The 2026 NBA Draft Class shaping up to be one of the GOATs

[Lalouie]

,,,,of the past 20yrs

[BigGargamel]

I like this class, but this is cupcake season. Happens every year. Lets wait until January or February and see what guys differentiate themselves during conference play.

But naah, this is sports. We always overreact instantly.

[peZt]

And suddenly this guy who I’ve never heard about comes and looks like a top 3 pick

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[Mephariel]

Darryn Peterson, Celab Wilson, and AJ Dybantsa are looking great. And there are tons of depth as well.

This is shaping up to be one hell of a class.

[Mephariel]

I think it's hilarious seeing people call Peterson Kobe after a 20pt game against Green Bay lol.

NBA fans can't help themselves but give these players insane and completely unrealistic expectations and then are immediately upset when they aren't MVP level in their rookie year.

More athletic, better shooting Brandon Roy? That's a multi time MVP level player. Let's slow down

He is legitimately that good.

Remember, Kobe himself never won more than 1 MVP

I don't know if Peterson is going to be Kobe good. But he is just so smooth and effortless in the things that he does. He can shoot, handle the ball, and pass at a high level. CJ McCollum said that he could have played in the NBA last year.

[Mephariel]

And suddenly this guy who I’ve never heard about comes and looks like a top 3 pick

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Damn he looks good too.

So does Cameron Carr, who also wasn't in the picture beginning of the season.

[dballislife]

And suddenly this guy who I’ve never heard about comes and looks like a top 3 pick

Read on Twitter

?s=46

its like watching ben simmons if he could shoot and wasnt afraid

[Wingy]

I’m a fan from what little I’ve seen, and absolutely worth tanking for if you’re terrible, or stuck in NBA hell.

That said, I think it will wind up something akin to 2021, which is proving to be damned good. Not going to hype them up to end up on the level of ‘84, and ‘96, nor the ‘03 top 5.

[Stan]

What is people's insistence on rushing to conclusions on every matter of sports. We're really making this judgement based off a single night of basketball. I don't even care if you end up being right, using a literal one night sample size is ridiculous, give me a break lol

[CumberlandPosey]

Are you low on Steinbach? Granted, I haven't seen that much of him, but I think he'll be a decent NBA player.

Can't wait for the "New Dirk" stories in German media, since he's also from Würzburg.

I do not know him, where does he play, what is his projection?

He plays for Washington University, like Detlef. He led the German U19 team to the final in this years World Cup (which they lost to USA). Last time I looked he was projected as a late first round pick in 2026, but of course a lot can change during the college season.

I follow him since his first games in nbbl.great great prospect who plays up to his competition.so far no roadblocks for him as he dominated every level,even bbl playoffs where he played against proven vets.dont think big10 kids will stop him.fingers crossed for a lottery selection.

[Mirotic12]

And suddenly this guy who I’ve never heard about comes and looks like a top 3 pick

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Never heard about? He was on Panathinaikos. He's been a hugely known prospect in Europe for years.

[sashaturiaf]

Read on Twitter

First day of College is done and I dont remember a freshman class having this good of a debut day in a looooong time

AJ Dybantsa: 21p 5r 3a 9/18 FG 1/1 3FG 2/7 FT
Darryn Peterson: 21p 4r 3a 2s 1b 7/11 FG 3/7 3FG 4/4 FT
Koa Peat: 30p 7r 5a 3s 1b 11/18 FG 8/12 FT
Caleb Wilson: 22p 4r 3a 1s 1b 8/10 FG 1/1 3FG 5/6 FT
Nate Ament: 18p 9r 1a 6/11 FG 1/4 3FG 5/7 FT
Meleek Thomas: 21p 6r 7a 3s 7/15 FG 4/10 3FG 3/4 FT
Darius Acuff: 22p 2r 4a 1s 1b 8/13 FG 3/5 3FG 3/3 FT
Chris Cenac: 12p 10r 1s 1b 5/10 FG 2/4 3FG
Tounde Yessoufou: 24p 7r 1a 1s 10/16 FG 2/5 3FG 2/3 FT
Mikel Brown Jr: 11p 3r 6a 1s 4/6 FG 1/2 3FG 2/2 FT
Trey McKinney: 21p 2r 4a 7/10 FG 6/8 3FG 1/1 FT
Shon Abaev: 18p 2r 1a 7/12 FG 2/6 3FG 2/2 FT
Kiyan Anthony: 15p 3r 3a 6/10 FG 1/3 3FG 2/4 FT
Hannes Steinbach: 21p 7r 6a 9/11 FG 1/1 3FG 2/3 FT

And more importantly: I dont remember the last time I saw 2 superstar talents like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson in college ever since I follow NCAA Basketball 2009/2010. Only AD and Zion.

I recently made a post here saying that the US is not able to produce superstar talents anymore. That point still stands for basically the entire last decade. BUT I have to rescind my statement because evidently the US still can do that as AJ and Peterson are 2 guys that just scream future MVP

But watching the two play also made me realize how utterly disappointing all the hyped up freshman of the last decade were. I really dont remember anyone else in the last 15 years of college basketball that flashed and shocked me this much, that showcased this much superstar potential that these 2 did yesterday. Only AD and Zion. And maybe ANT. Its crazy how immediately you see that they have "it". Something I haven't felt watching any of the other hyped up freshman in the last decade. They immediately make it obvious how much better they are than your usual top picks. They have that "it" that only the very best of the very best have. Which is so exciting for Basketball since the NBA was in dire need of american superstars on the level of the other top 5 international guys atm

And the other top 3 pick in Cam Boozer hasn't even played yet.

Peterson is like a taller more ahtletic Brandon Roy with better shooting and an already elite step back 3

Read on Twitter

AJ Dybantsa? I think the last 6'9 guy with this combination of first step, burst, explosiveness, handle and playmaking was LeBron. And it might be blasphemous, but some of his movements reminded me of High School LeBron

Read on Twitter

Also how funny is it that the Pelicans traded away 2 first round picks that they had in one of the best draft classes ever and in a year where they are 0-7 lmao. And they traded one of the picks which might end up being a top 3 pick in a potential GOAT class for DERRICK QUEEN. A guy who they are not even giving minutes atm

Watched Dybantsa for the first time here and my first impression is this guy carries the ball so hard he should be in the NFL instead.

How do the modern rules allow this level of carrying. If you allow a big guy like Dybantsa to carry the ball at will then nobody is stopping him getting to the rim whenever he wants unless if you also allow NFL style Defense.

[Duke4life831]

I’ll say this as a die hard college basketball fan. You can take pretty much nothing from the first month of the season.

No sport is as bad at launching their season than college basketball. This is basically how every high level team launches their season.

They open up against a team you have to double check is a D1 team. Then you watch the game and its team that has no one over 6’7 on their roster, if they do have a 7 footer, it takes him 10 seconds to just cross half court.

Then they will throw in a good team to play. But with all the turnover in rosters, the good opposing teams have zero tape and are basically playing blind going into the game.

In the first month of college ball, if a team schedules a hard out of conference, you may get 1 game in the month of November where a good team is playing against another good team, where they both have some tape of each other and have an actual gameplan.

College basketball in November is really just for college basketball junkies. You really can’t take anything from it, whether that be how good a team is, or how good of a NBA prospect a guy is.

[KokoKaizer]

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

First day of College is done and I dont remember a freshman class having this good of a debut day in a looooong time

AJ Dybantsa: 21p 5r 3a 9/18 FG 1/1 3FG 2/7 FT
Darryn Peterson: 21p 4r 3a 2s 1b 7/11 FG 3/7 3FG 4/4 FT
Koa Peat: 30p 7r 5a 3s 1b 11/18 FG 8/12 FT
Caleb Wilson: 22p 4r 3a 1s 1b 8/10 FG 1/1 3FG 5/6 FT
Nate Ament: 18p 9r 1a 6/11 FG 1/4 3FG 5/7 FT
Meleek Thomas: 21p 6r 7a 3s 7/15 FG 4/10 3FG 3/4 FT
Darius Acuff: 22p 2r 4a 1s 1b 8/13 FG 3/5 3FG 3/3 FT
Chris Cenac: 12p 10r 1s 1b 5/10 FG 2/4 3FG
Tounde Yessoufou: 24p 7r 1a 1s 10/16 FG 2/5 3FG 2/3 FT
Mikel Brown Jr: 11p 3r 6a 1s 4/6 FG 1/2 3FG 2/2 FT
Trey McKinney: 21p 2r 4a 7/10 FG 6/8 3FG 1/1 FT
Shon Abaev: 18p 2r 1a 7/12 FG 2/6 3FG 2/2 FT
Kiyan Anthony: 15p 3r 3a 6/10 FG 1/3 3FG 2/4 FT
Hannes Steinbach: 21p 7r 6a 9/11 FG 1/1 3FG 2/3 FT

And more importantly: I dont remember the last time I saw 2 superstar talents like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson in college ever since I follow NCAA Basketball 2009/2010. Only AD and Zion.

I recently made a post here saying that the US is not able to produce superstar talents anymore. That point still stands for basically the entire last decade. BUT I have to rescind my statement because evidently the US still can do that as AJ and Peterson are 2 guys that just scream future MVP

But watching the two play also made me realize how utterly disappointing all the hyped up freshman of the last decade were. I really dont remember anyone else in the last 15 years of college basketball that flashed and shocked me this much, that showcased this much superstar potential that these 2 did yesterday. Only AD and Zion. And maybe ANT. Its crazy how immediately you see that they have "it". Something I haven't felt watching any of the other hyped up freshman in the last decade. They immediately make it obvious how much better they are than your usual top picks. They have that "it" that only the very best of the very best have. Which is so exciting for Basketball since the NBA was in dire need of american superstars on the level of the other top 5 international guys atm

And the other top 3 pick in Cam Boozer hasn't even played yet.

Peterson is like a taller more ahtletic Brandon Roy with better shooting and an already elite step back 3

Read on Twitter

AJ Dybantsa? I think the last 6'9 guy with this combination of first step, burst, explosiveness, handle and playmaking was LeBron. And it might be blasphemous, but some of his movements reminded me of High School LeBron

Read on Twitter

Also how funny is it that the Pelicans traded away 2 first round picks that they had in one of the best draft classes ever and in a year where they are 0-7 lmao. And they traded one of the picks which might end up being a top 3 pick in a potential GOAT class for DERRICK QUEEN. A guy who they are not even giving minutes atm

Watched Dybantsa for the first time here and my first impression is this guy carries the ball so hard he should be in the NFL instead.

How do the modern rules allow this level of carrying. If you allow a big guy like Dybantsa to carry the ball at will then nobody is stopping him getting to the rim whenever he wants unless if you also allow NFL style Defense.

I have the same perception, I just saw and said to me, wtf is that ?

Apparently, generational talent

[Slimjimzv]

Need the Clippers to keep losing so OKC can get one of these guys.

[sashaturiaf]

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

First day of College is done and I dont remember a freshman class having this good of a debut day in a looooong time

AJ Dybantsa: 21p 5r 3a 9/18 FG 1/1 3FG 2/7 FT
Darryn Peterson: 21p 4r 3a 2s 1b 7/11 FG 3/7 3FG 4/4 FT
Koa Peat: 30p 7r 5a 3s 1b 11/18 FG 8/12 FT
Caleb Wilson: 22p 4r 3a 1s 1b 8/10 FG 1/1 3FG 5/6 FT
Nate Ament: 18p 9r 1a 6/11 FG 1/4 3FG 5/7 FT
Meleek Thomas: 21p 6r 7a 3s 7/15 FG 4/10 3FG 3/4 FT
Darius Acuff: 22p 2r 4a 1s 1b 8/13 FG 3/5 3FG 3/3 FT
Chris Cenac: 12p 10r 1s 1b 5/10 FG 2/4 3FG
Tounde Yessoufou: 24p 7r 1a 1s 10/16 FG 2/5 3FG 2/3 FT
Mikel Brown Jr: 11p 3r 6a 1s 4/6 FG 1/2 3FG 2/2 FT
Trey McKinney: 21p 2r 4a 7/10 FG 6/8 3FG 1/1 FT
Shon Abaev: 18p 2r 1a 7/12 FG 2/6 3FG 2/2 FT
Kiyan Anthony: 15p 3r 3a 6/10 FG 1/3 3FG 2/4 FT
Hannes Steinbach: 21p 7r 6a 9/11 FG 1/1 3FG 2/3 FT

And more importantly: I dont remember the last time I saw 2 superstar talents like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson in college ever since I follow NCAA Basketball 2009/2010. Only AD and Zion.

I recently made a post here saying that the US is not able to produce superstar talents anymore. That point still stands for basically the entire last decade. BUT I have to rescind my statement because evidently the US still can do that as AJ and Peterson are 2 guys that just scream future MVP

But watching the two play also made me realize how utterly disappointing all the hyped up freshman of the last decade were. I really dont remember anyone else in the last 15 years of college basketball that flashed and shocked me this much, that showcased this much superstar potential that these 2 did yesterday. Only AD and Zion. And maybe ANT. Its crazy how immediately you see that they have "it". Something I haven't felt watching any of the other hyped up freshman in the last decade. They immediately make it obvious how much better they are than your usual top picks. They have that "it" that only the very best of the very best have. Which is so exciting for Basketball since the NBA was in dire need of american superstars on the level of the other top 5 international guys atm

And the other top 3 pick in Cam Boozer hasn't even played yet.

Peterson is like a taller more ahtletic Brandon Roy with better shooting and an already elite step back 3

Read on Twitter

AJ Dybantsa? I think the last 6'9 guy with this combination of first step, burst, explosiveness, handle and playmaking was LeBron. And it might be blasphemous, but some of his movements reminded me of High School LeBron

Read on Twitter

Also how funny is it that the Pelicans traded away 2 first round picks that they had in one of the best draft classes ever and in a year where they are 0-7 lmao. And they traded one of the picks which might end up being a top 3 pick in a potential GOAT class for DERRICK QUEEN. A guy who they are not even giving minutes atm

Watched Dybantsa for the first time here and my first impression is this guy carries the ball so hard he should be in the NFL instead.

How do the modern rules allow this level of carrying. If you allow a big guy like Dybantsa to carry the ball at will then nobody is stopping him getting to the rim whenever he wants unless if you also allow NFL style Defense.

I have the same perception, I just saw and said to me, wtf is that ?

Apparently, generational talent

I read "elite ball handler" in his scouting report but all I saw was a big fluid guy who likes getting to the rim but to who dribbling is an inconvenience.

Still a top 3 pick easy. NBA won't call him for it at all. Giannis won a MVP and title doing this