2026 NBA Draft Thread.....

[The Consiglieri]

This would be #so Wizards...

Read on Twitter

Nah, it's definitely slot 5. This has been regarded as a 4 player tier 1 since the winter, with Ament climbing the charts super fast. The first major tier break happens between 4 and 5, so expect slot 5. Also as others have said, expect 1 and 2 to go to Boston and whatever big city/big time franchise has a down year after a player injury. Indiana doesn't fit that, but it would fit their feel good bs, a la the Mavs.

[AFM]

We are in serious danger of loosing our pick .

We have a critical mass of young talent and serious vets that will definitely not loose us games. We saw this when we traded away out tank commander Kuz and we were suddenly respectable then we trade out back up tank commander Poole. We have too many vets who knows how to win and too much young talent. .

That's all good. But we might be loosing our draft pick unless we A, get it back or B make another story if tank moves.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

[9 and 20]

4-dimensional chess - trade for Kuzma to ensure the tank.

[nate33]

We are in serious danger of loosing our pick .

We have a critical mass of young talent and serious vets that will definitely not loose us games. We saw this when we traded away out tank commander Kuz and we were suddenly respectable then we trade out back up tank commander Poole. We have too many vets who knows how to win and too much young talent. .

That's all good. But we might be loosing our draft pick unless we A, get it back or B make another story if tank moves.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

Without JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

[AFM]

We are in serious danger of loosing our pick .

We have a critical mass of young talent and serious vets that will definitely not loose us games. We saw this when we traded away out tank commander Kuz and we were suddenly respectable then we trade out back up tank commander Poole. We have too many vets who knows how to win and too much young talent. .

That's all good. But we might be loosing our draft pick unless we A, get it back or B make another story if tank moves.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

With JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

Yeah we don't know how bad we'll look without Poole. But I'm expecting real improvement from our second year players and Coulibaly. We'll know more when Summer League rolls around.

Also Tre Johnson is my guy and I'm expecting him to look like rookie Michael Jordan.

[nate33]

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

With JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

Yeah we don't know how bad we'll look without Poole. But I'm expecting real improvement from our second year players and Coulibaly. We'll know more when Summer League rolls around.

Also Tre Johnson is my guy and I'm expecting him to look like rookie Michael Jordan.

Yeah, I'm excited about a lot of our players, but when guys are this young, they usually don't break out until the 3rd or 4th year, not Year 2. Bilal may have a real good year, and perhaps Kyshawn George because he is older, but I'm not expecting much winning basketball out of Carrington, AJ, Tre or Riley.

All that said, I suppose simply by replacing Kuzma with Champagnie, we may be in real danger of serious improvement. God, Kuzma was horrific last year!

[prime1time]

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

With JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

Yeah we don't know how bad we'll look without Poole. But I'm expecting real improvement from our second year players and Coulibaly. We'll know more when Summer League rolls around.

Also Tre Johnson is my guy and I'm expecting him to look like rookie Michael Jordan.

I like Tre but I don't think he's going to look like rookie MJ. Rookie MJ had 3 years in college and was one of the best athletes in the NBA. WIth that being said, I think Tre is going to look good early. At the same time, there are people in this draft class that perfectly fit with the team that we are building and are super talented.

I'm salivating thinking about a backcourt that has both Peterson and Johnson. I love Bub, but he would have to be the 6th man off the bench.

Read on Twitter

A front line of Cam and Alex Sarr would be insane.

Read on Twitter

Cam is already a 3 level scorer, who's shot 81.4% from the ft line on over 1000 attempts and 37.5% from 3 on over 600 attempts.

[WizarDynasty]

With JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

Yeah we don't know how bad we'll look without Poole. But I'm expecting real improvement from our second year players and Coulibaly. We'll know more when Summer League rolls around.

Also Tre Johnson is my guy and I'm expecting him to look like rookie Michael Jordan.

I like Tre but I don't think he's going to look like rookie MJ. Rookie MJ had 3 years in college and was one of the best athletes in the NBA. WIth that being said, I think Tre is going to look good early. At the same time, there are people in this draft class that perfectly fit with the team that we are building and are super talented.

I'm salivating thinking about a backcourt that has both Peterson and Johnson. I love Bub, but he would have to be the 6th man off the bench.

Read on Twitter

A front line of Cam and Alex Sarr would be insane.

Read on Twitter

Cam is already a 3 level scorer, who's shot 81.4% from the ft line on over 1000 attempts and 37.5% from 3 on over 600 attempts.

Yeah I woulnd't worry too much about Tre, soft below the rim non finisher, he plays like a point guard in the paint instead of true a shooting guard. Maybe he magically gains vertical explosion to challenge bigs but i doubt it.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

We are in serious danger of loosing our pick .

We have a critical mass of young talent and serious vets that will definitely not loose us games. We saw this when we traded away out tank commander Kuz and we were suddenly respectable then we trade out back up tank commander Poole. We have too many vets who knows how to win and too much young talent. .

That's all good. But we might be loosing our draft pick unless we A, get it back or B make another story if tank moves.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

We played at a 23 win pace last year after trading Kuzma. We probably win 30-32 games next year. That's still the 11th seed.

With the rookies and seconds exceeding expectations, this can easily be a 33-35 win team.

Bilal should blow up. Tre will immediately give glimpses of superstardom to come. Riley could be better than George by the second half of the season.

Watkins wI'll get to the line a ton. He will be surprisingly good.

Alex Sarr is a worker. He has to get better and will.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

With JV to anchor our rebounding, and without Poole to generate offense when our sets break down, I think we will struggle. I don't expect Middleton to play much so he won't win us many games.

The only way we will be seriously improved is if McCollum plays a lot of minutes and plays very well. And if that happens, I think they'll trade him if at all possible.

Yeah we don't know how bad we'll look without Poole. But I'm expecting real improvement from our second year players and Coulibaly. We'll know more when Summer League rolls around.

Also Tre Johnson is my guy and I'm expecting him to look like rookie Michael Jordan.

I like Tre but I don't think he's going to look like rookie MJ. Rookie MJ had 3 years in college and was one of the best athletes in the NBA. WIth that being said, I think Tre is going to look good early. At the same time, there are people in this draft class that perfectly fit with the team that we are building and are super talented.

I'm salivating thinking about a backcourt that has both Peterson and Johnson. I love Bub, but he would have to be the 6th man off the bench.

Read on Twitter

A front line of Cam and Alex Sarr would be insane.

Read on Twitter

Cam is already a 3 level scorer, who's shot 81.4% from the ft line on over 1000 attempts and 37.5% from 3 on over 600 attempts.

Tre could look like rookie Rip Hamilton or rookie Ray Allen.

[tontoz]

Just got done watching the McDonald's game. Lots of talent for sure.

AJ is pretty crafty finishing inside.

Peterson gives me some Ant vibes with his size and athleticism.

Boozer shoots a moon ball, from the foul line and from 3.

Ament has some real talent. Pretty skinny but skills look pretty polished.

Checked out a Cenac vid and he looks like a promising 4/5.

Harwell had me hitting rewind a few times, an impact player on both ends.

[Jay81]

Just got done watching the McDonald's game. Lots of talent for sure.

AJ is pretty crafty finishing inside.

Peterson gives me some Ant vibes with his size and athleticism.

Boozer shoots a moon ball, from the foul line and from 3.

Ament has some real talent. Pretty skinny but skills look pretty polished.

Checked out a Cenac vid and he looks like a promising 4/5.

Harwell had me hitting rewind a few times, an impact player on both ends.

I read some Twitter scout thinks Mikel brown is better than AJ

[The Consiglieri]

huh? I don't see that. All I've seen is that Peterson passed him, and with enough time, the fact that AJ isn't playing great defense, maybe that he's playing that weak schedule for BYU, not a huge sense AJ is going to be able to up his value going into the draft beyond the freight train that was 2023-2025.

I still think it's definitely a big 4. As an example, Mikel Brown was 10th in ESPN's first early 2026 top 10 from late February, just four months ago....

"10. Portland Trail Blazers

Mikel Brown Jr., PG, 6-4, Age: 18.8
Committed to Louisville

A late bloomer who sprouted from 5-foot-10 to 6-4 throughout his time at DME Academy (Florida), Brown shows impressive scoring instincts and talent as a ball handler, passer and outside shooter. Thin-framed at 173 pounds and inconsistent as a finisher and defender, Brown's ability to gain strength and handle the physicality of the college game will play a significant role in his productivity as a freshman at Louisville and ultimate draft outlook. -- Givony?"

I'm always bummed that I don't keep old mocks around, so I struggle to find how guys were rated going into their 1 college season, so I'll drop the link here:

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/44002642/2026-nba-mock-draft-top-10-prospects-emerges


It is worth noting, in the latest mocks, Mikel is 5th for the athletic, 6th for CBS, 5th for SI (which is a broken down worthless site since being bought by hedge fund d bags right?), 5th seemingly with SB Nation (they have a big 3, and then the next best guys from high school prospects to returning college players), USA Today puts him 14th, but honestly their list looks like it was put together 8 months ago and hasn't been touched since....What makes me super curious is what happened with Mikel Brown to allow him to climb from 10th on ESPN's list four months ago, to consensus top 5-6 now? Reminds me of Fears climbing from the late 20's, and 30's as a high school recruit in the last rankings, to top 6-7 last September, why was Fears suddenly jumping 25-35 slots despite not playing at all at Oklahoma over the intervening seven or eight months? Now I see something similar with Mikel Brown, but less dramatic. Are PG's just more valuable, or the paucity of them in the class (at the top this is a class heavy in wings, and light in centers and pg's) the defining factor.


To lay down a marker right now, it definitely feels like the top of the class is:
Tier 1:
Peterson
Dybantsa
Boozer

Tier 1B:
Ament

Tier 2:
Mikel Brown
Karim Lopez

I don't think there's any genuine consensus for now on things beyond the big 3+1, and maybe Brown and Lopez as the next mini-tier.

Seems like 7 of the top 11 are Wings, 1 big, and 3 Guards, two of which could play PG. Again, part of the reason why it was odd to me that they didn't consider moving up for a big in this class, since the '26 class lacks bigs altogether at the top beyond Boozer, and Boozer isn't a Center at the next level? I am curious about the idea that they may be leaving holes in the lineup to help insure we don't win too many games. Jamming Square Peg/Round hole Bub into a PG role that may or may not make sense, having no traditional center that's any good on the roster? Fundamental weaknesses in place to insure we lose at least 57 games? Is there any fear that if we try to fix these issues we might actually make a Portland like dangerous jump?

The injuries to Indiana and Boston definitely didn't help the cause, but it's still hard to see us climbing ahead of too many teams: Toronto, Brooklyn, Charlotte and Chicago are the Usual Suspects, and how much worse will Boston and Indiana be w/o their chief superstars? But honestly, is Tatum really worth a good 25-30 wins? Is Halliburton really worth a good 15-25 for Indiana? It's hard to really buy that. We also can see now that Milwaukee is going all in, that a middling Atlanta just got a lot better in the present and in the future through moves.....I think we should be okay, Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Toronto will give us a fight, Chicago who the hell knows, in the West only Utah is clearly tanking, Sacramento probably accidentally.....We just need to stay ahead of Brooklyn, Toronto, and Utah to probably be safe. All this being said, I think it's another case of like this spring, me arguing like mad, there is a real tangible difference between being a little screwed (getting the 5th pick) and getting royally screwed (falling to 6). Mikel Brown would be a decent consolation prize as of now, as an elite PG prospect with more size than Fears. Now add in the Suns swap, and as I mentioned in prior posts, the Suns finishing 5th worst to 9th worst (as long as we are bottom 4)....

I remain befuddled by the Sun's Swap situation, it is ours, correct, so long as our pick is top 8?

[doclinkin]

I remain befuddled by the Sun's Swap situation, it is ours, correct, so long as our pick is top 8?

LOL that's a remarkably stubborn bewilderment. Yes, correct, as long as we do have a draft pick, we can opt to swap it with PHX. If we fall outside the top 8 we do not have a pick to swap. We will know both things on lotto night (whether we have a pick, and whether the Sun's is better). Unless we secure a bottom 4 record in which case we cannot lose our draft pick and we will only have to wait to the lotto to see if PHX's ping pong balls fall better than ours.

[The Consiglieri]

Ok, I think I get it, so long as we finish inside the top 8, we can utilize our own lottery pick, or the Suns, if it's better.

So it's valuable to see how much the Suns potential lottery pick can increase our odds of picking high. basically, if the Suns finish bottom 6, the odds of us landing a top 4 lottery pick sit in the 80s in terms of lottery chances, even a touch higher at 5, basically only around slot 7-9 does it dip into the high 70's. Honestly all season we should be keeping our eyes on bottom 3, bottom 4 at worst (honestly though, if we're bottom 5, like Nate likes to say, 5th worst ='s a 1 in 50 chance of getting ----ed, a kind of reverse mavs lottery (no doubt, landing the Knicks our pick, while Boston and Indiana land the top 2 picks, the lakers inexplicably landing another of the top 3 through some other insanely stupid trade), but honestly, if we landed 5th worst, in '26 heading into the lottery, and then lost our pick, landing at 9, I'd be 1000% in favor of just outright folding the franchise, and I'm 100% serious lol, I really am, if #sowizards/boulez is that ----ing bad, we should end the franchise, that is, however, only after we firebomb the NBA offices in NY, NY: I keed, I keed <in Triumph's voice>).

[The Consiglieri]

I remain befuddled by the Sun's Swap situation, it is ours, correct, so long as our pick is top 8?

LOL that's a remarkably stubborn bewilderment. Yes, correct, as long as we do have a draft pick, we can opt to swap it with PHX. If we fall outside the top 8 we do not have a pick to swap. We will know both things on lotto night (whether we have a pick, and whether the Sun's is better). Unless we secure a bottom 4 record in which case we cannot lose our draft pick and we will only have to wait to the lotto to see if PHX's ping pong balls fall better than ours.

I know, it's more my anxiety at getting ----ed than anything else, as a Wizards fan/victim, I've always assumed, whatever is the worst case scenario, it's always gonna happen, and usually it does. It's odd to have a FO that challenges that assumption.

[tontoz]

Don't overlook Cenac.

Watch on YouTube

[closg00]

Which Forwards should we be keeping an eye on this is way too-early for me

[doclinkin]

I know, it's more my anxiety at getting ----ed than anything else, as a Wizards fan/victim, I've always assumed, whatever is the worst case scenario, it's always gonna happen, and usually it does. It's odd to have a FO that challenges that assumption.

I have a curious and thoroughly unfounded optimism about this franchise that suggests that when it all turns around we are going to have a supernova of a team and it will be utterly enjoyable to watch them win for a sustained period of time. The karma bank of this longsuffering fanbase is strong. It manifests in speculative fiction scenarios that put a positive spin on the happenstance.

So, like, things like, what if falling to #6 was the best thing that could happen to this franchise? What if landing a top pick in this draft had allowed us to be good enough that we missed out on next years draft, in a year when teams like the Pacers or Bucks could implode and be forced to tank. In the East where simply trying hard may be good enough to win. With young motivated players who have been steadily putting in offseason work on their fixable flaws.

Better to the extent that we might win a chunk more games simply by replacing the Kuzma + Poole minutes our line-up with Kyshawn + Bub alone. We saw how playing Champagnie instead of Kuzma added to our win total.

(Nevermind replacing Brogdon on the roster with CJ McCollum. We might salvage a few losses by starting the year with Olynyk instead of Valanciunas, but might win a few more games based on the improvement of Sarr).

Would you rather have Flagg this year playing all the Kuzma minutes? Only to watch PHX win the lotto next year, while our #9 pick went to New York. Is Flagg alone better than Tre + Dybantsa? Tre + Boozer?

Similarly. What if missing on Ace was the right move, in that the best players in the next 2 drafts are first option scorers who play a similar style/position. As much as I wanted Ace, we saved assets by not spending to move up, and even in my own evaluations had to nod to the idea that potentially he had a bit of Nick Young in his make-up. Where situation recognition and processing are not a strength. I figured his considerable talent could make up the difference, but as far as team play we might see a coach benching him at times in his career in key late game situations if they didn't trust his decision making and focus. That he may not reach his considerable top end potential, since the best players combine both BBIQ with all-world talent. Shrug. Dunno.

Whereas with Tre Johnson, you get the read that he will eventually be as good as his talent allows him to be. In Tre Johnson we have a key piece that slots in next to any player. A designated gunner who is as good off the ball as he is with the ball. Granted his defense is not a strength, but he is bright enough, long enough, and athletic enough that it could be if that becomes a focus. That he is a gym rat who has gotten to this level due to work ethic and an instinctive understanding of the game. With good coaching staff and physical trainers he can improve on his defense and strength to score through contact. A low-ego player who will make the team around him better and prove a high value asset his entire career rather than requiring that the right team be built around him to minimize any shortfall.

I love that the kid is beaming that he got selected here. I love that Ace was hoping to land here. I love that we are building a locker room and workplace that fosters young talents. That we have self-motivated players who love the game and want to work on the craft. Both Tre and Key have said they kinda enjoy having no life outside of basketball. That they enjoy the process of improvement. Will Riley has a similar demeanor. Vets say Bub ramps up the competitive aspect of every practice by talking smack every minute on court. That will only help as the players face each other in practice and pick up games against each other all summer.

Anyway. Long way of saying I like the foundation we are building, and if it takes us a little longer to improve that's okay given that we figure to be cashing in on future swaps and extra picks over the next 5 or so drafts. Slow sustainable growth is how the Thunder were built. With interchangeable players and depth of skill + smarts. Top that off with WInger's 5th degree blackbelt skills in cap management, I feel like we are set up to potentially get good and stay good for a very long time. It just may take a minute.

[prime1time]

Just got done watching the McDonald's game. Lots of talent for sure.

AJ is pretty crafty finishing inside.

Peterson gives me some Ant vibes with his size and athleticism.

Boozer shoots a moon ball, from the foul line and from 3.

Ament has some real talent. Pretty skinny but skills look pretty polished.

Checked out a Cenac vid and he looks like a promising 4/5.

Harwell had me hitting rewind a few times, an impact player on both ends.

I read some Twitter scout thinks Mikel brown is better than AJ

These FIBA games aren't really competitive. USA is supposed to win. AJ's defensive versatility and athleticism is unreal. When he fills out and adds muscle he will be in the conversation for the most physically gifted player in the NBA. Brown might be better right now, but who will be better at 25? I'm drafting AJ over Brown every day of the week and it's not close. AJ has DPOY potential.