a good bet here that the Cavs seek to trade this pick and unload some salary off a roster that just is too expensive for where its ceiling is. There isn’t necessarily a need for another shooting guard on the Cavs, but Thomas is a solid floor-stretch who can give the Cavs something they don’t have a lot of: He’s a two-way player who can knock down shots and still contribute defensively.
… - Dallas Mavericks (from Oklahoma City Thunder). Tarris Reed, C, UConn. The Mavericks are likely to have some turnover in their frontcourt, and could go big here for a guy to bring along with Cooper Flagg. Reed is a tough, physical and a space-eater in the paint.
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