2026 NBA Draft Thread.....

TheBlackCzar · Post #1 » by **TheBlackCzar** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 2:57 am

Good evening... Who is watching the McDonald's AAG tonight?

Darryn Peterson looks nice as hell out there.... I can see the Kobe comp's....

AJ Dybantsa
Alijah Arenas
Big Boozer
Lil Boozer
Darryn Peterson
Nate Ament - Very interesting prospect, 6-10 with a nice handle and shot, needs to gain weight but promising prospect....

AFM · Post #2 » by **AFM** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 3:54 pm

Time to start talking about this kid

Watch on YouTube

Reclassified in his junior year as a senior, so he's only doing 3 years of HS. Just turned 18 a few days ago.

payitforward · Post #3 » by **payitforward** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 4:03 pm

Oh sure.... but I want to see footage of him doing that kind of stuff to his Father!

AFM · Post #4 » by **AFM** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 4:16 pm

payitforward wrote:Oh sure.... but I want to see footage of him doing that kind of stuff to his Father!

I was thinking I want to see him doing that to Javaris Crittenton's son

gesa2 · Post #5 » by **gesa2** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 5:15 pm

AFM wrote:
payitforward wrote:Oh sure.... but I want to see footage of him doing that kind of stuff to his Father!

I was thinking I want to see him doing that to Javaris Crittenton's son

closg00 · Post #6 » by **closg00** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 8:07 pm

AFM wrote:Time to start talking about this kid

Watch on YouTube

Reclassified in his junior year as a senior, so he's only doing 3 years of HS. Just turned 18 a few days ago.

This kid is the truth, still needs to do his one and done year at USC.

pancakes3 · Post #7 » by **pancakes3** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 8:20 pm

2026 nepodraft is gonna be lit. i hope we go 0-82

The Consiglieri · Post #8 » by **The Consiglieri** » Wed Apr 2, 2025 8:48 pm

From 5 weeks ago....
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/44002642/2026-nba-mock-draft-top-10-prospects-emerges

Suggestion from Givony seems to be that its quite top heavy with a top 4 or 5 that's pretty special and then the roof caves in, so maybe I was wrong that it was deeper than this one. Not sure, but it does seem SUPER TOP HEAVY to the tune of 3-4 deep for sure of guys that would be tier 1 in this class.

doclinkin · Post #9 » by **doclinkin** » Thu Apr 3, 2025 1:11 am

Isiah Harwell had 16 pts in 18 minutes. Shot 6 of 9, 4 of 7 from 3. He's a kid out of Idaho, committed to Houston. Intriguing as well. Some mocks have him top 8...

FAH1223 · Post #10 » by **FAH1223** » Thu Apr 3, 2025 2:00 pm

AFM wrote:Time to start talking about this kid

Watch on YouTube

Reclassified in his junior year as a senior, so he's only doing 3 years of HS. Just turned 18 a few days ago.

Alijah is going to be a monster.

Gil has done a great job with his son.

Jay81 · Post #11 » by **Jay81** » Tue May 20, 2025 12:16 pm

im already extremely pissed off that Boston will be tanking and getting the #1 pick next year

Jay81 · Post #12 » by **Jay81** » Fri May 23, 2025 2:04 am

Any chance that Ted would not let us draft arenas?

PaulinVA · Post #13 » by **PaulinVA** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 1:14 am

Watch on YouTube

Has us taking Boozer 2nd and moving/keeping Sarr at center.

dobrojim · Post #14 » by **dobrojim** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 1:26 am

gesa2 wrote:
AFM wrote:
payitforward wrote:Oh sure.... but I want to see footage of him doing that kind of stuff to his Father!

I was thinking I want to see him doing that to Javaris Crittenton's son

Sorry. I think funny-not funny is a better response. Tragic story.

dobrojim · Post #15 » by **dobrojim** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 1:35 am

Jay81 wrote:Any chance that Ted would not let us draft arenas?

Only if he wants mass resignations in the FO.

9 and 20 · Post #16 » by **9 and 20** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 1:42 am

I want to draft Dybantsa one spot ahead of Utah.

dobrojim · Post #17 » by **dobrojim** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 3:26 am

Wasn't totally sure where to put this

it's pretty darn encouraging....not familiar with these guys and maybe I like it because it confirms what I would like to hear. And I'm not familiar with some of the new wrinkles to cap mgmt aprons, 1st/2nd draft etc.

These guys are talking like they are really impressed by the strategic planning and (early) execution.

Watch on YouTube

Frichuela · Post #18 » by **Frichuela** » Yesterday 3:25 pm

This would be #so Wizards...

Read on Twitter

gambitx777 · Post #19 » by **gambitx777** » Yesterday 4:11 pm

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

The Consiglieri · Post #20 » by **The Consiglieri** » Yesterday 5:15 pm

Who was it who already posted a conspiracy theory that Boston or Indiana will scoop up the #1 overall because that's how the NBA lottery works. Too funny, they deserve a reflexive distrust of that level.

Theathletic just posted their first '26 mock, to me anyway, one of the better we can find around since ESPN posted it's '26 mock back in February (and a new one two days ago), the consensus is still the same:

Tier 1:
1. Darrin Peterson-Combo Guard, complete player offensively and defense. 1/07
2. AJ Dybantsa-Wing w/some concerns on defense. 1/07 bday. Consensus 1.01 until Peterson leapt past him during their senior seasons in high school.

Tier 1B:
3. Cam Boozer: Ideal modern Power Forward that can hit from 3, at least to some extent, seems to be a few he'll be the best college player but has a lower ceiling than the others.
4. Nate Ament: The new comer to the tier making it 4 instead of 3, apparently he's a grower, like Bub, grew significantly and is now a 6-11 wing, plays hard on D. 12/06 B-Day

Tier 2:
5. Mikel Brown: 6'4" PG for Louisville, another Bub type, he apparently grew 6 inches in the past 18-24 months. Basically a better version of Fears and a bit taller. I'm shocked he's the oldest of these guys, he looks like a sophomore but he's got the April '06 bday.

5b. Karim Lopez: Yet another Wing Prospect, apparently has pro basketball genes (dad was on Mexican National Team), went to New Zealand to play pro ball, lit it up down the stretch. Has good Wing #'s during that stretch, set a record becoming the youngest player ever to record a double double as a 17 year old last fall, regarded as a very high effort guy.

Considering our interest in high effort, two way guys, it sounds like Peterson, Boozer, Ament, Brown and Lopez are fits, and Dybantsa is more of an offense guy who is meh on defense.

Long term, it sounds like Peterson is the best fit, followed by Ament or Boozer, if Ament's 6-11, that's kind of huge for a wing isn't it? I Wonder if he'll move to PF as he fills out. Sounds like Boozer is the best positional fit, a big bodied, offensive/defensive weapon, not sure what that does to Sarr though.

No Center Prospects, only 1 PG prospect1, whose more of a combo guy, you'd have to drop into 5th or lower before another PG prospect arrives, so it's yet more Wings which we are already chock full of at the top of the draft, 2 of the top 4 are wings, and 3 of the top 6. The unfortunate reality is that the entire top 10 is stuffed chock full of wings, 6 of the top 10 and 8 of the top 10 if you include combo guard/guard prospects. No Centers to speak of, and maybe 2 PG prospects. This is one of the reasons I found it odd that we didn't try to move up for Center help. It's a known, known that the '26 class aint providing us a solution to that problem, and this draft was chock full of center prospects. This year there's about 3-4 PF/C guys though that don't have the height but might have the length, but all of them are in that 8-15 zone, you don't see a straight Center Prospect until the 20's.

Looking at the board, for now anyway, If we avoid the horror of giving up the pick, my interests would be:
1.Peterson
2. Dybantsa
3. Ament
4. Boozer
5. Mikel Brown

A lot can change in a year, but for the most part, we know last year shuffled a bit of the top 5-6, but at the end of the college season and draft, only 1 of the top 6 players was a surprise, Kon, and I think all of us agree that was a stupid pick and valuation (even if NBA scouts really really liked him more than us, and analytics people). I suspect the top 4 will likely remain the same.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6439364/2025/06/29/nba-mock-draft-2026-prospective-players/

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45585873/2026-nba-mock-draft-four-players-no-1-pick-options-peterson-dybantsa-boozer-ament