Draft 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

[onechance87]

Ugonna onyenso for the second round.This guy can protect the paint.

 

[CGD]

Who do we think is the closest comp in this draft to Carter Bryant?

 

[OK Computer]

Aday Mara doesn't spread the floor (2/7 from 3 in 93 games), struggles at the FT line (career 57.4%), is likely to struggle defending in space in the NBA, and doesn't project to share the court with Wemby for a significant amount of time. He doesn't look as dominant as Edey did, and Spurs didn't seem interested in his archetype when they passed on him in 2024, I don't see why they'd go for Mara now. As for Ejiofor, undersized centers don't usually translate well to the NBA even when they were productive in college.

Bottom line I don't get the appeal of drafting a third center who won't mesh well with Wemby with a possible lottery pick, when there are options available just about every year through free agency or with lower picks that yield good results (or are looking at least decent early on):
16: Zubac (32)
17: Jarret Allen (22), Hartenstein (43), Kornet (undrafted)
18: RWIII (27), Mitchell Robinson (36)
19: Claxton (31), Gafford (38)
21: Neemias Queta (39), Jay Huff (undrafted)
22: Walker Kessler (22), Jaylin Williams (34)
24: Oso Ighodaro (40), Hukporti (58)
25: Niederhauser (30), Kalkbrenner (34), Raynaud (42)
Signed as free agents: Brook Lopez (Milwaukee 18), Hartenstein (Denver 20, NY 22, OKC 24), Kornet (Spurs 25)

This is all the more relevant when you already have your franchise center in place and a competent backup. For Kornet insurance it'd be much more cost efficient to draft / sign / trade for one for much cheaper. Barring star upside, Spurs should target in the draft archetypes who are otherwise hard to acquire, not those who are readily available.

My vision for Ejiofor was to play PF for the Spurs - he has a cleaner path to get there than Morez, IMO. Yeah, you’ll bring up stats that say some other scenario is possible. Trusting my eyes on this one though.

 

[OK Computer]

Who do we think is the closest comp in this draft to Carter Bryant?

CB’s key traits:
-Youth
-defensive versatility - ability stay in front of most matchups due to having quicker than typical feet for someone his size
-Shooting
-vertical athleticism

Karim Lopez
youth
defensive versatility - he has slow feet. If you look at most of his defensive highlights, they are of him chasing a weakside block while he’s already in the paint. CB’s defensive tape in college consisted of him staying in front of his man on the perimeter, going for a steal on the passing lane with his speed and anticipation - all signs of a forward with good quickness. Karim can only catch up defensively when the player is already in the paint.
shooting - despite low percentages here, I will give him a pass. I have a different philosophy than @Ariel and others when it comes to projecting shooting. How the player looks comfortable in shooting goes a long way for me. A sign that they’re comfortable is usually volume, but other times it’s just their willingness to take it with no hesitation (especially in meaningful games). Combined with an average to above FT, and the shooting mechanics in general - i think this is better than the flawed system of basing it largely on historical 3pt % of a prospect.
vertical athleticism - Karim doesn’t jump real high even on blocks. Understand that I don’t mean that he can’t dunk, but we’ve seen CB use his leaping skills on different parts of the game like rebounding.

Nate Ament
youth
defensive versatility - compared to Karim, there’s plenty of film of him being quick on his feet on defense
shooting
vertical athleticism - CB sets a high bar here, few are going to meet this criteria

Haugh
youth
defensive versatility
shooting
vertical athleticism

Koa Peat
youth
defensive versatility
shooting - because he’s young, there’s still a slim possibility he develops something
vertical athleticism

Joshua Jefferson
youth
defensive versatility
shooting
vertical athleticism

Zuby Ejiofor
youth
defensive versatility
shooting
vertical athleticism

 

[onechance87]

Who do we think is the closest comp in this draft to Carter Bryant?

probably nate ament and koa peat.Maybe even chris cenac jr,Just alot bigger.

 

[OK Computer]

probably nate ament and koa peat.Maybe even chris cenac jr,Just alot bigger.

Cenac
youth
defensive versatility - ive watched the last 5 or so Houston games now and he isn’t being used the same way CB was/ is used. There’s no play where he’s picking up players full court, he isn’t assigned to perimeter players much. The comp to CB is hardly there in terms of versatility. Yeah, he can do it in spurts, but so can most players.
shooting
vertical athleticism - because he uses his leaping ability to grab most rebounds, he passes here

 

[CGD]

I was having some fun trying to trace the status of the 4 NOLA picks we got for Richardson (who is part of the Derrick White trade tail).

2024: Used in deal to get 2030 DAL swap
2026: Transformed into #41 in this draft
2028: untouched so far
2029: untouched so far

Spurs also got cash consideration for Graham

Basically, I feel slightly less sad about the Derrick White trade after seeing the tie back to the DAL swap.

 

[SpursBills]

Who do we think is the closest comp in this draft to Carter Bryant?

I think it depends on what you mean by "closest comp"

If you mean stylistically, then you are looking for a bigger pure off-ball wing who can guard up and plays with high energy with some semblance of a shot and minimal to no on ball creation. Of this year's crop, that's easily Haugh.

If you mean in terms of the type of player the front office likes to draft, you're looking for a very young player with high level physical characteristics and mediocre to bad counting stats and consistency who has the potential to blow up if he stayed another year ("pre-drafting"). Of this year's prospects, it's almost definitely Cenac.

People sort of forget what the discourse was on Carter Bryant pre-draft and immediately after the draft on Spurstalk because he's been so promising this year. A lot of people really liked him, but there was a sizable contingent of people making the argument that he would be a bust because he wasn't even good enough to start on his college team, he wasn't productive enough, and the very last impression of Carter Bryant in the tournament was of him getting annihilated by Cooper Flagg.

 

[CGD]

^ was thinking more the former, but you make a good point about the Spurs “pre-draft” strategy for picks in the 8-15 range since Primo. Wonder if that changes with the roster being closer to contention.

 

[Russ]

Who do we think is the closest comp in this draft to Carter Bryant?

It would be nice it it turned out to be A.J. Dybantsa (only kind of kidding).

 

[Vienna]

For us, probably not good. Sochan and Peat are both great, active disruptors at the college level. Sochan fell off in the pros. Maybe Peat has a different trajectory.

Sam Vecenie was asked if Koa Peat isn't just like Sochan and he answered Peat is so much better on offense, they are not even in the same stratosphere.
(obviously he is a big fan of Peat, has him draftet #10 by the Bucks)
the point is, why would the Spurs learn from Sochan, to never again draft that archetype? Sochan just didn't develop at the pro level at all and finally he developed in the wrong direction. Whatever the reasons were? Talent, coachability, IQ........some player just don't work out at the next level. But if the Spurs take from the Sochan experience to not draft a forward with his profile again, it's like they learned from Josh Primo to never draft a combo guard again.

They will look at the person and that's where Peat will win. A humble and smart kid, winner at every level (good chance this will happen again in the tour), from a family of seven kids, each one of them is or was a Division 1 athlete. NFL father and NFL brother, Koa has learned a few things about what it takes.
But Spurs won't draft him anyway, he will be gone when they pick.

Btw....talking about archetypes........wouldn't they rather see CMB than Sochan?

 

[bozhemoi]

I think they're some recency bias going on with Vecenie. Neither Peat nor Sochan are big offensive threats. He's comparing college Peat to a. Sochan that stalled out.

Reminder that Sochan was good at some point, scoring 30 point games and so on. It's not an issue of IQ, it's skill and confidence.

As for Primo the issue wasn't that he was a combo guard, of course. He also lost two to three years of development so we'll never know where he could have gone.

 

[OK Computer]

I changed my mind on my rankings after reading Ariel’s point about big men and SpursBills’ point about Spurs profile. While I don’t lean heavily towards their point of view - I’m taking some of it into account.

1. Ament
2. Koa Peat
3. Joshua Jefferson
4. Chris Cenac
5. Thomas Haugh
6. Cameron Carr
7. Hannes
8. Ejiofor
9. Mara
10. Tounde

Every day that goes by makes me think more and more that Koa is the likely pick here.

Cenac has a Dominick Barlow upside to him, I personally think it’s not a basketball fit seeing as they didn’t mind letting him go - but maybe with Mitch at the helm, it’s different.

 

[BacktoBasics]

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.

What specifically is it that you’re seeing from Karim that has you thinking he wouldn’t mesh on a personal level here?

 

[ace3g]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2033309977289327099

 

[Exstatic]

I think it depends on what you mean by "closest comp"

If you mean stylistically, then you are looking for a bigger pure off-ball wing who can guard up and plays with high energy with some semblance of a shot and minimal to no on ball creation. Of this year's crop, that's easily Haugh.

If you mean in terms of the type of player the front office likes to draft, you're looking for a very young player with high level physical characteristics and mediocre to bad counting stats and consistency who has the potential to blow up if he stayed another year ("pre-drafting"). Of this year's prospects, it's almost definitely Cenac.

People sort of forget what the discourse was on Carter Bryant pre-draft and immediately after the draft on Spurstalk because he's been so promising this year. A lot of people really liked him, but there was a sizable contingent of people making the argument that he would be a bust because he wasn't even good enough to start on his college team, he wasn't productive enough, and the very last impression of Carter Bryant in the tournament was of him getting annihilated by Cooper Flagg.

That’s a terrible argument. Devin Booker didn’t start for UK and averaged 10 points per game.

 

[Ariel]

Sam Vecenie was asked if Koa Peat isn't just like Sochan and he answered Peat is so much better on offense, they are not even in the same stratosphere.
(obviously he is a big fan of Peat, has him draftet #10 by the Bucks)
the point is, why would the Spurs learn from Sochan, to never again draft that archetype? Sochan just didn't develop at the pro level at all and finally he developed in the wrong direction. Whatever the reasons were? Talent, coachability, IQ........some player just don't work out at the next level. But if the Spurs take from the Sochan experience to not draft a forward with his profile again, it's like they learned from Josh Primo to never draft a combo guard again.

They will look at the person and that's where Peat will win. A humble and smart kid, winner at every level (good chance this will happen again in the tour), from a family of seven kids, each one of them is or was a Division 1 athlete. NFL father and NFL brother, Koa has learned a few things about what it takes.
But Spurs won't draft him anyway, he will be gone when they pick.

Btw....talking about archetypes........wouldn't they rather see CMB than Sochan?

I do agree Koa Peat is ahead in terms of offensive skills, he has better hands, is more explosive, and create his own shot rather than depending entirely on others spoon feeding him or scoring off of hustle. But the similarities are there in terms of shooting:

• Koa Peat: 13.6 PPG, 55.1 2P%, 31.6 3P% (6/19), 59.7 FT%, 54.6 eFG%
• Sochan: 9.2 PPG, 58.5 2P%, 29.6 3P% (24/81), 58.9 FT%, 53.1 eFG%

If he ever figures it out I believe he can provide top 10 value, but the percentages from 3 and from the line coupled with the awful misses warrant a healthy dose of skepticism going forward, and that's a huge hindrance for a player in his position. Take Ron Holland for example, he's a much better shooter from the line than Koa Peat is, yet he's reduced to hustle guy and his future in Detroit is in question because teams don't respect him on offense. I also don't buy the 6'8" height, seems overly generous.

All in all, I'd be much more excited at the chance of drafting him for a team like Charlotte, with strong shooting all around (Kon, Brandon Miller, Lamelo), but the Spurs core in on the opposite side of the spectrum and need spacing to maximize their talent, adding another non-shooter (or developing shooter, if you prefer) puts you in a situation of diminishing returns. The sad part is, this is pretty much the case for just about every forward prospect on the radar (Haugh, Lendeborg, Jefferson, Swain, Steinnbach, Morez, Quaintance, Lopez, etc) so it's not like there's an obvious answer.

 

[OK Computer]

What specifically is it that you’re seeing from Karim that has you thinking he wouldn’t mesh on a personal level here?

A disclaimer again that I don’t think it’s his personality as the obstacle as much as it is his basketball fit.

He gives off a recluse/reserved vibe, same as Luka did as I mentioned in that post. The locker room environment right now seems full of goofballs (loose and they joke around) who also know when it’s time to be serious:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032565411342930105

Karim doesn’t seem to project that same kind of outward personality. And when you think about other international players who came into the organization like Wemby, Manu, Diaw, they all had a certain openness or charm that made it easier to blend into the group dynamic. Karim doesn’t strike me that way from the outside, and that’s part of why I question how naturally he’d mesh with the current group.

I think the Spurs see chemistry as a delicate thing. I’ll use another example: the Thunder are a close knit group. Ousmane Dieng (another foreign player who is a bit too serious) was not a personality fit on that team - it was very clear. Jared McCain, on the other hand, fits like a glove. Their team is better for it when personalities mesh.

 

[100%Duncan]

A disclaimer again that I don’t think it’s his personality as the obstacle as much as it is his basketball fit.

He gives off a recluse/reserved vibe, same as Luka did as I mentioned in that post. The locker room environment right now seems full of goofballs (loose and they joke around) who also know when it’s time to be serious:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032565411342930105

Karim doesn’t seem to project that same kind of outward personality. And when you think about other international players who came into the organization like Wemby, Manu, Diaw, they all had a certain openness or charm that made it easier to blend into the group dynamic. Karim doesn’t strike me that way from the outside, and that’s part of why I question how naturally he’d mesh with the current group.

I think the Spurs see chemistry as a delicate thing. I’ll use another example: the Thunder are a close knit group. Ousmane Dieng (another foreign player who is a bit too serious) was not a personality fit on that team - it was very clear. Jared McCain, on the other hand, fits like a glove. Their team is better for it when personalities mesh.

Vibes are immaculate tbh. Literally biyombo is in because wemby loves the dude

 

[spurraider21]

i don’t really see Cenac hanging around the perimeter. I think the best comp i read here as far as upside projection is Naz Reid. He’s a tweener with some upside as an impact/energy bench guy. I think Naz had better handles though

 

[spurs3223]

So ya'll really out on Yaxel eh? I guess i'll have to play catch-up. I haven't paid as much attention to this draft class as I have the last few years cuz we're already pretty damn good and I'm pumped for the playoffs rather than ping pong balls.

Yaxel had my eye last year tho. Just scrolled through this thread a bit and saw the trash talking vid... it's not *that* bad but it's also not great eh? I think his 3 ball will probably return tho. I dunno, maybe I'll sour on him too when I deep dive. Just seems like he has the size and versatility that we need: basically be big, play smart, and don't suck anything so much that you're exploitable. That'll get you 15 minutes a game imo. Maybe I got him pegged wrong.

 

[scott]

If anyone wants to put together a daily Spurs Draft Guide to the tournament (similar to how sr21 does the daily rooting guide for the Hawks swap and the HCA race), it would be highly appreciated by those of us (me) who haven’t been paying any attention to college hoops this year. Nothing elaborate, just a brief “guys to watch” for the daily schedule.

Pretty please

 

[Uriel]

If we’re in win-now mode (and I think we are), then Yaxel makes lot of sense as the pick. Among guys within our range, there’s arguably no one else who will immediately make the team better the way he would from day one.

 

[onechance87]

So ya'll really out on Yaxel eh? I guess i'll have to play catch-up. I haven't paid as much attention to this draft class as I have the last few years cuz we're already pretty damn good and I'm pumped for the playoffs rather than ping pong balls.

Yaxel had my eye last year tho. Just scrolled through this thread a bit and saw the trash talking vid... it's not *that* bad but it's also not great eh? I think his 3 ball will probably return tho. I dunno, maybe I'll sour on him too when I deep dive. Just seems like he has the size and versatility that we need: basically be big, play smart, and don't suck anything so much that you're exploitable. That'll get you 15 minutes a game imo. Maybe I got him pegged wrong.

i like em still...wont be mad if we choose him.Plays hard,Smart player,Knows his role.

 

[John B]

I like them Michigan guys, like I liked Danny Wolf last year. They already play the big men style of basketball like the Spurs. Too bad they lost yesterday. I feel both Yaxel or Aday can contribute from day 1, while Aday can play some in Austin. It depends what position the Spurs need to fill as more pressing, the PF or C. I’d be happy if they pick Yaxel, and hopefully Aday is still available at the 2nd round. While I’m concerned about Yaxel’s age, but then again Derek White was 23. There’s plenty of big men from this class, and I wish the Spurs will really use both picks, and have them all in the same time line, while Barnes and Kornet start showing signs of decline.