Draft 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

Do we trade away our pick or draft a player?

  • Draft

    Votes: 46 86.8%

  • Trade

    Votes: 4 7.5%

  • Cash Considerations

    Votes: 3 5.7%
  • Total voters
    53
OK Computer said:


I’m going to throw a comp I don’t throw around often.

Haugh has shades of Manu.

Not the special vision and passing.

But the frantic, balls-to-the-wall, win-at-all-costs trait that Manu had, Haugh has.

Manu had bad misses and made bad decisions. Like really bad. But you ignored it because he’d make a back breaking play on the next one. That’s what Haugh does.

Haugh is going 100 miles per hour and giving his all in every play. That’s kind of unheard of in college basketball.

Both are sneaky athletic and acrobatic. Both have winner DNA. Both drafted old. Both fearless.

I’m closing in on Haugh being the pick. He should absolutely be the pick, IMO.

Oh, and he’d get along with Keldon too:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028476019519242332
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With the caveat that I've only seen one game in which this guy played (and I wasn't even paying attention to him), I'm leaning towards agreement. Based on the scouting reports I've read about him, he seems to fit exactly the archetype this team needs.
 
BatManu20 said:
Pretty confident Peat won't be the pick but here's The Athletic's latest mock.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028531052579299521
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I mean, it's noteworthy that both ESPN and The Athletic have Peat as the pick.

FWIW, ESPN mock drafts around February or March tend to be pretty accurate in predicting who the Spurs will pick in June. IIRC, they correctly predicted Vassell, Sochan, and Bryant (didn't verify this claim, but that's what I seem to remember).
 
I think most people agree that this team's primary need is a 4 (or a combo forward). There are 4 players who are projected to be in our draft range who fit that archetype (in order of alphabetical by last name):

1. Chris Cenac, Jr
2. Thomas Haugh
3. Yaxel Lendeborg
4. Karim Lopez

We need the player to be able to shoot, in order to fit well in our lineups. We would also prefer that he be young, so he has some upside to tap into. Haugh can shoot, but he is old. Lopez is young, but can't shoot. Lendeborg is both old and can't shoot. The only name on this list who is both young and can shoot is Cenac, Jr.
 
Uriel said:
I mean, it's noteworthy that both ESPN and The Athletic have Peat as the pick.

FWIW, ESPN mock drafts around February or March tend to be pretty accurate in predicting who the Spurs will pick in June. IIRC, they correctly predicted Vassell, Sochan, and Bryant (didn't verify this claim, but that's what I seem to remember).
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Anything's possible, and we'll likely know more after the combine and private workouts/interviews, but it's hard for me to envision MATFO drafting another PF who can't shoot the ball after the Sochan fiasco. I just don't see it tbh. I'd like Peat a lot as a prospect if he were even just an average 3-point shooter on decent volume, cause his rebounding ability and his brand of bully-ball are something we could really use, but he's not. At least not yet. With that said, who knows what the draft landscape will look like after the combine and workouts and all that. Still 3 1/2 months out from draft night so we'll see.
 
The reality is that all the PF prospects in the 8-16 range have warts unfortunately.

  • Yaxel is older than Paolo Banchero and is shooting 32% from 3.
  • Steinbach is moreso a C than a PF and he's a low-volume 3-point shooter.
  • Haugh is shooting under 34% from three, is almost 23, and only weighs 215 lbs.
  • Ament is a skinny SF at 207 lbs and is shooting 41% and 32% from 3.
  • Koa Peat is shooting 33% from 3 on extremely low volume.
  • Cenac is at 33% from 3 (and falling) and might be a C, not a PF.
  • Karim Lopez is shooting 32% from 3 and doesn't have a single elite trait.
  • Jayden Quaintance is coming off an ACL injury and can't shoot the 3 either.
  • Joshua Jefferson will be nearly 23 on opening night and prob isn't quick enough to play PF.


I do like Cenac, Ament, Steinbach, Haugh, and Mullins though. Those are prob my 5 favorite semi-realistic prospects right now.
 
BatManu20 said:
The reality is that all the PF prospects in the 8-16 range have warts unfortunately.

  • Yaxel is older than Paolo Banchero and is shooting 32% from 3.
  • Steinbach is moreso a C than a PF and he's a low-volume 3-point shooter.
  • Haugh is shooting under 34% from three, is almost 23, and only weighs 215 lbs.
  • Ament is a skinny SF at 207 lbs and is shooting 41% and 32% from 3.
  • Koa Peat is shooting 33% from 3 on extremely low volume.
  • Cenac is at 33% from 3 (and falling) and might be a C, not a PF.
  • Karim Lopez is shooting 32% from 3 and doesn't have a single elite trait.
  • Jayden Quaintance is coming off an ACL injury and can't shoot the 3 either.
  • Joshua Jefferson will be nearly 23 on opening night and prob isn't quick enough to play PF.


I do like Cenac, Ament, Steinbach, Haugh, and Mullins though. Those are prob my 5 favorite semi-realistic prospects right now.
Click to expand...
then draft another shooting G/F and go sign John Collins with MLE money

john collins thread
 
BatManu20 said:
Preaching to the choir. But considering the Spurs have seemingly shown zero interest in John Collins over the years, I doubt that's even an option tbh.
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I don’t think that was him as a person or a player. We were tearing the team down, and renting the cap room. He’s STILL on the contract he was on when DeJounte was traded to ATL. That would have been about $25M we couldn’t have rented every season.
 
Exstatic said:
I don’t think that was him as a person or a player. We were tearing the team down, and renting the cap room. He’s STILL on the contract he was on when DeJounte was traded to ATL. That would have been about $25M we couldn’t have rented every season.
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Also true. Him finally being an UFA could potentially change things (though I'm not holding my breath). I'd be all for it though. I've been on the John Collins train for years tbh. I still think he'd be a great fit on this team as a rebounding stretch-4 beside Wemby (42% from 3 this season, 40% over the last 3 seasons combined). He'd be a seamless fit on this squad imo and another welcomed veteran presence. His rebounding numbers have come down a bit the past couple years, but he's still averaging 7 a game this year which is solid. Make it happen Brian.

c0dc9135-9ab7-4c32-9711-c8bfc28a48aa_1140x641.png
 
Can’t wait for these debates to end in October:
1) whether the Spurs care to have a PF of traditional size or they want a big wing there
2) whether they want a rebounding-stretch-5 PF archetype next to Wemby or want a player who plays more mobile
 
BatManu20 said:
The reality is that all the PF prospects in the 8-16 range have warts unfortunately.

  • Yaxel is older than Paolo Banchero and is shooting 32% from 3.
  • Steinbach is moreso a C than a PF and he's a low-volume 3-point shooter.
  • Haugh is shooting under 34% from three, is almost 23, and only weighs 215 lbs.
  • Ament is a skinny SF at 207 lbs and is shooting 41% and 32% from 3.
  • Koa Peat is shooting 33% from 3 on extremely low volume.
  • Cenac is at 33% from 3 (and falling) and might be a C, not a PF.
  • Karim Lopez is shooting 32% from 3 and doesn't have a single elite trait.
  • Jayden Quaintance is coming off an ACL injury and can't shoot the 3 either.
  • Joshua Jefferson will be nearly 23 on opening night and prob isn't quick enough to play PF.


I do like Cenac, Ament, Steinbach, Haugh, and Mullins though. Those are prob my 5 favorite semi-realistic prospects right now.
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Lopez's big body is approaching elite status (or elite enough); he's proven he can body up against grown men in the NBL. Looks to easily be 6'8" in bare feet, and he's still just 18 and wrapping up his 2nd full pro season. His shot looks decent and I'd draft him with full confidence he can improve to north of 35%.

Given our likely drafting slot, our only shot at elite traits is probably Braylon Mullins (and Mullins is my guy right now, all things considered), but I'm kind of looking at this through the lens of roster flexibility. Having CB and Lopez on the floor at the same time, where both should be able to switch pretty easily between 3 and 4, could give us an upper edge in against teams that want to emphasize physicality. If I'm building this roster, surrounding Wemby with a lot of beef would be a priority, and we would get that with a lineup of Harper, Castle, CB, and Lopez - I'll be here for the literal body shots and figurative upper cuts.
 
Guru of Nothing said:
Lopez's big body is approaching elite status (or elite enough); he's proven he can body up against grown men in the NBL. Looks to easily be 6'8" in bare feet, and he's still just 18 and wrapping up his 2nd full pro season. His shot looks decent and I'd draft him with full confidence he can improve to north of 35%.

Given our likely drafting slot, our only shot at elite traits is probably Braylon Mullins (and Mullins is my guy right now, all things considered), but I'm kind of looking at this through the lens of roster flexibility. Having CB and Lopez on the floor at the same time, where both should be able to switch pretty easily between 3 and 4, could give us an upper edge in against teams that want to emphasize physicality. If I'm building this roster, surrounding Wemby with a lot of beef would be a priority, and we would get that with a lineup of Harper, Castle, CB, and Lopez - I'll be here for the literal body shots and figurative upper cuts.
Click to expand...
Mitch says he won’t match physicality with traditional physicality:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2026157217779429433
 
Can someone sell me on Braylon Mullins? I understand the need for shooting on this team with Fox, Castle, and Harper taking up the vast majority of minutes at the guard positions. My issue in general with overindexing on shooting (specifically in the draft) is that great shooters are a little bit unpredictable. Looking at a list of the best movement shooters in the league according to Crafted:

https://craftednba.com/player-roles/movement-shooter

There are a lot of guys on this list who were not drafted that high. Guys like Isaiah Joe, Sam Merrill, Sam Hauser, Duncan Robinson, I'd probably add Ty Jerome to this list. Conversely, just in the last few years, there have been quite a few high profile busts for guys drafted primarily because of their jump shots. Jordan Hawkins (another UConn shooter) is probably the most famous one, but even guys like Gradey Dick and Jett Howard have really not lived up to expectations. When you view Mullins in this lens, is his shooting talent that readily evident on tape that he's clearly better than someone like Hawkins or Dick? I would say looking at his FT% (low 80s to 90+%) and 3 point volume (10-15 3PA/100), it's comparable to other shooters that didn't pan out so what sets him apart? Looking at shooters that really succeeded, Kon had legitimate creation chops and was shooting 90%+ from FT, Herro was 90%+ FT, TMIII and Cam Johnson are taller.

I do agree that we need another shooter outside of Vassell and Champagnie and possibly Barnes next year. Carter Bryant might improve. My original idea was to maybe just try and get Landry Shamet or Fonteccio in free agency on a shorter term contract to shore up shooting at the backup guard/wing position but I'm open to having my mind changed on this.
 
Shooting varies so much how it translates. Keyonte George was an awful shooter at Baylor and now he's a flamethrower. Good shooters don't bring it into the league. Others do.

One thing Mullins has is a good defensive rating, but I don't think the Spurs will look his direction. He does seem similar to those mentioned, especially Gradey.
 
Mullins is an elite 3PT shooter already at 19 years old (38.4% on high volume) and boasts an 87% FT% too. He's also a plus defender which doesn't get talked about enough when his name comes up. I personally don't think his shooting will have any issues translating to the NBA level. He's going to be a high-volume movement-shooter in the NBA.

With that said, his 2 biggest red flags are his lack of playing ability (1.8 Ast/TO) and his lack of rim pressure. He reminds me of Devin Vassell coming out of Florida State in some ways, though Devin was better at getting to the cup. Dev also had a slightly higher 3PT% (41%) but on only half the attempts per game that Braylon shoots (6 vs 3 attempts per). Dev was also a sophomore of course. But there's some similarity in their games.

I was more interested in Mullins as an option in case Vassell were to get moved in the next couple years. But with Devin currently playing the best ball of his career, I'm not quite as interested as I once was. I still like him as a prospect, and you can never have enough shooting on the roster so I wouldn't be mad at the pick at all, but I also don't think he has to be a top-target anymore either with Devin looking like he's entering his prime (assuming we plan on re-signing him. If he becomes too expensive to retain, then Mullins is suddenly a very realistic possibility again).

 
Last edited:
BatManu20 said:
Mullins is an elite 3PT shooter already at 19 years old (38.4% on high volume) and boasts an 87% FT% too. He's also a plus defender which doesn't get talked about enough when his name comes up. I personally don't think his shooting will have any issues translating to the NBA level. He's going to be a high-volume movement-shooter in the NBA.

With that said, his 2 biggest red flags are his lack of playing ability (1.8 Ast/TO) and his lack of rim pressure. He reminds me of Devin Vassell coming out of Florida State in some ways, though Devin was better at getting to the cup. Dev also had a slightly higher 3PT% (41%) but on only half the attempts per game that Braylon shoots (6 vs 3 attempts per). Dev was also a sophomore of course. But there's some similarity in their games.

I was more interested in Mullins as an option in case Vassell were to get moved in the next couple years. But with Devin currently playing the best ball of his career, I'm not quite as interested as I once was. I still like him as a prospect, and you can never have enough shooting on the roster, but if this really is Devin starting to enter his prime and not just a hot streak, then I won't be pissed if we do in another direction tbh.

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might as well go with cameron carr
 
onechance87 said:
might as well go with cameron carr
Click to expand...
Definitely an argument to be made there. Carr is 2 years older though, a little shorter, and a little skinnier, but he's also a better athlete and gives you the freakish 7'2 wingspan defensively. Just a matter of preference and what you're looking for I guess. Both are solid prospects imo.
 
BatManu20 said:
Mullins is an elite 3PT shooter already at 19 years old (38.4% on high volume) and boasts an 87% FT% too. He's also a plus defender which doesn't get talked about enough when his name comes up. I personally don't think his shooting will have any issues translating to the NBA level. He's going to be a high-volume movement-shooter in the NBA.

With that said, his 2 biggest red flags are his lack of playing ability (1.8 Ast/TO) and his lack of rim pressure. He reminds me of Devin Vassell coming out of Florida State in some ways, though Devin was better at getting to the cup. Dev also had a slightly higher 3PT% (41%) but on only half the attempts per game that Braylon shoots (6 vs 3 attempts per). Dev was also a sophomore of course. But there's some similarity in their games.

I was more interested in Mullins as an option in case Vassell were to get moved in the next couple years. But with Devin currently playing the best ball of his career, I'm not quite as interested as I once was. I still like him as a prospect, and you can never have enough shooting on the roster so I wouldn't be mad at the pick at all, but I also don't think he has to be a top-target anymore either with Devin looking like he's entering his prime.

Click to expand...
That asst/TO is better than Darren Peterson (1.0). We will have to move off Vassell,probably in the next two years, no matter how well he plays. Might as well be training up his replacement.
 
BatManu20 said:
Definitely an argument to be made there. Carr is 2 years older though, a little shorter, and a little skinnier, but he's also a better athlete and gives you the freakish 7'2 wingspan defensively. Just a matter of preference and what you're looking for I guess. Both are solid prospects imo.
Click to expand...
the hit rate on freakish wingspan guys is pretty high
 
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