2026 NBA draft thread

[vfromlmf]

I've tried to like Philon because I've seen him ranked somewhere in the lottery throughout the year. Yes, he's made a big leap offensively this year vs his freshman season, but I just don't think he's anything special. I'll admit, he's the one I've watched the least. 3 games total. So, I'll have to tune in more during the tournament to see if my opinion of him changes any...

I'm probably overrating Philon because of his defensive potential, but that's a projection so who knows if it will translate. He hasn't exactly been a lockdown defender this year. He does have lockdown traits though, and he was better last year when he wasn't shouldering such a heavy offensive burden. Offensively he seems to have a complete game and can score efficiently at all three levels. He takes a lot of step back threes that just look NBA caliber. Eye test stuff. He gets great separation and I think he'll be able to get his shot off in the NBA. He might be a safer pick that some others, or maybe not. He still has plenty of room to develop.

The worry with Wagler and also -- but less-so -- with Acuff is neither have tremendous athletic burst. Acuff may have a more difficult time getting paint shots off against longer and more athletic defenders. And Wagler doesn't even dunk in college. Both are great shooters though and no prospect is perfect. Both players could easily make GMs (and me) look like morons.

Brown Jr can be a superstar. Tough to rate him strictly on his college numbers though. He looked spectacular for a stretch but he's also played hurt didn't make a big statistical impact. I saw one game - don't remember which - but he didn't start and came off the bench after about two minutes. I wondered if he was in Coach's doghouse but it turns out he was still warming up his back. When he came in his presence changed the game pretty dramatically. He didn't do much though and I noticed he was wearing a back sleeve or warmer or something on the bench. The takeaway was, if he can enter a game a have that level of impact, while playing hurt and not shooting well ... well that's pretty special. 

Flemings' game is pretty boring--but that's on Houston. I'd really like to see what he could do if he were uncorked by a guy like Calipari. You can see the talent and he's the best player on one of the best teams in college basketball as a freshman. Plays T-H-E R-I-G-H-T W-A-Y. 

Really tough to rank these guys but I still have Flemings and Brown Jr in one tier and Acuff, Wagler, Philon a notch below. And Acuff is knocking on the door.