OT: 2027 Draft Class is...trash?!?

[Jamaaliver]

Is it possible Landry knew what he was doing in that Dejounte Trade?

Via Jonathan Givony/ESPN:

Execs ring the alarms on 2027 draft

After a banner 2026 class (read more here), executives are concerned about what's next

Bleary-eyed executives have barely had a chance to turn the page on the 2025 NBA draft class. Still, they are already moving full throttle into the next draft cycle, with a busy summer in store headlined by FIBA tournaments, grassroots events, sneaker company camps and college practices.

The most forward-thinking of those executives are already ringing alarm bells in their front offices for the 2027 NBA draft, which appears to be an especially weak group of rising high school seniors and international players born in 2007 and 2008.

"This is one of the weakest high school classes I've seen in a long time," one grizzled talent evaluator with extensive experience in the amateur youth space told ESPN.

"There might not be a single All-Star in this group, and after the first few prospects, I'm not sure how many NBA starters I see either from the other five-star recruits. New players always emerge, but by now we usually have a pretty good idea of who the most elite prospects are, and it's looking like slim pickings, even more so than the weak 2024 NBA draft, which at least had several high-end international prospects we could point to."

College coaches making the rounds at summer league have echoed similar thoughts, saying they've been largely underwhelmed by the lack of star power among prospects ranked at the top of the 2026 recruiting class. This is causing them to plan on being even more aggressive in the transfer portal rather than spending significant sums on five-star prospects who might not be good enough to make impacts as freshmen at the college level.

This development could also have major implications on how aggressive NBA teams decide to be in dangling 2027 first-round picks while potentially repressing the appetite for teams considering tanking their way to a high draft pick. It also puts significant pressure on rebuilding teams to ensure they are in position to land in the talent-rich top five of the 2026 draft, which features five All-Star or franchise-caliber prospects: high-schoolers Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Nate Ament and Mikel Brown.

NBA teams are hoping to find new prospects who emerge at next week's FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. Last year's event yielded six first-round picks, not including a seventh international prospect in Egor Demin, who would have participated had his Russian national team not been banned because of the war in Ukraine.

[Jamaaliver]

So, if this is accurate, the trade with the Spurs is potentially pretty palatable -- all things considered.

We just need to make a serious run next season and only convey a pick in the 20-30 range for the loaded 2026 draft.

[Jamaaliver]

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