Draft 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

[Arguendo]

there was very limited success with upperclassmen from the drafts of the last years. I'm not only talking top 10 or lottery, talking about up to, say, pick 20.

teams have learned their lesson (maybe not all, but most). yet the mocks still rank upperclassmen higher than their eventual draft position likely will be, based on success in their last college season.

I'm pretty sure Yaxel, Mara, Haugh, Stirtz will be drafted much later than projected in the mocks, especially in a draft that offers a lot of young talent.
I think Yaxel will fall out of the lottery, might go 15-19, Mara will go end of 1st round and Haugh and Stirtz will go 2nd round. no way a fantastic shooter like Meleek Thomas is draftet after Stirtz, and for sure not almost 20 spots after him.

True, but NIL money is a pretty big dynamic shift that I think will start to change this, maybe out for those guys, but soon. When you can make nearly the same (or more money), be a god on campus, and get to be a college kid vs a pro with expectations and a lot more media attention/organizational obligations, I think you'll see a lot more guys sticking around if they're not sure fire lottery picks. If the NIL money keeps growing, you'll start seeing top10 guys sticking around.

There very little status that ever beats college star, especially when it comes with 6 or 7 figures, unlimited co-eds, and often the adulation of an entire town.

 

[Arguendo]

wow Yaxel at 11! That seems optimistic. Although he could make a lot of sense for the have to try to win now Warriors.

 

[BatManu20]

Well we should be able to get Mullins wherever our pick lands tbh

I still like him.

. Most of the post-tourney mocks I'm seeing today still have him going top-18 tbh, though I'd be happy with that pick. The Combine and individual team workouts will have a large bearing on that as well obv so time will tell. Either way, it's a deep draft thankfully so there will still be someone there at 20 that can help us.

 

[Mugen]

wow Yaxel at 11! That seems optimistic. Although he could make a lot of sense for the have to try to win now Warriors.

I’d be surprised if Mara goes before Yaxel even after the final four. There’s no way Yaxel slips past the lottery IMO

 

[bozhemoi]

I’d be surprised if Mara goes before Yaxel even after the final four. There’s no way Yaxel slips past the lottery IMO

Yeah, right now I think Lendebourg is a lottery pick and no real question about it. For Mara, I think he'll be like Edey where everyone thinks he'll go later than he should but then surprise people with his play.

 

[spurraider21]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2041593237765550475

 

[BatManu20]

Updated post-tourney Mocks today have the Spurs taking:


No Ceilings: Jayden Quaintance, PF/C

The Ringer: Jayden Quaintance, PF/C

Bleacher Report: Aday Mara, C

USA Today: Aday Mara, C

Yahoo Sports: Patrick Ngongba, C

SB Nation: Patrick Ngongba, C

FanSided: Koa Peat, PF

CBS Sports: Karim Lopez, PF

NBA Draft Room: Morez Johnson Jr., PF/C

Sports Illustrated: Thomas Haugh, PF

 

[Mugen]

Yeah, right now I think Lendebourg is a lottery pick and no real question about it. For Mara, I think he'll be like Edey where everyone thinks he'll go later than he should but then surprise people with his play.

Only lottery team I could see pulling the trigger on Mara would be Chicago. Maybe somebody moves up though and as @BatManu20 said, a lot will depend on the combine.

I don’t hate him as a prospect, I just think there’s much higher upside choices in that range.

 

[bozhemoi]

Only lottery team I could see pulling the trigger on Mara would be Chicago. Maybe somebody moves up though and as @BatManu20 said, a lot will depend on the combine.

I don’t hate him as a prospect, I just think there’s much higher upside choices in that range.

Agree. I compared to Edey but he was in a weak draft. Mara will go post-lottery and people may kick themselves about it. To me he's a more defensive, less offensive Edey type. Huge.

 

[BatManu20]

 

[Guru of Nothing]

New website for you nerds - DRAFTBALLR. Don't know anything about it, yet, so don't ask me questions. Looks interesting at first glance.

2026 NBA Draft Big Board & Scouting Reports

Explore the 2026 NBA Draft class featuring AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson. Deep dive analytics, scouting reports, and interactive big boards.

draftballr.com

 

[BatManu20]

Dame Sarr is a guy I haven't really seen mentioned much in here, but he's a 19 yr-old, 6'8 190 lb G/F from Italy with a 7'0 wingspan and big 10.5' hands who was a projected lottery pick before the season started, but ended up being more of a role player for Duke this season.

Elite defender — one of the best in all of CBB this season — with really active hands and a great motor on that end, but who's still developing offensively (reminds me of nephew coming out of college in that regard tbh). He's spoken in interviews about his desire to be the best defensive player in the country, and that was def his calling card this season.

He finished the year playing his best ball though and if he enters the draft, he's a guy I could see MATFO being potentially interested in with the 20th Pick (don't think he'd make it to 35, especially if he shoots it well at the Combine and in workouts). He'd def be an upside pick if they took him in the First considering he didn't have much of an offensive impact this season, but I could def see them being intrigued by his long-term potential as a 3&D wing with his size, length, and flashes of shooting ability. Also a very well-spoken kid who seems to be of high-character so that wouldn't be an issue.

Averaged 6.4 pts, 4 rbs, & 1 ast on 40% shooting (32% from 3 on 3.5 attempts per). His shooting was up-and-down. Started the season off hot from 3 (37% 3PT in his first 15 games on 3.5 attempts per), then went through a bad shooting slump halfway through the year, and then shot it much better again towards the end of the season (36% from 3 over the last 15 games).

 

[Ariel]

^ Fits the archetype Spurs seem to love: young, athletic, positional size, defensive-minded, offensively raw, untapped potential. I think I'd favor players a bit further along mainly because of the risk of clogging the development pipeline, but definitely seems like an interesting bet and plausible Spurs pick. One think to note is the horrid 53% on FTs. Very Ryan Dunn-ish.

PS: there's a non-zero chance Spurs take him or someone like that with pick #20