AJ Dybantsa #3 of the BYU Cougars is atop the NBA Mock Draft 2026.
Getty
AJ Dybantsa #3 of the BYU Cougars is atop the NBA Mock Draft 2026.
It’s a busy hoops slate for both the NBA and the NCAA, as the league is sorting out its playoff positioning with some key games down the stretch and only three weeks until the playoffs tip off. Meanwhile, with almost a third of the league in full-on tanking mode, the NCAA tournament is providing a final glimpse at the players who are inspiring these pro teams to lose intentionally. Yes, it’s NBA Mock Draft 2026 season.
With that, after some conversations with scouts and others, we’re going to unveil the first mock of the spring here, reflecting some of the rising names heading into the Sweet 16. Here goes:
Indiana Pacers: AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU. Don’t expect BYU’s early tournament exit to affect Dybantsa’s draft stock. He’s locked in as a Top 2 pick, a versatile 6-foot-9 scorer who has a natural, springy athleticism.
Washington Wizards: Cameron Boozer, PF, Duke. Scout: “He has so much skill around the basket, he knows how to win, and he makes everyone around him better. He will score 25 points and still throw elbows, set screens, dive on the floor. He is a guy you want on your team.”
Brooklyn Nets: Darryn Peterson, SG, Kansas. The ups and downs of Petersen are well-known at this point. He is the most talented player in the draft, but also the most enigmatic, and in the end, he is not a guy who helped Kansas win this season. That’s going to drop his stock … but not far. Even those around the NBA who are hard on Peterson’s cramping issues don’t see him getting past No. 4 overall.
NBA Mock Draft 2026: After the Big 3
Sacramento Kings: Darius Acuff Jr., PG, Arkansas. Scouts point to Acuff—a do-it-all point guard—as one of the players who is still trending up even as he has moved into the Top 5. “He could break into the Top 3 depending on how the lottery goes,” one scout said.
Utah Jazz: Caleb Wilson, PF, North Carolina. His raw athleticism at 6-foot-10 will get him into the Top 10, probably the Top 5. He can’t shoot (26% from the 3-point line), and whomever drafts him will gamble that he can change that over time. A late-season thumb injury and UNC’s collapse won’t hurt his stock much.
Dallas Mavericks: Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois. Scout: “His upside is not as high as some other guys, but he is a very smart, very purely talented scorer and ballhandler. I love how he sees a game and picks it apart. That’s a skill that translates to the next level.”
Memphis Grizzlies: Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston. Absolutely a downhill player whose speed changes the game. Wherever he lands will wind up being a team that pushes the tempo and gets into transition. He’ll need more confidence in his perimeter shot.
Atlanta Hawks (via New Orleans Pelicans): Mikel Brown, Jr., PG, Louisville. Brown did not have a great year for the Cardinals, as he shot only 41% and missed all of March with a back injury. But he’s still a coveted piece in the NBA, a polished guard whose game should translate to the pros.
Caleb Wilson #8 of the North Carolina Tar Heels is a Top 10 pick.
GettyCaleb Wilson #8 of the North Carolina Tar Heels is a Top 10 pick.
More Risk After No. 8?
Chicago Bulls: Nate Ament, SF, Tennessee. Scout: “Up and down year for him. It was good he came back after getting hurt (ankle injury in late February), but there’s a lot of question marks there. He’s a shooter at 6-foot-10, though, and he showed enough to keep him in the lottery. You just have to trust that you can develop him.”
Milwaukee Bucks: Brayden Burries, G, Arizona. After a rough start to the year, Burries’ stock has continued to rise into the Top 10. He’s a 6-foot-4 two-way combo guard who can hold his own on an NBA floor from the get-go, but the hope is that he develops into a solid starting point guard.
Golden State Warriors: Jayden Quaintance, PF/C, Kentucky. Quaintance is the wildcard of this draft, a big guy who was coming off ACL surgery this season and went out again after a brief return this winter, an unfortunate bit of punctuation on a frustrating year. The knee is an obvious concern, but if healthy, Quaintance can be a defensive force inside. High risk, high reward.
Portland Trail Blazers: Koa Peat, PF, Arizona. Peat is 6-foot-8 and plays with some power, with the potential to land in the lottery depending on how things shake out with the other PFs in this draft—there is depth in this draft but not necessarily with size. How a team views him is probably based on whether it thinks he can develop a 3-pointer (6-for-19 in his college career).
Charlotte Hornets: Chris Cenac Jr., PF/C, Houston. Scout: “He is a risk, all the big guys in this draft are a risk. You’d like to see more rim protection, you’d like to see more consistency. But he can develop into a stretch big guy, and that’s at a premium, so he probably winds up in the lottery. There’s a lot of untapped potential.”
Miami Heat: Labaron Philon, PG, Alabama. Scout: “He is all over the board. I think where he lands will depend on whether he gets a team who sees him as a starting point guard—and the way he played to close the season and into the tournament, I think his stock is up.”
Post-Lottery Picks, NBA Mock Draft 2026
Oklahoma City Thunder (via Los Angeles Clippers): Braylon Mullins, SG, UConn. There’s potential that he could return to Storrs, as his season was somewhat disappointing. But he is one of the best shooters in the draft, and that’s going to keep him in the mid-first-round range, should he enter the draft.
Memphis Grizzlies (via Orlando Magic): Isaiah Evans, SF, Duke. Evans has slowly built up his stock after an inconsistent start, and appears to be firm as a Top 20 pick. He’s a durable three-level scorer whose game should translate well to the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta Hawks): Yaxel Lendeborg, PF, Michigan. Scout: “He’s going to be 24 in September, and that’s the big thing with him—he is ready to play in the NBA but you’d expect him to be more of a versatile, dirty-work kind of role player. That’s not a bad thing, but he fits best with a contender. Some teams might be looking for a bigger swing.”
Oklahoma City Thunder (from Philadelphia 76ers): Karim Lopez, F, New Zealand Breakers. Lopez has all the physical attributes (6-foot-9, 7-foot-1 wingspan) to make scouts’ mouths water. But he didn’t quite put it together in his NBL season, where he averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 49% shooting. He’s a project and needs to go to a team that can be patient.
Charlotte Hornets (via Phoenix Suns): Thomas Haugh, PF, Florida. Haugh is seen as something of a safe pick for a draft with a lot of upside players. There’s hope that his 3-point shot will develop into a weapon—he needs improvement there. The Gators’ disappointing NCAA tournament run won’t hurt his stock, but he did not get a boost from it, either.
Toronto Raptors: Cameron Carr, SF, Baylor. Carr is a high-volume scorer entering a league that has turned up its nose as high-volume scorers. But he is 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and good shooting ability—he’ll just need a team and system to tame him a bit.
Yaxel Lendeborg #23 of the Michigan Wolverines
GettyYaxel Lendeborg #23 of the Michigan Wolverines
Good Value Just Outside Top 20
Detroit Pistons (via Minnesota Timberwolves). Hannes Steinbach, PF, Washington. Anytime you get a German prospect from Wurzburg, the imagination is going to run wild. But Steinbach is not Dirk—he is, instead, a dominant rebounder who led the nation with 11.8 boards per game.
Denver Nuggets: Bennett Stirtz, PG, Iowa. Stirtz will be 23 in the fall, and that will be counted against him in the draft. He will need to add strength and physicality, but he is a polished playmaker who can shoot from deep, though his 0-for-9 showing in the Hawkeyes’ upset over Florida was not his finest moment.
Philadelphia 76ers (via Houston Rockets): Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech. The fact that teams are more likely to be looking for size in this draft is probably the only thing that would hold Anderson’s stock into the 20s. He is a very good shooter (41.5% from the 3-point line this year) and playmaker who can play on and off the ball.
Atlanta Hawks (via Cleveland Cavaliers): Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas. Scout: “He is 6-foot-8 and he has always been sort of a question mark. But the more this season has gone on, and now the NCAA tournament, you see him converting potential into performance. He is passing better, he is shooting better, he is making better decisions. And he’s just scratching the surface.”
Los Angeles Lakers: Patrick Ngongba II, C, Duke. Ngongba is back in the mix after a foot injury, and a strong close to the season could firm him up as a legit first-rounder. He has the size, skill and defensive chops, but does he have the rim-running athleticism teams want?
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Late NCAA Tournament Risers
New York Knicks: Zuby Ejiofor, C, St. John’s. Can he shoot? No. But put that aside, and Ejiofor is a fast-rising center who plays with energy and physicality. His seven blocks against UConn in the Big East tournament foreshadowed a good NCAA tournament and he could land in the first round.
Boston Celtics: Amari Allen, SF, Alabama. Scout: “If someone does not give him a first-round promise, he could go back (to school). But he is a smart player who has some areas of development still in front of him—I think a playoff team would give him a good look and maybe promise him.”
Minnesota Timberwolves (via Detroit Pistons): Tyler Tanner, PG, Vanderbilt. He’s only 6-foot-0, and that’s the big thing that works against Tanner. But he has shown a knack for playmaking and scoring, and his quickness is undeniable. His NCAA tournament performance—53 points in two games—has his stock on the rise.
Cleveland Cavaliers (via San Antonio Spurs): Aday Mara, C, Michigan. Mara and Morez Johnson will both be fringe first-round picks for the Wolverines, and both have boosted their stock in recent weeks. At 7-foot-3, and with seven blocked shots in two tournament games, Aday’s advantages are obvious.
Dallas Mavericks (via Oklahoma City Thunder): Alex Karaban, PF, UConn. Karaban will be 24 in November, and that works against him, but he has shown continually that he knows how to contribute to winning. A stretch-4 who shot 39.4% from the 3-point line this year, he won’t wow anyone physically, but for teams looking for a plug-and-play, good-culture guy, Karaban is ideal.