2026 NBA draft thread

[khaled1987]

I talked about Sergio for the OKC pick, however, he is a guy who clearly struggle finishing against contact. I feel he will be more of a secondary ball handler (SG essentially) who lives a lot on 3pt shot. He will need to develop his defense if he is going to have future in the league, as a 3D guard.

[Mavs2021]

I talked about Sergio for the OKC pick, however,  he is a guy who clearly struggle finishing against contact. I feel he will be more of a secondary ball handler (SG essentially) who lives a lot on 3pt shot. He will need to develop his defense if he is going to have future in the league, as a 3D guard.

Agreed. His ability to finish at the rim is a concern. At least he´s not 6´3 like Hardy, but that seems his big flaw.

[Chicagojk]

Goodness gracious.  His defense in the third clip makes me think he should be a first rounder.  He still has another year left if he wants t return to college.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comme...sing_bigs/

[Winter]

Goodness gracious.  His defense in the third clip makes me think he should be a first rounder.  He still has another year left if he wants t return to college.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comme...sing_bigs/

He's listed at 270 lbs! And by the looks of it, it's all muscle.

Damn. Not much video on him.

[Mavs2021]

Goodness gracious.  His defense in the third clip makes me think he should be a first rounder.  He still has another year left if he wants t return to college.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comme...sing_bigs/

Yup, the footwork looks insane.  He´s not even on Tankathon top 60. Sign me up for the Suns 2nd round pick.

I already talked about Grunloh last year. He broke the shotblocking record of Wembanyama at the Adidas EuroCamp and is projected between 45-60 now, too. I really like him. Could be another Santi Aldama, who was a youth superstar in Europe, then had a mediocre college year and dropped to #30. 

I sure hope they take this draft seriously and don´t let Cuban have any say in the matters.

[Winter]

Yup, the footwork looks insane.  He´s not even on Tankathon top 60. Sign me up for the Suns 2nd round pick.

I already talked about Grunloh last year. He broke the shotblocking record of Wembanyama at the Adidas EuroCamp and is projected between 45-60 now, too. I really like him. Could be another Santi Aldama, who was a youth superstar in Europe, then had a mediocre college year and dropped to #30. 

I sure hope they take this draft seriously and don´t let Cuban have any say in the matters.

I'm glad you're looking at the international players. We've let that slide in this thread.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[Vecenie] Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer are projected to end up as Tier 1 prospects for me (significant chance at All-NBA upside)... Wagler, Flemings, and Wilson project as at least Tier 2 players (sig. likelihood of All-Star upside). I’ve never had at least six Tier 1 and Tier 2 players in a draft

[Smitty]

[Vecenie] Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer are projected to end up as Tier 1 prospects for me (significant chance at All-NBA upside)... Wagler, Flemings, and Wilson project as at least Tier 2 players (sig. likelihood of All-Star upside). I’ve never had at least six Tier 1 and Tier 2 players in a draft

Annndddd Mavs are likely capped at 7 lol. Need some lottery luck OR use some of that new draft capital to trade up a spot or two.

A lot can and will change between now and then though. March madness has a way of mixing things up when it comes to the consensus.

[vfromlmf]

I know it's an impossible thought experiment but would you have traded Luka and four guys who don't play for Cooper Flagg, a 2026 lottery pick, 3 additional FRP, 3 SRP, Christie, Middleton, Jones, Bagley, AJJ and financial flexibility? Given Flagg's rapid development, I think I'd say yes. That's quite a (lucky) haul.

With respect to this draft, I'm not sure it's gotten much attention, but one thing to keep in mind is FOUR teams currently projected to pick before Dallas will be trying to make the playoffs next year. You also have Milwaukee and OKC with lottery balls.

Let's say you're Milwaukee, OKC, Indiana, Atlanta, Washington or Utah and you land top-4. Would you be interested in Kyrie? What about Kyrie plus Dallas at 7?

My point is, the Mavs can get lucky with the draft in more ways that one. I'd really hate to trade Kyrie but if you want to move up and get your guy, there could be a team there who's willing to listen to offers. The Mavs have assets including FRPs, financial wiggle room and tradeable players like Kyrie, Gafford, Naji, PJW and Christie to do some cool things.

[Mavs2021]

Peterson´s cramps are like Durant´s bench press. NBA strength and conditioning program, a little orange juice, and he´s unstoppable. He´s going #1. Utah would be an interesting case, given all their investment made into Dybantsa.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Annndddd Mavs are likely capped at 7 lol. Need some lottery luck OR use some of that new draft capital to trade up a spot or two.

We'll see if teams take BPA.  Even for the Mavs, is there interest in a SF/PF combo type unless he's clearly the BPA?

Kingston Flemings, Mikel Brown, Keaton Wagler are names you hope to have a chance at in the 6-10 range.

[Winter]

Unless the ping-pong ball falls in our favor, I'd say the top 6 are out. I doubt any team will be willing to give up those positions.

We'd have a much better chance of packaging something together to move our 30s-pick into a 20s-pick.

Also, I'm not convinced Wagler ends up at 6. He's the flavor of the month, but he's probably the most likely to move down a few spots.

[Chicagojk]

[Vecenie] Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer are projected to end up as Tier 1 prospects for me (significant chance at All-NBA upside)... Wagler, Flemings, and Wilson project as at least Tier 2 players (sig. likelihood of All-Star upside). I’ve never had at least six Tier 1 and Tier 2 players in a draft

Good to hear.  Sam does the work.   Wagler has really risen huh?   I will bet though that this is not the top 6 when the draft is here.  Sure, it may happen, but there is a lot of time until June.

[Winter]

Good to hear.  Sam does the work.   Wagler has really risen huh?   I will bet though that this is not the top 6 when the draft is here.  Sure, it may happen, but there is a lot of time until June.

Even though they shuffled around a little, the top 5 lottery picks have been solid every mock draft. I think there was one occasion early where Flemings fell to 6th, but he moved back up (as his 3-pt percentage improved). I have a hard time imagining any player breaking into the top 5 that isn't already there.

It's 6-10 where things look like they could change... and almost certainly will.

[Scott41theMavs]

A question for the plethora of guys who are smarter and more studied than I am. I notice that most here believe that CF is a natural 4. I think his already-elite driving ability screams 3 even if his 3p% screams bench 5 (hint - that will get far, far better). In any event, two of the top six in this draft are either 4's or 3-4 combos. If CF is a 4, then Dybantsa is still a no-brainer. But what about Boozer or Wilson? Boozer is really the bigger question mark, unless the Mavs don't move up and Wilson somehow drops out of the top six. But if the Mavs luck into the second pick and Peterson is obviously gone, do you automatically go Dybantsa? Or, if your GM (hopefully correctly) believes Boozer is that much better, do you all believe that he and CF could mesh together better than CF could with PJW or Naji?

[Winter]

A question for the plethora of guys who are smarter and more studied than I am. I notice that most here believe that CF is a natural 4. I think his already-elite driving ability screams 3 even if his 3p% screams bench 5 (hint - that will get far, far better). In any event, two of the top six in this draft are either 4's or 3-4 combos. If CF is a 4, then Dybantsa is still a no-brainer. But what about Boozer or Wilson? Boozer is really the bigger question mark, unless the Mavs don't move up and Wilson somehow drops out of the top six. But if the Mavs luck into the second pick and Peterson is obviously gone, do you automatically go Dybantsa? Or, if your GM (hopefully correctly) believes Boozer is that much better, do you all believe that he and CF could mesh together better than CF could with PJW or Naji?

It's a good question, but I'd probably go with Boozer. He's probably the best rebounder in that top 5. But I don't think it's a slam dunk, and I'm sure others will disagree.

Flagg I think can play as a SF or a PG at times. He's more easily moved around probably than Boozer is. I just think Boozer is really good - better than anyone outside of Peterson. I also would imagine a good rim protecting center would be ideal with those two in the line-up.

You never know, but I think Flagg and Boozer on the court at the same time has only a small risk of not working well. Flagg has shown himself pretty flexible.

[windjc]

A question for the plethora of guys who are smarter and more studied than I am. I notice that most here believe that CF is a natural 4. I think his already-elite driving ability screams 3 even if his 3p% screams bench 5 (hint - that will get far, far better). In any event, two of the top six in this draft are either 4's or 3-4 combos. If CF is a 4, then Dybantsa is still a no-brainer. But what about Boozer or Wilson? Boozer is really the bigger question mark, unless the Mavs don't move up and Wilson somehow drops out of the top six. But if the Mavs luck into the second pick and Peterson is obviously gone, do you automatically go Dybantsa? Or, if your GM (hopefully correctly) believes Boozer is that much better, do you all believe that he and CF could mesh together better than CF could with PJW or Naji?

Not a Boozer fan. Limited physical upside. High floor, low ceiling. Christian Laittner anyone?

[KillerLeft]

I think it can be credibly stated that Flagg's best fit might be at either forward position with the info we have, in fairness, even if I personally have already kind of decided he's a 4. Still, I think foisting any type of forward onto him at this point could potentially be dangerous, so my hope continues to be that the kid they draft is a guard. We KNOW he's going to need good guards on his team.

[Smitty]

A question for the plethora of guys who are smarter and more studied than I am. I notice that most here believe that CF is a natural 4. I think his already-elite driving ability screams 3 even if his 3p% screams bench 5 (hint - that will get far, far better). In any event, two of the top six in this draft are either 4's or 3-4 combos. If CF is a 4, then Dybantsa is still a no-brainer. But what about Boozer or Wilson? Boozer is really the bigger question mark, unless the Mavs don't move up and Wilson somehow drops out of the top six. But if the Mavs luck into the second pick and Peterson is obviously gone, do you automatically go Dybantsa? Or, if your GM (hopefully correctly) believes Boozer is that much better, do you all believe that he and CF could mesh together better than CF could with PJW or Naji?

I know this won’t be popular because it goes against the consensus but if I have the #1 pick, I’m picking Dybantsa. I think Peterson is the most talented player in the draft but based on the limited information we have as fans, I worry he doesn’t have the intangibles. I don’t think he loves basketball tbh. The NBA is hard and talent is not enough. He would still be near the top of my board. I have them ranked Dybantsa, Boozer, Peterson. Positionally, all of them fit with Flagg. Thats what makes Flagg special after all. He’s not “just a 4”.

[Mavs2021]

Looking at the line-ups in that Nets vs. Wizards game, I´m hitting the gym, just in case they call up somebody from the stands next.