2026 NBA Draft Thread.....

[doclinkin]

Liking more and more the Kraken.

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I think he could climb to #2 by the end of the draft cycle, depending on how the Heels perform in March.

This draft looks to me like it has a real Top 4. Without a huge gap between them. Right now I'm like this:

Peterson
Wilson
Dybantsa
Boozer

Though Boozer sometimes climbs up and down in the rankings. Boozer is the youngest of this bunch. Will still be 18 on draft night while a guy like Mikel Brown turns 20 in April.

Could Boozer get even stronger? Quicker side to side, with training and conditioning? Seems like he's already sped up since high school highlights. The outside shooting is a revelation, along with the passing. I think it all translates. I haven't seen a more fundamentally sound college Big since Duncan. Despite his youth you see him calling out coverages and being the vocal leader for his squad.

[tontoz]

I see Boozer did another good job statpadding against a cupcake. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while he can.

[doclinkin]

I see Boozer did another good job statpadding against a cupcake. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while he can.

Maybe. I think the smarts translates. Bigs with high assist ratios tend to translate to good defenders at the next level. Better than the bouncy types that jump to block every shot. Defensive rebounding also translates, even when offensive boards don’t. The fact that he’s added an outside shot opens up his game and fixes some concerns I had about if he was just an early growth standout.

That said I have Caleb above him due to a combo of outlier athleticism, length, suction cups for hands and a baseline of high intelligence. His per 36 numbers pop off the page.

[tontoz]

I see Boozer did another good job statpadding against a cupcake. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while he can.

Maybe. I think the smarts translates. Bigs with high assist ratios tend to translate to good defenders at the next level. Better than the bouncy types that jump to block every shot. Defensive rebounding also translates, even when offensive boards don’t. The fact that he’s added an outside shot opens up his game and fixes some concerns I had about if he was just an early growth standout.

That said I have Caleb above him due to a combo of outlier athleticism, length, suction cups for hands and a baseline of high intelligence. His per 36 numbers pop off the page.

Boozer's smarts don't seem to translate to his drives. He just leans into guys and hopes for the refs to bail him out if it doesn't work, which it hasn't against any team that isn't a cupcake.

[doclinkin]

I see Boozer did another good job statpadding against a cupcake. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while he can.

Maybe. I think the smarts translates. Bigs with high assist ratios tend to translate to good defenders at the next level. Better than the bouncy types that jump to block every shot. Defensive rebounding also translates, even when offensive boards don’t. The fact that he’s added an outside shot opens up his game and fixes some concerns I had about if he was just an early growth standout.

That said I have Caleb above him due to a combo of outlier athleticism, length, suction cups for hands and a baseline of high intelligence. His per 36 numbers pop off the page.

Boozer's smarts don't seem to translate to his drives. He just leans into guys and hopes for the refs to bail him out if it doesn't work, which it hasn't against any team that isn't a cupcake.

Reasonable. He has to learn. But adding the confident 3pt shot shows he can learn. Note though, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, he’s the 2nd youngest player in the draft. If he’s this productive now even with a brute force offensive game how much better would be he with a proper tutor. His footwork is balanced and nimble. He just needs someone to teach him the moves and countermoves.

[tontoz]

If he’s this productive now even with a brute force offensive game how much better would be he with a proper tutor. His footwork is balanced and nimble. He just needs someone to teach him the moves and countermoves.

That is exactly the point. He isn't productive at all against any team that doesn't suck. He is robotic and unathletic, no wiggle to his game at all.

His next 3 opponents are ranked teams. Lets see if he can manage just one good game against them.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

This is a good episode to check out for a few things…

Going off memory but about 20 min in they talk about Blake Wesley and how he’s had a major impact for the Blazers at pg. ...

??
He played 98 minutes in their first 6 games, then broke his foot 3 weeks ago -- out until late January at least.

Was he good in those six 15-min-a-game outings? Pretty good, yes. Mostly driven by just over 4 steals per 40 minutes. He can't shoot at all.

You know, out of ALL the posts I’ve made on this thread OF COURSE this is what you respond to…. BLAKE WESLEY?? How has he possibly been good he can’t shoot and broke his leg!?!?

I mean I posted the show primarily for the good draft discussion with Sam Veccine obviously hence why I put it on the draft thread. But then I offhandedly decided to mention oh btw Wizards fans MIGHT have interest in these other 2 discussions on the show one about how good Wesley was for the Blazers (a player the Wizards acquired & decided to buy out before training camp) and another about how good Queen was playing for the Pelicans (a player a lot of Wizards fans were interested in drafting).

I’ve posted MANY times on this thread about the various top prospects in this draft. I posted about 2 players I find interesting for our late 1st round pick. I posted about all the great college games coming up this week some of which feature some of these players to watch. I’ve posted about early mock drafts. I posted about 4 interesting prospects to consider with our 4 2nd round picks. And out of everything THIS is what you felt the need to pick out.

Seriously. I’m sorry I even said anything.

[AFM]

First time talking to PIF?

[payitforward]

This is a good episode to check out for a few things…

Going off memory but about 20 min in they talk about Blake Wesley and how he’s had a major impact for the Blazers at pg. ...

??
He played 98 minutes in their first 6 games, then broke his foot 3 weeks ago -- out until late January at least.

Was he good in those six 15-min-a-game outings? Pretty good, yes. Mostly driven by just over 4 steals per 40 minutes. He can't shoot at all.

You know, out of ALL the posts I’ve made on this thread OF COURSE this is what you respond to…. BLAKE WESLEY?? How has he possibly been good he can’t shoot and broke his leg!?!?

I mean I posted the show primarily for the good draft discussion with Sam Veccine obviously hence why I put it on the draft thread. But then I offhandedly decided to mention oh btw Wizards fans MIGHT have interest in these other 2 discussions on the show one about how good Wesley was for the Blazers (a player the Wizards acquired & decided to buy out before training camp) and another about how good Queen was playing for the Pelicans (a player a lot of Wizards fans were interested in drafting).

I’ve posted MANY times on this thread about the various top prospects in this draft. I posted about 2 players I find interesting for our late 1st round pick. I posted about all the great college games coming up this week some of which feature some of these players to watch. I’ve posted about early mock drafts. I posted about 4 interesting prospects to consider with our 4 2nd round picks. And out of everything THIS is what you felt the need to pick out.

Seriously. I’m sorry I even said anything.

Are you saying that this was the first post of yours I ever responded to? Wow... that seems weird to me. I read your posts with genuine interest.

& i'm *not* sorry you wrote about Blake Wesley. I liked him in college & thought he might take hold well in the league. He still has time to turn things around, & I hope he does. Meanwhile, if I made more of something than necessary... I apologize!

[The Consiglieri]

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/11/15/byu-basketball-aj-dybansta-uconn-huskies-college-basketball/

I did not know about their HS matchups.

I met Len Bias on Maryland's campus. He was down-to-earth and friendly. He spoke to me first when I was in awe, too nervous to speak. I had seen him play Hakeem and Phi Slamma Jamma tough. At the time, I thought he was better than Jordan. Len Bias is the greatest player I have ever seen live, and I saw Jordan beat the Terps at Cole.

That said, since Bias hung with Brian Tribble and other knuckleheads, my answer is he would not have maximized his gifts. I corresponded with someone in a position to know, and he told me that Bias' cocaine use wasn't a one and done. I don't know, but I respect that person's statements

Peterson must really be the shiznitz. I have read that both he and Dybantsa are better prospects than Cooper Flagg.

Peterson plays a different position than Dybantsa. I need to watch each play more.

Came across an article/reference in the top year that underlined that the autopsy showed consistent cocaine use, or maybe I should rephrase it to, "not a one time deal,". It was the eighties, and pretty much everyone was on it in entertainment/sports, that's obviously hyperbole, but it was unbelievably wide spread. Wonder what happened, I know when the sublime singer died 29 years ago, it was a bad batch that killed like 4-5 other heroine addicts around san francisco/and the north bay that weekend. The biggest shame of it is I believe he if he hadn't kicked Heroin, he'd definitely begun to get off it, and once you get off tour, hangers on start just handing you stuff and unfortunately it killed him.

[tontoz]

Nate Ament has made 4 3s so far today. Will watch later. From what i've seen he is noticably bigger than he was last year. He needs to hit shots to be in the top 5 conversation.

[The Consiglieri]

On a different note, was listening to Vecenie’s latest podcast where he sang the praises of Mikel Brown. He described him as a taller version of Garland. If he develops into a bigger Garland who is not a liability defensively, watch out.

Not really happy that the Suns are hitting that long roadie on such a hot streak. So damn frustrating, we desperately need them to suck to save our odds. Without them, we're more likely to get screwed than get lucky . 10 of next 14 are on the road, and w/o me looking at the standings, Only 4 of the 14 are against cruddy teams. I still think they'll be around 15-16 or 16-15 by New Years, hopefully they're worse, and please don't be better than 16 wins .

On the pluse side, as you guys have been arguing, it does seem like there's at least 5 or 6 blue chippers in this thing now, not just 3 or 4.

[tontoz]

Just got done watching Tenn vs Rutgers (Rutgers sucks). Ament is going to get a lot of comparisons to Ace since he is a tall wing that struggles to get to the rim. Compared to Ace Ament is:

Noticably taller, at least an inch I would guess
Slower
Better ball handler
More willing passer
More of a standstill shooter

Nice to see him actually make some 3s but I still don't think he will be in the top 5 conversation.

Tough test tomorrow against Houston at 6.

[doclinkin]

What I notice about Ament is it looks like his neck has 2-3 extra vertebrae. Kid has a giraffe neck. Makes up about 45% of his height.

Nice enough handle for his size though. Good to see his shot start to fall. and given his ability to get to the line he'd be a PG on this team.

[tontoz]

What I notice about Ament is it looks like his neck has 2-3 extra vertebrae. Kid has a giraffe neck. Makes up about 45% of his height.

Nice enough handle for his size though. Good to see his shot start to fall. and given his ability to get to the line he'd be a PG on this team.

Now that you mention it Ace had a standing reach of 8'11 which is very good, only 3" less than Sarr.

[dobrojim]

FWIW, I and1'd docs post about Wilson. Maybe I need
to remember highlights should be impressive, but
Wilson has definitely moved, for now, into my top 4.
Wilson looks impressive.
Peterson, AJ, Wilson and Boozer. Mikel could be a
great consolation prize @5.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I see Boozer did another good job statpadding against a cupcake. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while he can.

Maybe. I think the smarts translates. Bigs with high assist ratios tend to translate to good defenders at the next level. Better than the bouncy types that jump to block every shot. Defensive rebounding also translates, even when offensive boards don’t. The fact that he’s added an outside shot opens up his game and fixes some concerns I had about if he was just an early growth standout.

That said I have Caleb above him due to a combo of outlier athleticism, length, suction cups for hands and a baseline of high intelligence. His per 36 numbers pop off the page.

I am wondering if Caleb Wilson will be better at a thing or two than Cooper Flagg?

How were their head-to-head matchups in ACC play last season?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I did not know about their HS matchups.

I met Len Bias on Maryland's campus. He was down-to-earth and friendly. He spoke to me first when I was in awe, too nervous to speak. I had seen him play Hakeem and Phi Slamma Jamma tough. At the time, I thought he was better than Jordan. Len Bias is the greatest player I have ever seen live, and I saw Jordan beat the Terps at Cole.

That said, since Bias hung with Brian Tribble and other knuckleheads, my answer is he would not have maximized his gifts. I corresponded with someone in a position to know, and he told me that Bias' cocaine use wasn't a one and done. I don't know, but I respect that person's statements

Peterson must really be the shiznitz. I have read that both he and Dybantsa are better prospects than Cooper Flagg.

Peterson plays a different position than Dybantsa. I need to watch each play more.

Came across an article/reference in the top year that underlined that the autopsy showed consistent cocaine use, or maybe I should rephrase it to, "not a one time deal,". It was the eighties, and pretty much everyone was on it in entertainment/sports, that's obviously hyperbole, but it was unbelievably wide spread. Wonder what happened, I know when the sublime singer died 29 years ago, it was a bad batch that killed like 4-5 other heroine addicts around san francisco/and the north bay that weekend. The biggest shame of it is I believe he if he hadn't kicked Heroin, he'd definitely begun to get off it, and once you get off tour, hangers on start just handing you stuff and unfortunately it killed him.

My source knew that. The autopsy results would have ruined the legacy.

A lot of people were using. Len died in 1986. I went into the USAF in 1987. I told my airmen friends that the mayor of DC was on drugs.

Before Mayor Barry was arrested.

My sister was friends with the lady who didn't cooperate with the police when they were trying to catch Mayor Barry. We knew. Marion and Effi Barry were quite a couple.

"Catch me if you can...Bitch set me up!"

Disgraced mayor reelected.

The late 80s were a trip.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

What I notice about Ament is it looks like his neck has 2-3 extra vertebrae. Kid has a giraffe neck. Makes up about 45% of his height.

Nice enough handle for his size though. Good to see his shot start to fall. and given his ability to get to the line he'd be a PG on this team.

Maryland has a kid from Spain. He's got a long neck.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Have i called Caleb Wison Caleb Williams yet?