Draft 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Thread

[Mugen]

Eh, I’m just of the philosophy that you don’t fuck around and wait for another team to nab a great talent because you wanted to salvage extra assets. What we saw last night from DWhite a lot of teams would kill for.

I forgot two more examples tbh: JDub and Cedric Coward from last year. Will give you those, they’re the best examples in favor of your argument tbh.

Still it’s just a hell of a lot easier to get the guy with more years to develop and fill out. If you’re going older prospect at that range in this draft class, you better be absolutely sure you’re gonna hit with the pick as @Ariel said.

 

[OK Computer]

I forgot two more examples tbh: JDub and Cedric Coward from last year. Will give you those, they’re the best examples in favor of your argument tbh.

Still it’s just a hell of a lot easier to get the guy with more years to develop and fill out. If you’re going older prospect at that range in this draft class, you better be absolutely sure you’re gonna hit with the pick as @Ariel said.

The flip side to this is that the remaining talent is just not impressive to begin with.

So if I think that any of the available younger guys won’t reach the level of the older prospect anyway, then passing on the better player just for age doesn’t make sense. That turns the decision into betting on youth instead of just taking the better basketball player.

For example: I don’t believe someone like Karim will develop the unique passing ability Joshua Jefferson has even if we gave him four years to develop. Some prospects just have it and some don’t and never will.

 

[Vienna]

Juke Harris from Wake might be under the radar. (ACC just awarded him MIP 2026 though). scores a lot. 3pt numbers don't look outstanding, but be shoots a lot and he takes a lot of though shots. so he had hot games when he drained six or seven 3s, and others he went cold. good athlete, gets to the line at will. looks long, but measurements will tell. definitely interesting option for the 2nd round.

 

[Exstatic]

Juke Harris from Wake might be under the radar. (ACC just awarded him MIP 2026 though). scores a lot. 3pt numbers don't look outstanding, but be shoots a lot and he takes a lot of though shots. so he had hot games when he drained six or seven 3s, and others he went cold. good athlete, gets to the line at will. looks long, but measurements will tell. definitely interesting option for the 2nd round.

Spurs usually look for efficiency, not volume inefficiency.

 

[Vienna]

Spurs usually look for efficiency, not volume inefficiency.

yeah. they would never draft a Dylan Harper, just because he is good at some things.

 

[Exstatic]

I know you didn’t just compare our #2 overall pick to a nobody.

The poster child for high volume middle efficiency players is Cam Thomas. He was so unwanted at the trade deadline, Brooklyn ended up releasing him. This type can only be a tank commander.

 

[Ariel]

yeah. they would never draft a Dylan Harper, just because he is good at some things.

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

 

[Uriel]

New ESPN mock has us taking Haugh.

This makes a lot of sense. Haugh seems like your prototypical Brian Wright player:

1. Versatility
2. Positional size
3. Connective piece

He could view Haugh as the player he hoped Zach Collins or Doug McDermott would be.

 

[Ariel]

New ESPN mock has us taking Haugh.

2026 NBA mock draft: Who's rising and falling ahead of March Madness?

Who's rising and falling in Jeremy Woo's updated 2026 NBA mock draft ahead of March Madness?

www.espn.com

1. Darryn Peterson, PG/SG, Kansas
2. AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU
3. Cameron Boozer, PF/C, Duke
4. Caleb Wilson, PF/C, North Carolina
5. Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston
6. Keaton Wagler, PG/SG, Illinois
7. Darius Acuff Jr., PG, Arkansas
8. Mikel Brown Jr., PG, Louisville
9. Nate Ament, SF/PF, Tennessee
10. Brayden Burries, SG, Arizona
11. Karim Lopez, SF/PF, New Zealand Breakers
12. Thomas Haugh, SF/PF, Florida
13. Braylon Mullins, SG, UConn
14. Jayden Quaintance, C, Kentucky
15. Hannes Steinbach, PF/C, Washington
16. Christian Anderson, PG, Texas Tech
17. Yaxel Lendeborg, PF/C, Michigan
18. Labaron Philon Jr., PG/SG, Alabama
19. Koa Peat, PF/C, Arizona
20. Bennett Stirtz, PG, Iowa
21. Motiejus Krivas, C, Arizona
22. Chris Cenac Jr., PF/C, Houston
23. Cameron Carr, SG, Baylor
24. Aday Mara, C, Michigan
25. Isaiah Evans, SG, Duke
26. Patrick Ngongba II, C, Duke
27. Morez Johnson Jr., PF/C, Michigan
28. Amari Allen, SF/PF, Alabama
29. Dailyn Swain, SG/SF, Texas
30. Tounde Yessoufou, SF, Baylor
31. Dame Sarr, SG/SF, Duke, Freshman
32. Tyler Tanner, PG/SG, Vanderbilt, Sophomore
33. Alex Condon, C, Florida, Junior
34. Juke Harris, SG, Wake Forest, Sophomore
35. Alex Karaban, SF/PF, UConn, Senior
36. Henri Veesaar, C, North Carolina, Junior
37. Joshua Jefferson, SF/PF, Iowa State, Senior
38. Meleek Thomas, PG/SG, Arkansas, Freshman
39. Zuby Ejiofor, PF/C, St. John's, Senior
40. Braden Smith, PG, Purdue, Senior
41. Adam Atamna, SG, ASVEL (France)
42. Ryan Conwell. SG, Louisville, Senior
43. Alijah Arenas, SG, USC, Freshman
44. Flory Bidunga, C, Kansas, Sophomore
45. Milan Momcilovic, PF, Iowa State, Junior
46. Pryce Sandfort, SG/SF, Nebraska, Sophomore
47. Rueben Chinyelu, C, Florida, Junior
48. Sergio de Larrea, PG/SG, Valencia (Spain)
49. Dash Daniels, PG/SG. Melbourne United (Australia)
50. Jaden Bradley, PG/SG, Arizona, Senior
51. Baba Miller, PF/C, Cincinnati, Senior
52. Tarris Reed Jr., PF/C, UConn, Senior
53. Bruce Thornton, PG/SG, Ohio State, Senior
54. Kylan Boswell, PG/SG, Illinois, Senior
55. Emanuel Sharp, SG, Houston, Senior
56. Richie Saunders, SG/SF, BYU, Senior
57. Solo Ball, SG, UConn, Junior
58. Milos Uzan, PG, Houston, Senior
59. Maliq Brown, PF/C, Duke, Senior
60. Trevon Brazile, PF/C, Arkansas, Senior

Lots of interesting players from 20 onwards.

 

[spurraider21]

our #35 pick seems like it could be pretty useful this year. good place to take an upperclassman like Joshua Jefferson or Dailyn Swain. guys with good size, position versatility, solid defenders, who bring something on offense even if they arent sharpshooters.

 

[scott]

our #35 pick seems like it could be pretty useful this year. good place to take an upperclassman like Joshua Jefferson or Dailyn Swain. guys with good size, position versatility, solid defenders, who bring something on offense even if they arent sharpshooters.

IND already has the cash in a High Yield Savings Account in anticipation of draft day

 

[spurraider21]

IND already has the cash in a High Yield Savings Account in anticipation of draft day

between Waters, Olynyk, Biyombo, Plumlee, McLaughlin, and Barnes (who may be brought back, but man, really looked cooked prior to his nap injury), thats 5-6 open roster spots for a team operating above the cap. if there ever was a year to draft somebody in the second round and give them gleague time, its now tbh

we no longer have bottom end roster spots earmarked for scholarship players like branham, cissoko, etc

 

[Ariel]

IND already has the cash in a High Yield Savings Account in anticipation of draft day

I'd laugh... if there wasn't a very real chance it played out exactly that way.

 

[scott]

between Waters, Olynyk, Biyombo, Plumlee, McLaughlin, and Barnes (who may be brought back, but man, really looked cooked prior to his nap injury), thats 5-6 open roster spots for a team operating above the cap. if there ever was a year to draft somebody in the second round and give them gleague time, its now tbh

we no longer have bottom end roster spots earmarked for scholarship players like branham, cissoko, etc

So you're saying there's a chance for lil' Juan Nunez...

 

[spurraider21]

So you're saying there's a chance for lil' Juan Nunez...

waiting for the Nunez-Milutinov pick and roll game tbh

 

[Ariel]

If Joshua Jefferson is on the board when the Spurs pick in the second round and we pass, it'll give me Ajay Mitchell chills all over again.

 

[OK Computer]

our #35 pick seems like it could be pretty useful this year. good place to take an upperclassman like Joshua Jefferson or Dailyn Swain. guys with good size, position versatility, solid defenders, who bring something on offense even if they arent sharpshooters.

Big elimination game right now from JJ with four minutes left

I’d like to ask folks who are opposed drafting older players early

Who keeps their job between these two GMs?

The GM who picks at 14 who thought he could find a trade down for a Jimmy Butler-level talent but failed to find a trade

Or the GM who picks at 15 who said fuck it, this Jimmy Butler-esque kid is good I’m taking him

 

[spurraider21]

Big elimination game right now from JJ with four minutes left

I’d like to ask folks who are opposed drafting older players early

Who keeps their job between these two GMs?

The GM who picks at 14 who thought he could find a trade down for a Jimmy Butler-level talent but failed to find a trade

Or the GM who picks at 15 who said fuck it, this Jimmy Butler-esque kid is good I’m taking him

yes if you pick and choose a success story of an older player, the example works to your benefit. when you create the identical scenario and replace jimmy butler with dalton knecht, the GM who avoided picking knecht is the one who keeps his job. somebody who picked knecht at #8 may lose his job over it, but somebody who picked knecth at 20 wouldnt lose his job if knecht busted

older players arent "bad" but the general consensus seems to be that they often times can be more ready day-1 contributors as they have more maturity and their body is more developed (whereas a lot of the younger guys end up being weak and pushed around). see someone like jaime jacquez jr. this has value to better teams who tend to pick later. but they are also generally closer to their final finished product, so its more of a "what you see is what you get" and less room for projection.

yes you can point to old examples like the days when guys like jordan, magic, robinson, etc were all playing several years of college before entering the draft, but its a different day. to be fair, NIL may be tilting the scales back a bit to rebalance this. we shall see

 

[Ariel]

Big elimination game right now from JJ with four minutes left

I’d like to ask folks who are opposed drafting older players early

Who keeps their job between these two GMs?

The GM who picks at 14 who thought he could find a trade down for a Jimmy Butler-level talent but failed to find a trade

Or the GM who picks at 15 who said fuck it, this Jimmy Butler-esque kid is good I’m taking him

The talent is undeniable, the only disclaimer is I don't buy the improvement from 3. But I wouldn't criticize the pick, it's reasonable even in the mid first round.

PS: For the record, I think there's ZERO chance Jefferson is there at 35, he's gone in the 20s at the latest.

 

[spurraider21]

there will always be counterpoints to everything. you can find the odd example of jimmy butler being drafted at 22 but then having the development trajectory of a 19 year old... but you shouldnt be basing strategy on exceptions.

on the other hand, compare some spurs guards, dejounte murray and derrick white. murray is a completely different player than the one who was drafted. the spurs banked on his athletic upside and traits and thought they could mold a great player, and they did. the guy he plays like now is unrecognizable from the rookie dejounte we saw. on the other hand, while derrick white has gotten MUCH better over his years, he is more or less the same type of player he was in college, where as a senior at colorado he put up 19/4/4.5 on 50/40/80 shooting splits with plus defense and shotblocking.

as a general rule, you can leave more to the imagination with younger players

 

[Correct Crusader]

 

[OK Computer]

there will always be counterpoints to everything. you can find the odd example of jimmy butler being drafted at 22 but then having the development trajectory of a 19 year old... but you shouldnt be basing strategy on exceptions.

on the other hand, compare some spurs guards, dejounte murray and derrick white. murray is a completely different player than the one who was drafted. the spurs banked on his athletic upside and traits and thought they could mold a great player, and they did. the guy he plays like now is unrecognizable from the rookie dejounte we saw. on the other hand, while derrick white has gotten MUCH better over his years, he is more or less the same type of player he was in college, where as a senior at colorado he put up 19/4/4.5 on 50/40/80 shooting splits with plus defense and shotblocking.

as a general rule, you can leave more to the imagination with younger players

Sometimes (maybe most of the time) it’s that imagination that betrays you is all I’m saying. I think there’s a science to projecting how good players will become and what we’re hoping for is that the Spurs can identify that better, right? Because recent data shows they’ve been quite bad at picking players out of imagination.

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032211736301105278

 

[spurraider21]

i dont think ament makes it to the hawks pick

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032164380776022379