2026 NBA draft thread

[Chicagojk]

Wilson has been awesome. Almost every game is consistent production. I need to watch more of him to get a better feel. His highlights are jaw dropping. boozer’s highlights are not.

Just watch Boozer play though. He is such a winning player who throws up huge stats every game. Maybe it changes tonight but every game he is by far the best player on the court. He doesn’t need to prove it every time down the court too. You just know.

If he is pick 1,2 or 3 it is an easy choice. I may take him higher than 3…we will see. He is also a year younger than Wilson. He will play his whole rookie year as a 19 year old. If Dallas is lucky to get him they are the next OKC. Flagg and Boozer just make winning plays. With those two, the rest of roster building is easy.

[khaled1987]

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?

Best player available, always. No question asked. 
Deciding based on fit is really dangerous when you are dealing with the draft, even far more dangerous when you are rebuilding.

I think Flagg is best as 4, but there is a world where he fits perfectly with almost every player in the draft. You don't let that to be a deciding factor or a factor at all. 

And just for the record, there will be at least couple of busts among the top 6 pick, that is almost guaranteed. Very high chance at least one of them is in the top 3 picks. 

The easiest way to get a bust, is to care more about fit. Give me an elite prospect who plays as a 4 over a prospect that fits perfectly on paper but will be an average player.

[Mavs2021]

Seems Ament has re-entered the room.

24.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG 2.4 APG 48/40/80 shooting splits over last seven games. I liked him before the season. Not sure who I´d take between him and Brown Jr. at #7.

From the current Tankathon top 11, I´m fine with all of them except Philon, who I did not rate last year and has awful combine numbers. With Mullins I also do not see the upside. Steinbach I like the talent, but he is the most questionable fit, cause he´d likely have to play center next to Flagg.

[Winter]

If I was at #7 and picking now - assuming the typical top 5 were gone - I probably take Wagler because of his playmaking if he's available. If he's not, then it's tough. I love Mullins, but not so much in the top 6-9. Mullins isn't featured that much in the Huskies game. He only gets about 10-12 ppg so he might turn out to be Max Christie. Brown is the standard pick, but I'm not sure about him either. I just don't think he's good on day one. Ament has gotten better, so he might be the best available even though his shooting is kind of blah. I agree that Steinbach may not fit, and I'm not sure if his skill looks the same on an NBA level. All these guys are a step down from the top 5.

Yaxel is a dark horse for me. If Michigan goes deep in the tournament, we all get a better look at him. But he's on my radar as a pick. He grades well everywhere.

[Chicagojk]

Mikel Brown will be a fascinating evaluation. Everything that I read about him prior to the season (height, athleticism, shooting, hs rating) made me think he would be ideal as a pro.

Although if you look at the second tier guard prospects he has been outplayed by all of them. He also missed games to a back injury. I saw him one game and it was rough.

He looks like a guy with a pretty wide variance of pick range and player outcome.

[Chicagojk]

If you watch Fleming from Houston, check out a few other Houston players. Cenac would probably be a mid first so not in the OKC pick range.

Although Uzan and Tugggler both could be. I have not seen them much. Uzan is a bigger guard who sort of fits in. Tuggler would be an all star if he could just shoot a tad.

https://youtu.be/cNXL1wPAMs4?si=npIxcPiCCR6qNMHJ

[Winter]

Two good shooting wings that could fall to Mavs 30th pick

Joshua Jefferson at Iowa State

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoXOFv8jBs

Karim Lopez playing in NZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NAy5zk7H8&t=3s

[Mavs2021]

Two good shooting wings that could fall to Mavs 30th pick

Joshua Jefferson at Iowa State

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoXOFv8jBs

Karim Lopez playing in NZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NAy5zk7H8&t=3s

Lopez was #5 of Tankathon before season started. I looked at the top 7 (same as now with Wagler replacing Lopez), and he looked a level below the rest. I think I wrote that Cuban would pick him over the others, just for Mexican marketing reasons. Oh sh*t. Well at least it´s the 30th pick.

[myconsumerclub]

I like were we are right now for getting things done but if we can make a trade to move up and get a top 3 guy I don't mind.

Trade List of Useful Assets: Gafford, PJ, Naji, Klay, & Max all are very usable to facilitate an upgrade if you ask me. AJ and Martin are also useful but not as much

If we cannot get our guy at #7 I am also okay with exploring the possibility of maybe trading down to add on more chances at finding guys that work.
OKC have 13, 17, 32
Charlotte have 12, 19, 46
San Antonio have 14, 36, 42, 45
Chicago have 10, 33, 56

Goal of the draft for me:
1. Find a future PG to hand off the team to when Kyrie is done
2. Add stronger 3 point shooting
3. find a potential Lively replacement in case he is the reincarnation of street clothes.

If we can accomplish that with 3 picks good we can keep what we have, but if we want to draft multiple guys to lower our risk of drafting a dud then maybe we need to consider getting more picks.

We can use anyone on the trade list to acquire those picks as far as I am concerned.

So far the team is 10 signed players and whoever we draft with our 3 picks and anyone that gets offered to keep or get a 2 way deal and also any free agents we sign or resign and anyone else we wheel and deal for when moving around the assets the Mavs have to use.

ROSTER:
Cooper
Kyrie
PJ
Naji
Lively
Gafford
Max
Klay
AJ
Martin
rookie #1
rookie #2
rookie #3

Guys on 2 ways: None of these guys are worth signing till we see them develop more. They are locked in so there is no reason to sign them yet. We may give their 2 way spots to better options when guys we want go undrafted.
Ryan
Kelly
Cisse

FREE AGENTS:
Bagley
Middleton
Tyus
B Will
Powell
J Robinson Earl

Handling business with free agents is important hope that nobody else is targeting our guys that we want to keep. Its too early to say what we will do with free agents and 2 ways. Out of the free agent group I think Bagley and B Will are the only ones I really want to keep and that assumes Tyus is not beating out B will to make my list of PG's who are worth keeping.

I see Bagley as being a keeper already after one game. Tyus is likely gone because he knows he is not going to get offered much to be a 3rd string guy here when we have Ryan and B will behind Kyrie and our goal is to draft a PG to groom as replacement for Ky. If he gets an offer he will sign and force us to make a move. Everyone else can sign elsewhere as far as I am concerned.

Assuming we keep Bagley and B Will that means we have 4 centers ( Bagley Gafford Lively & Cisse on a 2way) Bagley can also play PF and we have 3 PG's with one being on a 2 way.

Starting line up could be: Cooper pf, Irving pg, Lively c, Rookie #1pg/sg, Naji at sf.
that uses the first of our picks to create that lineup.

Backups are:
Gafford
Bagley
PJ
Klay
Max
Bwill
AJ
Martin
Rookie #2
Rookie #3

You will need to trade off guys to make room for any extra picks that we decide to acquire in this years draft. If you want to do so to improve a pick from say 51 you can do so as well.

Again guys we can trade include: PJ, Naji, Lively, Gafford, Max, Klay, AJ, and Martin. I understand if we sign Bagley and B Will to contracts there is an amount of time that we cannot include them in any trades so if we traded 2 of our vets they will bump the roster back up to 10 guys with assorted rookies and 2 ways to reach 18 total players.

We also have 3 trade exceptions to use or not: $20.8 Million, $15 Million and one for $6 Million.

A lot to consider and use in our amateur efforts to speculate how we would do things as we live vicariously through the life of whoever becomes the Mavs GM.

Which of us will figure out the moves the Mavs make before hand?

[myconsumerclub]

In looking at free agents it look like slim pickings to me.

Egor Demin in BKN might be someone we would want to steal away? he is a RFA and I wonder how much they value him now he has been so clutch for them.

Quentin Grimes is available if you want him back. Think I would pass and go after draft picks.

[JamesConway912]

Mikel Brown will be a fascinating evaluation.  Everything that I read about him prior to the season (height, athleticism, shooting, hs rating) made me think he would be ideal as a pro.

Although if you look at the second tier guard prospects he has been outplayed by all of them.  He also missed games to a back injury.  I saw him one game and it was rough.

He looks like a guy with a pretty wide variance of pick range and player outcome.

Brown Jr might just be a lot more flashy than actually productive. I really struggle with him. He is very athletic, has great size for a lead guard as well as a great looking handle and shot but he’s just neither efficient shooting the ball nor is he good at running an offense. Brown Jr is giving me serious DSjr flashbacks who I was extremely high on back in the day despite comparable struggles at NC State. I am still not sure if I would put either one of Acuff / Philon ahead of Brown Jr but that is more bc I am lower on these two in general.

Ament‘s rise back to top 5/7 status is a great thing to watch. Outside of the Top 5 I think him & Wagler have gained a lead on the rest of the guys for now. So I am rooting for us to land in the top 7. I think both would be great fits here next to Flagg given their perimeter heavy games and there is clearly a ton of upside there Imo so Id happily draft either one if thats where we pick.

[myconsumerclub]

If we go after BPA with our first pick and a non PG is what we have available to us at 7 or whatever lottery pick we get to enjoy,

or if we want to go after quantity and we think that another PG is there at 10, 12, 13, or 14 we can trade down with whoever agrees to give us their remaining picks.
With OKC the drop from 7 to 13 would be okay if we were given 13,17 & 32 maybe we need a player in return or swap as well to make it more acceptable to all concerned. We turn one pick into 3.
Charlotte would give us 12 19 and 46 plus other considerations
Chicago 10, 33, 56. plus other considerations
Not sure I would want to help SAN.

OKC have 13, 17, 32
Charlotte have 12, 19, 46
San Antonio have 14, 36, 42, 45
Chicago have 10, 33, 56

Sergio https://www.tankathon.com/players/sergio-de-larrea He could be there at the 30th pick. I think our pick is at 29 right now.

Maybe using trade down tactic we go after these guys.
https://www.tankathon.com/players/bennett-stirtz
https://www.tankathon.com/players/christian-anderson

[Chicagojk]

You could do a lot worse at pick 30 than Alex Karaban.  May not look like the best prospect but he is solid in almost everything.  Played with some very good teams and has 3 years of good production.  Good size, smart, can shoot, and knows how to play with good players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PabsjEWWbZM&t=432s

[Winter]

You could do a lot worse at pick 30 than Alex Karaban.  May not look like the best prospect but he is solid in almost everything.  Played with some very good teams and has 3 years of good production.  Good size, smart, can shoot, and knows how to play with good players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PabsjEWWbZM&t=432s

I watched some his videos while looking for Mullins videos and UCONN's games.

The problem with UCONN is every starter on their team scores in double digits. It makes them a great team, but it's hard to figure them out when no one is really the go-to player. Even Mullins only gets about 10 pts a game.

Karaban is actually better than Mullins with his 3-pt percentage. He's just not as quick to his spots. But he's a great catch-and-shoot guy. He seems sort of borderline as an NBA player though - maybe a little slow defensively. Still he seems like he could play SF with someone like Flagg.

[Smitty]

Darryn Peterson vs. undefeated #1 Arizona tonight at 8 on ESPN.

[Winter]

Darryn Peterson vs. undefeated #1 Arizona tonight at 8 on ESPN.

Brayden Burries has been moving up some. It will be interesting to see him.

[vfromlmf]

FWIW:

If the Mavs have one of the three worst records in the NBA next season (and if the NBA doesn't revise the lottery rules), they will have a 27.4% chance of landing a top-2 pick thereby triggering protections on the '27 FRP owed to CHA. The Mavs will keep their pick in '27 if it's 1 or 2.

DAL owns it's pick in '28 but gave swap rights to OKC in exchange for the 26th overall pick in 2024 that the Mavs used (along with Richaun Holmes) to finalize the acquisition of Daniel Gafford.

DAL owns the Lakers pick in '29 but they gave up swap rights to their own pick to HOU or BRK to finalize the acquisition of Kyrie.

[Chicagojk]

I watched some his videos while looking for Mullins videos and UCONN's games.

The problem with UCONN is every starter on their team scores in double digits. It makes them a great team, but it's hard to figure them out when no one is really the go-to player. Even Mullins only gets about 10 pts a game.

Karaban is actually better than Mullins with his 3-pt percentage. He's just not as quick to his spots. But he's a great catch-and-shoot guy. He seems sort of borderline as an NBA player though - maybe a little slow defensively. Still he seems like he could play SF with someone like Flagg.

Yes, Uconn players can be a tricky evaluation because they tend to put players in good spots.   

Karaban has played on two championship teams (two different teams too) and was one of the key players.   He doesn't always look the part, but while playing with good teammates he finds ways to make a difference.   I can see him being a valuable role player who just seems to always do the right thing.   He also has good size which helps.  Typically these guys who are smaller than ideal have a difficult time making it.

[Winter]

FWIW:

If the Mavs have one of the three worst records in the NBA next season (and if the NBA doesn't revise the lottery rules), they will have a 27.4% chance of landing a top-2 pick thereby triggering protections on the '27 FRP owed to CHA. The Mavs will keep their pick in '27 if it's 1 or 2.

Not so sure about tanking next season. 

The NBA is going to want to tweak tanking after this season. I'm not sure we can bet on what odds anyone will have.

[JamesConway912]

Until a week ago or so tankathon had Aday Mara at #30. C out of spain who plays for Michigan. Dude looks like he belongs in the NBA. Just long, flashy passer, good shot blocker, no slouch athletically (not laterally but he can run down the court better than I expected).

Super fun watch on tape. He is probably not there at #30 but for now Id add him to Chris Anderson Jr as someone who looks highly intrigueing in that range.

https://youtu.be/6xxUJ1EuPy8?si=PUywR6DcdUSo5lFP

Was very succesfull
 at FIBA youth tournaments just like Anderson Jr.