2026 NBA Draft (Part I)

[Hal14]

Ok, i admitt to barely watching Peterson play. Except for 1 or 2 highlight videos. But is he really the best prospect out of the other two?

I always prefer to have a great talent with size over a great guard. Even in this era of skillful guard play

This is a good point. Good guards are easy to come by. A good big or wing is much harder to find.
I am not sure who the best prospect is at this point but loving this draft class.

I've got Boozer then Peterson then Dybantsa right now. But there is very little separation between those 3 guys. They're all together in tier 1. Long season ahead, long way to go till the draft so that could change..

[165bows]

Ok, i admitt to barely watching Peterson play. Except for 1 or 2 highlight videos. But is he really the best prospect out of the other two?

I always prefer to have a great talent with size over a great guard. Even in this era of skillful guard play

I definitely hear you on that though having a really big PG is a low key version of size in its own right.

[brackdan70]

Looking to next year,
White, Brown, Tatum, Minott, Queta starting
Pritchard, Hauser, Hugo, Walsh, A PF/C type from the draft like Quaintance or Cenac Jr or even Ngomba as true C feels like a nice team.

[playa-hater]

Ok, i admitt to barely watching Peterson play. Except for 1 or 2 highlight videos. But is he really the best prospect out of the other two?

I always prefer to have a great talent with size over a great guard. Even in this era of skillful guard play

I definitely hear you on that though having a really big PG is a low key version of size in its own right.

Again? I have not watched, but is he really a PG? If he is a combo, guard, will he mesh well with brown and tatum?

[playa-hater]

To follow up my above post, I will certainly take a player like peterson if he is definitely the best player available regardless of positional need.

[redslastlaugh]

I haven't watched a lick of college BB yet this year, but I ran a Tankathon spin on a mock draft, and I noticed AJ Dybantsa has two total stocks ( 1 block & 1 steal) over his first 3 games, roughly 90 mins. This 6-foot-9 super athletic wing averaging .66 stocks isn't very encouraging...

Like I said, I haven't watched one second, but I''m already concerned AJ got overhyped! lol

edit: for comparison's sake, last years 6-9 super wing prospect, Cooper Flagg, racked up 10 stocks over his first 3 games

[165bows]

I haven't watched a lick of college BB yet this year, but I ran a Tankathon spin on a mock draft, and I noticed AJ Dybantsa has two total stocks ( 1 block & 1 steal) over his first 3 games, roughly 90 mins. This 6-foot-9 super athletic wing averaging .66 stocks isn't very encouraging...

Like I said, I haven't watched one second, but I''m already concerned AJ got overhyped! lol

edit: for comparison's sake, last years 6-9 super wing prospect, Cooper Flagg, racked up 10 stocks over his first 3 games

Same boat.

At this point I’ll just pine for Jayden Quaintance or maybe Koa Peat. Really tough to win the lotto.

[Hal14]

I haven't watched a lick of college BB yet this year, but I ran a Tankathon spin on a mock draft, and I noticed AJ Dybantsa has two total stocks ( 1 block & 1 steal) over his first 3 games, roughly 90 mins. This 6-foot-9 super athletic wing averaging .66 stocks isn't very encouraging...

Like I said, I haven't watched one second, but I''m already concerned AJ got overhyped! lol

edit: for comparison's sake, last years 6-9 super wing prospect, Cooper Flagg, racked up 10 stocks over his first 3 games

BYU also played 2 exhibition games:

Exhibition vs UNC: 3 steals, 3 blocks
Exhibition vs Nebraska: 3 steals, 1 block

With such a small sample size of games, adding those 2 games makes quite a bit of difference. Those exhibition games aren't on sites like basketball reference, though..you gotta look them up manually.

Also, Flagg and AJ are different types of players. Flagg was known as the better defender coming out of HS, whereas AJ was known as the more skilled, more polished offensive player in terms of driving/shooting..so while Flagg was better at stocks, AJ is better in other areas..

[Larry_Russell]

This team is hell bent om screwing this season up and thus screwing up any chance at a top 10 pick.

Idiots.

[Dogen]

He probably will be.

He's no. 1 on my personal board at the moment - barely higher than Peterson..

All 3 of the top guys are studs.

Yeah he is definitely top 3 I think unless he tears an Achilles or gets busted for a serious crime or some outlier thing like that.
As a prospect he is probably number 1. Will see how the college year goes but he has all the tools.

And Boozer can play center. Probably more of a 4 but think he can play the 5 as well.

So Boozer is my no. 1 target for us, since C is the position we're weakest at, of course.

Develop our guys this season..add Tatum and Boozer next season and we're good.

And

Peterson is probably the closest thing to MJ/Kobe since MJ/Kobe. And he's a better passer than those guys were at age 18. Also has some shades of SGA.

I haven't been into the draft yet, and will watch film soon, but if your second quote is accurate for Peterson, that's like a generational talent.

Jordan/Kobe/SGA, but can pass. Seems like a #1 pick to me.

Unless Boozer is comparatively the next Duncan, I would go for higher upside talent over team fit -- assuming we luck into the #1 pick of course!

[redslastlaugh]

Ersin's NBA Big Board 2026

says: "This may be the strongest class we've seen in a while."



https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/2026-nba-draft-big-board-20?r=aj7d

[165bows]

Ersin's NBA Big Board 2026

says: "This may be the strongest class we've seen in a while."


Really like the top 5 write ups.

Elite defender with size that actually isn’t bad on offense screams under rated to me.
https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/2026-nba-draft-big-board-20?r=aj7d

[Hal14]

Yeah he is definitely top 3 I think unless he tears an Achilles or gets busted for a serious crime or some outlier thing like that.
As a prospect he is probably number 1. Will see how the college year goes but he has all the tools.

And Boozer can play center. Probably more of a 4 but think he can play the 5 as well.

So Boozer is my no. 1 target for us, since C is the position we're weakest at, of course.

Develop our guys this season..add Tatum and Boozer next season and we're good.

And

Peterson is probably the closest thing to MJ/Kobe since MJ/Kobe. And he's a better passer than those guys were at age 18. Also has some shades of SGA.

I haven't been into the draft yet, and will watch film soon, but if your second quote is accurate for Peterson, that's like a generational talent.

Jordan/Kobe/SGA, but can pass. Seems like a #1 pick to me.

Unless Boozer is comparatively the next Duncan, I would go for higher upside talent over team fit -- assuming we luck into the #1 pick of course!

Watching more film of Peterson..I do think the Kobe/MJ comps are a bit unfair. He is very good though.

I still have it Boozer 1, Peterson 2, AJ 3 on my board..all 3 have superstar upside.

[165bows]

Ersin's NBA Big Board 2026

says: "This may be the strongest class we've seen in a while."


Really like the top 5 write ups.

Elite defender with size that actually isn’t bad on offense screams under rated to me.
https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/2026-nba-draft-big-board-20?r=aj7d

Somehow my post didn’t hit above lol but I am really liking the potential of this class.

From my early impression seems like a lot of wings not really that many bigs, and the ones there are are PFs.

25. David Mirkovic — 6’9” — PF

Born: Jan 6, 2006 (19 years old) — Illinois

One of college basketball’s most complete forwards. Illinois has played great competition in their early non-conference schedule. And it’s clear that the Fighting Illini see Mirkovic as one of their key players. He can handle the ball, make consistent passes while executing his reads and be creative as a scorer. The intrigue for NBA scouts is to scale his role from a four to a power three, where he can make plays out of closeouts and even serve as a slasher. His size and strength are real, as he grew into his body at an early age.

The feasible part of him being a first rounder comes from his role versatility. His on-ball production and contributions are intriuging. But he has no issues on taking a reduced role with fewer touches. The level of skill has always popped when seeing him in the FIBA youth tournaments, making it not shocking he adjusted so well early in his collegiate career. With a Big Ten title to be won by Illinois, Mirkovic will grow into a first-rounder on consensus boards as well. Regardless, that doesn’t matter to NBA scouts who’ll see the intrigue and potential themselves when focusing on Illinois this year.

[redslastlaugh]

ESPN Jeremy Woo (captaining ESPN's draft coverage after Jon Givony left the network) releases the first FULL 2026 NBA MOCK DRAFT (free to read)

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46968510/2026-nba-mock-draft-projecting-all-30-first-round-picks-teams

Celtics take Thomas Haugh from Florida at #15
Celtics currently with multiple 2nds from trades, including New Orleans Pelicans which is 31-35 range.

[MSTRJMES]

The guy from Virginia Tech has a lot of Luka in his game. I think he’s 6’9”

[jonige94]

Ersin's NBA Big Board 2026

says: "This may be the strongest class we've seen in a while."



https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/2026-nba-draft-big-board-20?r=aj7d

Good thing we plan on being 0.500 and hinder the chance of getting a really impactful player.

Just really smart business.

[Hal14]

We all know that C is the biggest position of need for us.

Here's the bigs I have currently in the top 20 on my big board, with the ranking I have for them in parenthesis:

Cam Boozer (1)
Jayden Quaintance (7)
Patrick Ngongba (18)

Then I've got Koa Peat, Thomas Haugh and Hannes Steinbach at 19, 20 and 21. Peat and Haugh are probably more of a forward than a big at the NBA level, though..

The grand prize is Boozer. Good consolation prize is Quaintance. Good fallback option is Ngongba.

Others I see as worth consideration late in the 1st round - Cenac, Toombs, Toppin

[Larry_Russell]

Ersin's NBA Big Board 2026

says: "This may be the strongest class we've seen in a while."



https://edemirnba.substack.com/p/2026-nba-draft-big-board-20?r=aj7d

Yet this team seems hell bent on fighting for the 9th seed.

[Larry_Russell]

I really like that Avdalas kid out of VTech, but I am not sure how he would fit with Tatum and Brown.

To clarify I think he fits brilliantly with Tatum and White as a point/forward taking that pressure off those guys a bit, and Tatum and White both as a more secondary creator.

Just can NEVER see brown not getting all Brown about someone other than him controlling the play. He defers some to Tatum, a little, not a chance he will with a rookie who 100% needs the ball in his hands.

We all know this as well, Brown gets sever "my time" and goes 1 on 4 frequently.