Draft 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

[Uriel]

ESPN has us taking both Haugh and Karaban. I like it. Take a swing on two players of a similar archetype and see which one of them sticks.

 

[Ariel]

ESPN has us taking both Haugh and Karaban. I like it. Take a swing on two players of a similar archetype and see which one of them sticks.

white combo forward with a 2 digit jersey number?

 

[Exstatic]

i dont think ament makes it to the hawks pick

All depends where it lands. I mean, Houston got 4 top four picks in four years.

 

[Vienna]

Harper is good at everything but one thing (yet), and he's damn efficient at everything else

this wasn't about badmouthing Harper, this was a respone to the user claiming to know exactly what the Spurs drafting guidelines are.

and I was talking about taking a second look at a player who might be an interesting option for, say, the Jazz pick. (that would assume to take a look instead of using some killer arguments)

so, what is the point about Juke? he plays on a mediocre Wake team, where is the only shot creator, shouldering a huge load on offense. you take away some desperation long 3s and you get down his number from 7.7 attempted 3s to say 6 per game, still a good enough volume, and you immediately get his 3pt% from 34% to about 40% on the remaining 3pt attempts. Juke is a very good mid range shooter and if you watch him, you see a player who can shoot.

Cameron Carr has been brought up frequently on this thread. with good reasons. but if you discuss Carr, Juke Harris would be the player next in line to look at. I repeat myself, Juke is underrated, this is a player who is good at a lot of things. you get him in the 2nd round, you will get a steal.

btw........Harris deliveres a true shooting of 58% on high volume and high usage........this is far from "inefficient".......(and if the Spurs had efficiency as their prime guideline, they would never draft Dejounte, right?)

 

[SpursBills]

I assume that top 9 of DP/Boozer/AJ/Wilson and then Mikel/Kingston/Acuff/Wagler/Ament are basically locked in at this point

Of the remaining:


1. Swain - ideal wing size (6'8", 215, probably 7 foot wingspan; legit NBA athleticism); massive improvements year over year and still sophomore aged (same age as Burries); going under the radar on a horrible Texas team. Carried a 3% steal rate this year in spite of shouldering significant offensive burden; last year was showing high level screen navigation and defense as a role player; moves like a wing and rebounds like a power forward
Don't care that his C&S jumper is weak for now, he's got too many touch indicators (improved 3 pt volume, 80% FT shooter over 3 years, 50% from long 2, almost 70% at the rim, huge unassisted shot diet) for me not to bet on him
2 way wing with creator chops is the second most valuable archetype in basketball after jumbo initiator. They're usually not available in the mid-first. Definitely worth it to me to see if he can be Jalen Williams in a couple years

2. Burries - pretty much good at everything as a two way player; just need to see his wingspan - would pair nicely next to Castle or Harper in the backcourt if Fox eventually has to be moved as a shooter / secondary creator and doesn't give back anything on the defensive end. Not as worried about his height if he has the length to compensate, as he has a low center of gravity to not get bullied

3. Yaxel - I believe in the late development arc and in his jumper. Shot 7/41 in January right after he had his calf injury, has been ~40% from 3 both before and since the start of February. Regularly picks up collegiate ballhandlers; I don't expect him to keep up with Ant full court but probably won't die on a switch most of the time; 6'9" barefoot and 7'4" wingspan gives him decent potential as a 5 out center; has played multiple roles over the past 3 years (center, point forward, power wing) and succeeded in all of them; I like that he doesn’t foul or really turn the ball over this year

4. Hannes - Special rebounder, hands are like magnets. Helps the team possession max with rebounding; more mobile than Sabonis and a better defender as well; PNR with Harper will be a nightmare fuel for teams to defend. Awesome transition player. Digging into numbers, don't think he can play as the lone big, as teams shot 70% at the rim against him as the lone big, so he might be position-locked at PF

4. Carr - really need to see what he weighs in at; offensively he'll be great as an outside threat; ranks >90th percentile on like 6 different playtypes and Baylor was massively better with him on compared to off; has the sort of irrational confidence that you need to succeed as a shooter; defensively, might be a disaster on the perimeter - career 1.5 STL% for 7'2" wingspan is straight up bad, and seems to have difficulty moving laterally on tape; might make him too light to defend wings and too slow to defend guards, with mediocre processing to make up for it

 

[Robz4000]

If Swain or Jefferson somehow fell to the Spurs in the second round I'd legit shit myself tbh. Of course, that depends on whether the Spurs trade the pick for good Ole Cash Considerations.

 

[SpursBills]

this wasn't about badmouthing Harper, this was a respone to the user claiming to know exactly what the Spurs drafting guidelines are.

and I was talking about taking a second look at a player who might be an interesting option for, say, the Jazz pick. (that would assume to take a look instead of using some killer arguments)

so, what is the point about Juke? he plays on a mediocre Wake team, where is the only shot creator, shouldering a huge load on offense. you take away some desperation long 3s and you get down his number from 7.7 attempted 3s to say 6 per game, still a good enough volume, and you immediately get his 3pt% from 34% to about 40% on the remaining 3pt attempts. Juke is a very good mid range shooter and if you watch him, you see a player who can shoot.

Cameron Carr has been brought up frequently on this thread. with good reasons. but if you discuss Carr, Juke Harris would be the player next in line to look at. I repeat myself, Juke is underrated, this is a player who is good at a lot of things. you get him in the 2nd round, you will get a steal.

btw........Harris deliveres a true shooting of 58% on high volume and high usage........this is far from "inefficient".......(and if the Spurs had efficiency as their prime guideline, they would never draft Dejounte, right?)

I agree with this, was looking at Harris a couple weeks ago and he looked interesting. Not sure if it's just because he's skinny or what, but he looks like his arms are very long and he rebounds extremely well for a guard. I think these high-volume medium efficiency guys are a tricky eval, but Harris gives me enough ancillary production to where I don't think he's just a black hole that doesn't care about defense. I like him more than Paul McNeil who I was also looking at in the second round for shooting.

 

[LeBowen]

After last night, I'm even more convinced we need a PF/C hybird.
Those smaller lineup would've done well if he had someone who was even 6'10.
Give us one of thoe rim running, high energy let's call them smaller bigs and our bench runs most opposing benches off the floor.

 

[OK Computer]

After last night, I'm even more convinced we need a PF/C hybird.
Those smaller lineup would've done well if he had someone who was even 6'10.
Give us one of thoe rim running, high energy let's call them smaller bigs and our bench runs most opposing benches off the floor.

This is why I think people overreact. The worst overreactions are when they come from games where the lineup itself was irregular. Wemby was out, the rotations were different, and what happened that night wasn’t really indicative of how the team normally performs. When we’ve had our regular rotation, we’ve been fine running a traditional center off the bench behind Wemby, and that’s shown up in both wins and losses. Now suddenly people think we need a PF/C type because of one loss where we weren’t even even playing the normal rotation. A big SMH.

 

[Guru of Nothing]

After last night, I'm even more convinced we need a PF/C hybird.
Those smaller lineup would've done well if he had someone who was even 6'10.
Give us one of thoe rim running, high energy let's call them smaller bigs and our bench runs most opposing benches off the floor.

Will be interesting to see Karim Lopez's measurements, like if he checks in at 6'8 ¹/² in bare feet.

Of course there's that one time he made a frowny face, so maybe he's not a good culture fit.

 

[OK Computer]

Will be interesting to see Karim Lopez's measurements, like if he checks in at 6'8 ¹/² in bare feet.

Of course there's that one time he made a frowny face, so maybe he's not a good culture fit.

Good one Guru, with Karim it’s more of a hunch compared to what I feel about Yaxel. My criticism about Karim is that he’s just not that good. With an org that has had locker room disruptors such as Primo, Nephew, and Luka - I don’t know why people think this can be taken lightly, especially NOW when you hear in interviews from Wemby, Mitch, RC Buford, etc. about how special the locker room is. I think looking at character absolutely has to factor in when you’re looking at prospects. It’s what Brian Wright literally says his team looks at after he’s drafted someone. So continue scoffing about if you like , we’ll see what happens in a couple months.

 

[LeBowen]

This is why I think people overreact. The worst overreactions are when they come from games where the lineup itself was irregular. Wemby was out, the rotations were different, and what happened that night wasn’t really indicative of how the team normally performs. When we’ve had our regular rotation, we’ve been fine running a traditional center off the bench behind Wemby, and that’s shown up in both wins and losses. Now suddenly people think we need a PF/C type because of one loss where we weren’t even even playing the normal rotation. A big SMH.

You need to get over yourself with some of your takes, tbh.
I want a PF/C that's going to compete with Kornet for backup big minutes because a traditional big like Kornet isn't quick enough to keep up with the pace our bench lineup wants to play on.
Yes, we can still be effective, but when we need a change of pace sticking CB or Keldon at the backup big position won't cut it against top teams.

Our guards and wing shooters are more or less interchangeable, you can't tell me that what we've been seeing on offense from Kornet over the past weeks, if not months, has been good enough.
I'm not saying we need to get rid of him, I'm just saying that he needs healthy competition and not a bunch of washed veterans.


But if you want to pretend this is fine, then be my guest.

 

[onechance87]

Good one Guru, with Karim it’s more of a hunch compared to what I feel about Yaxel. My criticism about Karim is that he’s just not that good. With an org that has had locker room disruptors such as Primo, Nephew, and Luka - I don’t know why people think this can be taken lightly, especially NOW when you hear in interviews from Wemby, Mitch, RC Buford, etc. about how special the locker room is. I think looking at character absolutely has to factor in when you’re looking at prospects. It’s what Brian Wright literally says his team looks at after he’s drafted someone. So continue scoffing about if you like , we’ll see what happens in a couple months.

Karim got some character problems or something i dont know about.

 

[Guru of Nothing]

Good one Guru, with Karim it’s more of a hunch compared to what I feel about Yaxel. My criticism about Karim is that he’s just not that good. With an org that has had locker room disruptors such as Primo, Nephew, and Luka - I don’t know why people think this can be taken lightly, especially NOW when you hear in interviews from Wemby, Mitch, RC Buford, etc. about how special the locker room is. I think looking at character absolutely has to factor in when you’re looking at prospects. It’s what Brian Wright literally says his team looks at after he’s drafted someone. So continue scoffing about if you like , we’ll see what happens in a couple months.

I agree that character matters a lot, especially with the Spurs organization, but I've yet to detect character issues with Lopez. Disclaimer: I'm just a guy submitting a JAG effort.

I also think cultivating imbalances and mismatches on the court are huge part of the Spurs evaluation process, and I think Lopez could be that guy when viewed through this lens. It will be fun to watch this unfold.

 

[OK Computer]

You need to get over yourself with some of your takes, tbh.
I want a PF/C that's going to compete with Kornet for backup big minutes because a traditional big like Kornet isn't quick enough to keep up with the pace our bench lineup wants to play on.
Yes, we can still be effective, but when we need a change of pace sticking CB or Keldon at the backup big position won't cut it against top teams.

Our guards and wing shooters are more or less interchangeable, you can't tell me that what we've been seeing on offense from Kornet over the past weeks, if not months, has been good enough.
I'm not saying we need to get rid of him, I'm just saying that he needs healthy competition and not a bunch of washed veterans.

View attachment 1222
But if you want to pretend this is fine, then be my guest.

If everyone thought the same thing, you know it wouldn’t be as fun to post here.

Kornet not being quick enough and his performance not being up to par are two different things. I disagree about him not being quick enough being an actual liability or weakness the team has. I agree that his performance has been trending down. The archetype of what Kornet is is a huge part of our bench’s success. He’s a piece of the puzzle that makes that machine works - there are things he does (or did) that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, like screening, being strong enough to hold his own against big players, etc. I think you disregard these things and don’t see how night and day it would be if you permanently replaced him with a player who didn’t do these same things as effectively.

 

[OK Computer]

Karim got some character problems or something i dont know about.

It’s not that I think he’s an asshole and more that I think he wouldn’t mesh all that well with the core players on this team. Do you remember how Luka Samanic always felt like an outsider even though he was drafted earlier than Keldon? It wasn’t because he sucked, it was mainly because of his personality. Luka wasn’t disruptive per say, but he just couldn’t fit in.

Anyway, this is less of a problem to me with Karim than his actual play. I think his ceiling is something like Trey Lyles.

 

[LeBowen]

I think you disregard these things lightly

During the game I pointed out he's 4th in the entire league in screen assists.

and don’t see how night and day it would be if you permanently replaced him with a player who didn’t do these same things as effectively.

Who said anything about permanently replacing him?
I'm a believer that a top contender should be able to adapt to any situation and have a lot of different lineup possibilities.
I think we have most of that stuff covered except for having that PF/C who would be able to play both with Wemby and also be able to play as the backup big if necessary without giving up too much on defense.

Tbh, our small lineup would've been great last night if we had year 4 CB instead of rookie CB, I think he'll develop into that kind of a player physically.
Until then, we need to find an end of the bench stop gap that would open that possibility for us.

It was obvious we tried going for it with Olynyk, since even though he was never that fast, he was fairly mobile for his size in his prime years, but those are long gone.

I don't really follow college basketball, but that's the type of player I'd prefer in this draft. Not to start or even play many minutes with Wemby, but to give us another option.
We already have enough 3-D wings, even without Barnes getting another contract. Guards don't even need to be mentioned unless we're take a project that wouldn't feature for a year or two.

 

[onechance87]

It’s not that I think he’s an asshole and more that I think he wouldn’t mesh all that well with the core players on this team. Do you remember how Luka Samanic always felt like an outsider even though he was drafted earlier than Keldon? It wasn’t because he sucked, it was mainly because of his personality. Luka wasn’t disruptive per say, but he just couldn’t fit in.

Anyway, this is less of a problem to me with Karim than his actual play. I think his ceiling is something like Trey Lyles.

fair

 

[bozhemoi]

I don't know if Kornet has lost a step more than teams have adjusted to how the team was using him. He used to get more lobs and dump-downs from the attacking guards. My hunch is teams are playing that more, but this has ended up with guys like Castle getting cleaner looks at the basket. Maybe it's a mix of both.

I 100% think they need to add some size in the offseason and that may be top priority. We simply cannot expect Wembanyama to always be available and the big rotation simply just needs more anyway.

 

[onechance87]

I don't know if Kornet has lost a step more than teams have adjusted to how the team was using him. He used to get more lobs and dump-downs from the attacking guards. My hunch is teams are playing that more, but this has ended up with guys like Castle getting cleaner looks at the basket. Maybe it's a mix of both.

I 100% think they need to add some size in the offseason and that may be top priority. We simply cannot expect Wembanyama to always be available and the big rotation simply just needs more anyway.

who you thinking like mara or quintance or like a pf type big.Maybe cenac jr or yaxel type of pfs.

 

[bozhemoi]

who you thinking like mara or quintance or like a pf type big.Maybe cenac jr or yaxel type of pfs.

My guy right now is the great American writer Steinbach. He's my zero-in-on pick, and not just for Grapes of Wrath.

I do like Mara, but that FT % is hideous, barely over .500.

Quaintance - knee surgery this young on a big? not sure I like that.

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032258631467413985

 

[Exstatic]

My guy right now is the great American writer Steinbach. He's my zero-in-on pick, and not just for Grapes of Wrath.

I do like Mara, but that FT % is hideous, barely over .500.

Quaintance - knee surgery this young on a big? not sure I like that.

Sean Elliott had surgery, pre-nba.

 

[bozhemoi]

Sean Elliott had surgery, pre-nba.

Was he a big man?

 

[bozhemoi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032258631467413985

If Burries is there at our pick, I think I'd just take him and figure things out.