2026 NBA Draft (Part I)

[Hal14]

Yep Quaintace looks like a C or very long PF.
There are 8 or 9 true Centers and several long PFs in the top 50. I do t think it’s short on bigs at all. Maybe in the lotto.

Yeah, not a on of bigs in this class..mainly:

Boozer..the dream, but what are the odds we get him?
Quaintance..about 6'9", 7'3" wingspan..big, strong, bulky, not too worried about the size there..but he's coming off a torn ACL and offers very litrle shooting, so idk..
Gruenloh
Chris Cenac (more of a 4 than a 5 though)
Steinbach

[brackdan70]

Yep Quaintace looks like a C or very long PF.
There are 8 or 9 true Centers and several long PFs in the top 50. I do t think it’s short on bigs at all. Maybe in the lotto.

Yeah, not a on of bigs in this class..mainly:

Boozer..the dream, but what are the odds we get him?
Quaintance..about 6'9", 7'3" wingspan..big, strong, bulky, not too worried about the size there..but he's coming off a torn ACL and offers very litrle shooting, so idk..
Gruenloh
Chris Cenac
Steinbach

Upper class men like Yaxel Lendeborg, JT Toppin, Alex Condon all are of interest to me. Maybe not pure centers but bigs with good size and skill.
If we are in the lotto then probably not looking at those guys but if in the 20s.
For second rounders there is the Ivisic bros.
Bidunga and Mara…?
I think Queta will be 20/12/2 so not worried about the C position

[Hal14]

Yep Quaintace looks like a C or very long PF.
There are 8 or 9 true Centers and several long PFs in the top 50. I do t think it’s short on bigs at all. Maybe in the lotto.

Yeah, not a on of bigs in this class..mainly:

Boozer..the dream, but what are the odds we get him?
Quaintance..about 6'9", 7'3" wingspan..big, strong, bulky, not too worried about the size there..but he's coming off a torn ACL and offers very litrle shooting, so idk..
Gruenloh
Chris Cenac
Steinbach

Upper class men like Yaxel Lendeborg, JT Toppin, Alex Condon all are of interest to me. Maybe not pure centers but bigs with good size and skill.
If we are in the lotto then probably not looking at those guys but if in the 20s.
For second rounders there is the Ivisic bros.
Bidunga and Mara…?
I think Queta will be 20/12/2 so not worried about the C position

Yeah I think those guys are further down..Toppin, Yaxel, Condon could all be later in the 1st round, depending on how much of a leap they show this season.

Bidunga (and Joseph Tugler) could sneak into late 1st round but more likely 2nd round. 

Tomislav is definitely the better Ivisic twin imo..he could be a 2nd rounder..Mara and Zvonimir Ivisic, at this point I don't think are draftable.

Another guy who is probably 2nd round but could go late 1st depending on how much of a leap he makes is Pat Ngongba from Duke.

So a decent amount of big man options in this class. Will be interesting to see how they do this season, how much of a leap they make, who returns for another year of college, etc.

Gruenloh really intrigues me as a guy who can pass, set screens, roll to the rim, catch lobs and hit 3's on O, and block shots and switch a little bit on D. Watching him very closely this season. He could go in like the 12-22 range and that could be where we pick..

[jmr07019]

Kid has some ups! My god

Read on Twitter

[Larry_Russell]

Kid has some ups! My god

Read on Twitter

Celtics deserve AJ

[jmr07019]

Chisholm needs to be in Silvers ear about a little lottery help

[Hal14]

Another big to have on the radar this season..

Read on Twitter

[phincsfan]

Chisholm needs to be in Silvers ear about a little lottery help

June 2026 will be 40 years since Len passed.

Lottery gods may be on the C's side.

[Hal14]

Wow, this kid had 8 steals in a game today. Along with 2 blocks. 3/5 from 3, 24 pts, 11/14 at the FT line.

6'6" wing from Italy, just 18 yrs old.

Gonna play at Ratiopharm ULM, a term in the German League that has produced a bunch of NBA talent over the past few yrs.

Read on Twitter

[Hal14]

I'm starting to be a little higher on Condon now.

He looks good in these pre draft workout vids. Looks bouncy and quick off the floor..also the 3 ball looks good. Of course no one is guarding him so you don't weight it super heavily, but still.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lOWJ2n29CTk

Also measured 6'11" barefoot at the combine, which means he's a legit 7'0" in shoes. All season at Florida he was listed as 6'11". So being an inch taller helps.

If we're picking in like the 15-25 range, I'd take a long, hard look at Condon. Certainly watching him closely this season for a Florida team defending their title.

Condon and Gruenloh are both intriguing to me as centers who can potentially catch lobs, pass and shoot 3's on offense..and block shots and switch a little bit on D.

I have Gruenloh ranked slightly higher, mainly because he's over a year younger. But Condon appears to be a little more athletic..not a huge gap between them as prospects imo..

[Hal14]

Feel pretty good at this point about the order of the top 10 guys on my board for next year.

A bit of a drop off after the top 10..so hopefully we get 1 of these guys:

Rank Player
1 Darryn Peterson
2 Cameron Boozer
3 AJ Dybantsa
4 Nate Ament
5 Mikel Brown Jr
6 Jayden Quaintance
7 Tounde Yessoufou
8 Karim Lopez
9 Koa Peat
10 Caleb Wilson

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Wow, this kid had 8 steals in a game today. Along with 2 blocks. 3/5 from 3, 24 pts, 11/14 at the FT line.

6'6" wing from Italy, just 18 yrs old.

Gonna play at Ratiopharm ULM, a term in the German League that has produced a bunch of NBA talent over the past few yrs.

Read on Twitter

Ratiopharm has produced a bunch of NBA draft picks. The jury is still out (and the early returns aren't promising) on whether Hayes, Dadiet, Essengue and Saraf are actually NBA players. I'm not sure Ulm does much to prepare them for the league especially compared to other pathways. Which is a shame because I like Garavaglia's game.

[Hal14]

Wow, this kid had 8 steals in a game today. Along with 2 blocks. 3/5 from 3, 24 pts, 11/14 at the FT line.

6'6" wing from Italy, just 18 yrs old.

Gonna play at Ratiopharm ULM, a term in the German League that has produced a bunch of NBA talent over the past few yrs.

Read on Twitter

Ratiopharm has produced a bunch of NBA draft picks. The jury is still out (and the early returns aren't promising) on whether Hayes, Dadiet, Essengue and Saraf are actually NBA players. I'm not sure Ulm does much to prepare them for the league especially compared to other pathways. Which is a shame because I like Garavaglia's game.

I like his game too. Being a really good wing defender at that young of an age instantly makes you a prospect..think he's worth at least a 2nd round pick at this point.

How he does this season (and how other guys do) will determine if he's worth a 1st round pick.

As for guys developing at ULM, we'll see..I think they had a new head coach last season so seemed to run good sets, and that team last year seemed to be pretty well coached..

[phincsfan]

I'm starting to be a little higher on Condon now.

He looks good in these pre draft workout vids. Looks bouncy and quick off the floor..also the 3 ball looks good. Of course no one is guarding him so you don't weight it super heavily, but still.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lOWJ2n29CTk

Also measured 6'11" barefoot at the combine, which means he's a legit 7'0" in shoes. All season at Florida he was listed as 6'11". So being an inch taller helps.

If we're picking in like the 15-25 range, I'd take a long, hard look at Condon. Certainly watching him closely this season for a Florida team defending their title.

Condon and Gruenloh are both intriguing to me as centers who can potentially catch lobs, pass and shoot 3's on offense..and block shots and switch a little bit on D.

I have Gruenloh ranked slightly higher, mainly because he's over a year younger. But Condon appears to be a little more athletic..not a huge gap between them as prospects imo..

1746 » by phincsfan » Wed Jul 9, 2025 4:45 pm


When the C's get the #1 pick they draft Dybantsa.

Then they trade Sam for a 1st rd pick and draft Ngongba or maybe Condon

Push White to PG and JB to SG

C - Ngongba
PF- JT
SF- Dybantsa
SG - JB
PG - White

[playa-hater]

I will put this here again, but my nephew just played on the same team in an all star game at a euro basketball camp in Greece with the younger brother of Noah Penda.. And he is saying that the scouts out there are saying that the younger brother will be better than his older brother Noah.. And he is already at least 6'8 .. In case's his name pops up next year..

[Hal14]

I will put this here again, but my nephew just played on the same team in an all star game at a euro basketball camp in Greece with the younger brother of Noah Penda.. And he is saying that the scouts out there are saying that the younger brother will be better than his older brother Noah.. And he is already at least 6'8 .. In case's his name pops up next year..

Just looked it up..Noah Penda's brother is Swann Penda (cool name).

He was born in 2008, so he'll be draft eligible in 2027..

[brackdan70]

I'm starting to be a little higher on Condon now.

He looks good in these pre draft workout vids. Looks bouncy and quick off the floor..also the 3 ball looks good. Of course no one is guarding him so you don't weight it super heavily, but still.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lOWJ2n29CTk

Also measured 6'11" barefoot at the combine, which means he's a legit 7'0" in shoes. All season at Florida he was listed as 6'11". So being an inch taller helps.

If we're picking in like the 15-25 range, I'd take a long, hard look at Condon. Certainly watching him closely this season for a Florida team defending their title.

Condon and Gruenloh are both intriguing to me as centers who can potentially catch lobs, pass and shoot 3's on offense..and block shots and switch a little bit on D.

I have Gruenloh ranked slightly higher, mainly because he's over a year younger. But Condon appears to be a little more athletic..not a huge gap between them as prospects imo..

What is he wearing!?

[Jammer]

With Tatum’s injury and losing multiple assets we have no chance of wining a title next year. So, does it make sense to finish 7th or in the play-in and maybe make the playoffs?

I wouldn’t mind JB being really careful with his knee and Dwhite sitting out games due to his “nagging injuries”…

Maybe we have some lottery luck and get into top 3. We will see how the top prospects develop but if we get a franchise player in the draft we are instant contender in 2026/27 with JT, JB, Dwhite, top 3 pick…

It’s not about what makes sense it’s about what’s logical. Logic would tell us a team with Brown and White leading it while Tatum is rehabbing and potentially back in March is probably not bad enough to tank unless everyone is on board and Joe does extreme load management.

Dump White or Brown for youth and picks then the argument changes.

The Celtics Power Forward and Center Rotation is BUILT FOR THE TANK.

Let Me Repeat that: The Celtics Power Forward and Center Rotation is Built for the TANK.

The 2025-2026 Celtics are not built to win close games.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Yep Quaintace looks like a C or very long PF.
There are 8 or 9 true Centers and several long PFs in the top 50. I do t think it’s short on bigs at all. Maybe in the lotto.

Yeah, not a on of bigs in this class..mainly:

Boozer..the dream, but what are the odds we get him?
Quaintance..about 6'9", 7'3" wingspan..big, strong, bulky, not too worried about the size there..but he's coming off a torn ACL and offers very litrle shooting, so idk..
Gruenloh
Chris Cenac
Steinbach

Upper class men like Yaxel Lendeborg, JT Toppin, Alex Condon all are of interest to me. Maybe not pure centers but bigs with good size and skill.
If we are in the lotto then probably not looking at those guys but if in the 20s.
For second rounders there is the Ivisic bros.
Bidunga and Mara…?
I think Queta will be 20/12/2 so not worried about the C position

This is wildly optimistic. Only five guys averaged 12 rebounds. If you add the points requirement then you are left with just Jokic, Sabonis and Towns. How shall I put it delicately ? Queta doesn't belong in this conversation.

Spoiler:

Here is every guy that averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game last season :
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nikola Jokić
Luka Dončić
Jayson Tatum
Anthony Davis
Karl-Anthony Towns
Victor Wembanyama
Joel Embiid
Domantas Sabonis
Alperen Sengun
John Collins
Jalen Johnson
Evan Mobley
Nikola Vučević
Bam Adebayo
Ivica Zubac
Do you think Queta belongs on this list ?

People way underestimate how hard it is to maintain your production when your minutes are scaled all the way up. Especially for a guy like Queta that looked exhausted after every 6 minute stint last season and that didn't get much conditioning work done this offseason due to a knee procedure.

[brackdan70]

Yeah, not a on of bigs in this class..mainly:

Boozer..the dream, but what are the odds we get him?
Quaintance..about 6'9", 7'3" wingspan..big, strong, bulky, not too worried about the size there..but he's coming off a torn ACL and offers very litrle shooting, so idk..
Gruenloh
Chris Cenac
Steinbach

Upper class men like Yaxel Lendeborg, JT Toppin, Alex Condon all are of interest to me. Maybe not pure centers but bigs with good size and skill.
If we are in the lotto then probably not looking at those guys but if in the 20s.
For second rounders there is the Ivisic bros.
Bidunga and Mara…?
I think Queta will be 20/12/2 so not worried about the C position

This is wildly optimistic. Only five guys averaged 12 rebounds. If you add the points requirement then you are left with just Jokic, Sabonis and Towns. How shall I put it delicately ? Queta doesn't belong in this conversation.

Spoiler:

Here is every guy that averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game last season :
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nikola Jokić
Luka Dončić
Jayson Tatum
Anthony Davis
Karl-Anthony Towns
Victor Wembanyama
Joel Embiid
Domantas Sabonis
Alperen Sengun
John Collins
Jalen Johnson
Evan Mobley
Nikola Vučević
Bam Adebayo
Ivica Zubac
Do you think Queta belongs on this list ?

People way underestimate how hard it is to maintain your production when your minutes are scaled all the way up. Especially for a guy like Queta that looked exhausted after every 6 minute stint last season and that didn't get much conditioning work done this offseason due to a knee procedure.

Yeah I put a smiley in there.