2026 NBA draft thread

[hakeemfaan]

https://x.com/swishcultures_/status/2068...08208?s=46

To me this guy is the true boom or bust because if he can keep up defensively on the perimeter his ceiling is much higher than Ament’.

At the same time his floor can be much lower as well.

Another thing. Why do they have all these guys shoot so much? I remember Lively shooting all those 3s in practice. Mitchell Robinson looks like a skilled guard when you see his non NBA highlights. 

Show me clips of Mara switching and defending well for a few minutes. That should do much more for his stock than parking him and asking him to hit 3s.

[SleepingHero]

@BrettSiegelNBA
Among all the trade unknowns in this year's draft, one thing that is known is that the Thunder continue to use #12, #17, and #37 in trade talks to try and jump inside the top 10.

Sources have indicated we will see at least one top-10 trade in this year's draft.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/2068008355830874459


Karim Lopez currently in Dallas.

[Mavs2021]

I agree with this Siegel guy. Just draw a different conclusion. I'm starting to think the Mavs are already playing chess with the Bucks and Thunder. We been through all the Thunder thoughts. Some ideas building on the Giannis rumours.

What if Portland is involved. Does Milwaukee give the Mavs Schmitz´s boy Yang Hansen to swap #9 and #10 to get Nate Ament.
What if Golden State is involved. Milwaukee would still be 13M in the tax with a straight swap of Giannis and Butler. What if the Mavs swapped #9 and #10, plus get the Bucks under the tax by taking on Kuzma´s final year? Do the Warriors remove all protections from the 2030 pick that is currently top 20 protected and converting to 2nd rounders to facilitate the Giannis acquisition. I think we all expect them to be bottom 20, meaning it would be gaining an unprotected 1st for a 2nd moving down one spot and eating Kuzma. Plus Mavs then get to waive him for talking crap about Dallas.

[Mavs2021]

https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/2068008355830874459


Karim Lopez currently in Dallas.

At  #30 I´d be excited. At #9, I´d go full Yang Hansen. So far A-NBL to NBA is not a proven concept ( I guess LaMelo Ball and local Giddey), and I´m not sure how in the world a Mexican kid goes from the Spanish ACB youth system to freaking New Zealand. You either stay in Europe or go to an American college, if you are a serious prospect. That would be a wild pick at #9. He was initially projected with the current top 4, Brown and Ament as the cream of the class, and I have not liked him much then. Ball was putting up 17/7/7 and won ROTY. Lopez is somewhere in the middle between that and RJ Hampton.

[Luka77]

https://x.com/swishcultures_/status/2068...08208?s=46

To me this guy is the true boom or bust because if he can keep up defensively on the perimeter his ceiling is much higher than Ament’.

At the same time his floor can be much lower as well.

His shot looks good in a gym with no one around him.  But if you look at that shot, it takes him forever to get into his shot, making that release super slow.  

In the NBA, long players will be closing out to him fast, and he will have to get that shot off much quicker which will have a great effect on its consistency.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Cody Taylor: Source: The Bulls hosted a workout today with the following players: Christian Anderson, Texas Tech; Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s; Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama; Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky; Kowacie Reeves, Georgia Tech; Maleek Thomas, Arkansas

x.com

[Luka77]

It is a reasonable theory, but the thing that struck me was 'to what end'?  They don't have any picks to speak of.  They aren't giving up Ryan Rollins to move up one spot.  

Then I realized their entire roster might be remade in the next few days.  So, who do we like from Miami?  If Milwaukee values Ament, they probably don't want Jovic in the Giannis deal.  That would be a nice piece of business.

If the Mavs are thinking of trading 9 and taking on some contract for 12, 17, and 37; wouldn't trading down the same package for 10 and 13 be a better more ideal scenario, esp knowing the Bucks covet Ament?

[Luka77]

https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/2068008355830874459


Karim Lopez is currently in Dallas.

People are extremely underrating this kid.  I have seen many fan blogs mock him in the late first, which is a tremendous steal at that point.  

I think I would rather have this kid anywhere from 15-25 instead of Ament at 9 or 10.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Former Tennessee forward Nate Ament named four pre-draft workouts during a SportsCenter interview, and the Dallas Mavericks were not on the list. The 6-foot-10 freshman said he had worked out for the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Los Angeles Clippers ahead of Tuesday’s NBA Draft, where he is widely projected as a lottery pick after one season at Tennessee. The omission carries weight for Dallas, which holds the ninth pick and has been tied to interest in Ament. A team showing interest does not always work out a prospect, but Ament’s own account of his pre-draft circuit did not include the Mavericks, and his comments came days before the franchise goes on the clock with the No. 9 overall pick. The reporting that ties Dallas to Ament comes from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, who listed the Los Angeles Clippers (No. 5), Brooklyn Nets (No. 6), and Mavericks (No. 9) among the teams that have shown interest, with some rival executives viewing the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 10 as Ament’s floor. Fischer also linked the New Orleans Pelicans, who do not own a lottery pick, as a team interested in trading to gain positioning to select Ament. Two of the four teams Ament named, Brooklyn and the Clippers, also appear on Fischer’s list of interested suitors. Dallas does not appear among Ament’s stated workouts, even as it has been tied to interest at No. 9. Interest reported by league sources does not always translate to a completed workout.

Dallas Hoops Journal

[DallasMaverick]

Because the order of the top 12 or 15 picks is so fluid, and opinion of players is so varied, I can imagine that GM’s are lining up a ton of contingencies for pick swaps. Let’s say OKC really likes Brown, for example. They think he’ll be gone by #9, but just in case, they have a deal pending with Dallas for #12 and #17.
Or maybe Dallas has decided they only like Flemings or Wagler. So if both those guys are gone by #9, they’ll trade down for Okorie.

In any case, those options need to be pre-decided and discussed by both teams prior to draft night. I really don’t think there are many brand-new proposals that are considered in the minutes that teams are on the clock.

[mvossman]

Because the order of the top 12 or 15 picks is so fluid, and opinion of players is so varied, I can imagine that GM’s are lining up a ton of contingencies for pick swaps. Let’s say OKC really likes Brown, for example. They think he’ll be gone by #9, but just in case, they have a deal pending with Dallas for #12 and #17.
Or maybe Dallas has decided they only like Flemings or Wagler. So if both those guys are gone by #9, they’ll trade down for Okorie.

In any case, those options need to be pre-decided and discussed by both teams prior to draft night. I really don’t think there are many brand-new proposals that are considered in the minutes that teams are on the clock.

That's what that dude on Locked on Mavs was saying.  The draft should be cake because you already have all of contingencies planned out.  This is kind of silly analogy, but I feel the same way when I actually put effort into prep for a fantasy football draft.

[Winter]

From Brett Siegel at ClutchPoints:

"The Mavericks (No. 9) aren’t particularly high on Kingston Flemings and have him ranked lower on their boards than several of his backcourt peers, including Brayden Burries, sources tell ClutchPoints. Speaking of Burries, Siegel hears the Hawks (No. 8) wouldn’t be a “preferred landing spot” for the freshman guard out of Arizona."

[Mavs2021]

I´m thinking we will trade with OKC, if BOTH Mara and Ament are still on the board at #9. The danger is that either will be picked earlier (Hawks for Mara, Nets for Ament).

Reasoning.

OKC wants Mara to have somebody that can physically match-up with Wembanyama and will be ready to take over from Hartenstein now or in 12 months as the new frontcourt partner of Holmgren.

Bucks seems set on Ament.  That means either Burries or Flemings already made it to #11. 

Now the Warriors are the wildcard. Realistically they should take the BPA, cause they are finished, but we know how it is *cough* Giannis/Larkin *cough*. For some superstars you have to defy logic, so will Lendeborg be the win now pick? Or do they trade the pick (+X), for example to Utah for Markkanen and Utah then picks the remaining guard. That´s a real threat, too.

[Scott41theMavs]

From Brett Siegel at ClutchPoints:

"The Mavericks (No. 9) aren’t particularly high on Kingston Flemings and have him ranked lower on their boards than several of his backcourt peers, including Brayden Burries, sources tell ClutchPoints. Speaking of Burries, Siegel hears the Hawks (No. 8) wouldn’t be a “preferred landing spot” for the freshman guard out of Arizona."

Hope to goodness this is smokescreening. Flemings, to me, has a two-way floor, as a lead guard, quite a bit higher than the other four of the 5-9 Five. Ranking him fifth among them, to me, shows a lack of concern for floor that brings back significant worry that they would take Ament at 9.

To me, I would rank them for floor (overall) as such:
Flemings
Burries
Acuff
Wagler
Brown

For ceiling, I would rank them
Acuff
Brown
Wagler (the ideal scenario in which his lack of speed and athleticism are rendered completely immaterial because his BBIQ turns out to be at Luka levels)
Flemings
Burries (but I would still rate Burries as having a very, very high ceiling if he can be a full-time lead guard, just lower than the other four)

Overall, I personally would rank them
Acuff (with the caveat that if you draft him you have consigned yourself to making sure every other player on roster is an elite defender, a la building around Dirk, Luka, Trae, or even Brunson)
Flemings
Burries
Brown
Wagler

To me, there is a far more precipitous gulf between Wagler and whoever is the 10th best prospect in this draft than there is between the top three and Wilson, or between Wilson and Acuff. While I think Wagler has a ton of question marks, the experience of Luka, Brunson, and (from afar) Haliburton and his resemblance to them on many levels, not to mention Masai and Schmitz's adoration of BBIQ, indicates that he would be a solid pick at 9. In short, you're going to get a very good prospect at 9 as long as you don't get cute and eff it up. KL has even convinced me that Johnson would not be a good reach at 9. If you want a guy who isn't one of the pretty-well objective top 9, then trade your ass down.

[Winter]

Hope to goodness this is smokescreening. 

I think it's bs. Siegel chums in the rumor mill, but I never see much sourcing.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Jake Fischer

My sense is that Illinois' Keaton Wagler and Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. are going to go 5 and 6 in some order.

Both Wagler and Brown, league sources say, have canceled workouts with Sacramento ...

[Scott41theMavs]

4 days until the first round.

[KillerLeft]

Jake Fischer

My sense is that Illinois' Keaton Wagler and Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. are going to go 5 and 6 in some order.

Both Wagler and Brown, league sources say, have canceled workouts with Sacramento ...

Ugh. I hope he's wrong.

[Scott41theMavs]

Ugh. I hope he's wrong.

For reasons rather transparently contained in my post above, I think that would be great news for the Mavs.