2026 NBA DRAFT CLASS

babyjax13 · Post #421 » by **babyjax13** » Wed Feb 4, 2026 2:53 am

Chokic wrote:How is Donnie Freeman not on any mocks? Syracuse sophomore big former top 10 hs recruit from 2024 class avg 19 and 7 on 50% this season after his injury last season he completely fell off the scouts radar. He should be getting late 1st rd early 2nd rd considerations.

I really liked him last year. Haven't seen Syracuse yet, but kind of assumed he might be a 4 year guy a la JT Toppin, etc.

Chi town · Post #422 » by **Chi town** » Fri Feb 6, 2026 6:52 pm

It’s a top 6 draft.

DP - Cornerstone. Rose Kobe type athletic talent.
AJ - #1 Tatum type.
Boozer - 20 10 machine from day one. #2 option
Wilson - KG on D. 2/3 option on offense. Winner.
Flemings - Winner. DRose with more IQ and less athleticism
Wagler - Stronger Hali. Elite offensive engine

We get any of these 6 and my Bulls will turn the corner quick.

Top 8 pick is essential because of these two…

Cam Carr - Mikal Bridges with freak athleticism and a 3 ball like Reggie. Sky high ceiling. Winner.

Hannes - He’s Carlos Boozer with a 3 ball. UW has awful PG play. He’s being hidden. Winner. Great future #2. Elite rebounder and motor.

We got to get a top 8 pick.

azcatz11 · Post #423 » by **azcatz11** » Fri Feb 6, 2026 7:39 pm

Chi town wrote:It’s a top 6 draft.

DP - Cornerstone. Rose Kobe type athletic talent.
AJ - #1 Tatum type.
Boozer - 20 10 machine from day one. #2 option
Wilson - KG on D. 2/3 option on offense. Winner.
Flemings - Winner. DRose with more IQ and less athleticism
Wagler - Stronger Hali. Elite offensive engine

We get any of these 6 and my Bulls will turn the corner quick.

Top 8 pick is essential because of these two…

Cam Carr - Mikal Bridges with freak athleticism and a 3 ball like Reggie. Sky high ceiling. Winner.

Hannes - He’s Carlos Boozer with a 3 ball. UW has awful PG play. He’s being hidden. Winner. Great future #2. Elite rebounder and motor.

We got to get a top 8 pick.

Whose your best sleeper who could fall outside lotto?

Chi town · Post #424 » by **Chi town** » Fri Feb 6, 2026 8:03 pm

az - Ament or Mikell

They should fall but I don’t think they will.

Veesaar too. Think he’s a starting C. Fits with every lineup.

BigGargamel · Post #425 » by **BigGargamel** » Fri Feb 6, 2026 8:14 pm

Ament isn't going to fall out of the lottery. He's been a bit of a mess, but he's still so young. And he's been playing better lately.

Mikel Brown could though. I keep waiting for him to get right, but he hasn't yet. I'd probably take Burries over him.

Koa Peat is another guy who could fall out of the lottery. Good player, but like I said in his thread, what do you do with him if you're an NBA team? It is nice to see him start to take some threes though. Not high volume, but he's been decent.

My lottery tiers right now are probably.

A. Boozer, Dybantsa, Peterson
B. Wilson, Flemings
C. Wagler
D. Acuff, Steinbach, Ament, Philon, Mullins
E. Brown Jr., Burries, Lendeborg

Chi town · Post #426 » by **Chi town** » Fri Feb 6, 2026 8:28 pm

Also think Arenas will be lottery.

Need to see more but he looks like 7-9 to me.
NBA game. Lead guard with size and a good passer.

babyjax13 · Post #427 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 4:55 am

I think we are far enough in the season to ask, rate the top prospects in 2025 and 2026:

2025 top 7:
Cooper Flagg
Dylan Harper
VJ Edgecombe
Kon Kneuppel
Ace Bailey
Tre Johnson
Jeremiah Fears

2026 top group (alphabetical by last name, hopefully)
Cam Boozer
Mikel Brown (debatable if he actually belongs here)
AJ Dybantsa
Kingston Flemmings
Darryn Peterson
Keaton Wagler
Caleb Wilson

babyjax13 · Post #428 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 4:58 am

With the benefit of hindsight I would have Flagg at 1, but I think of I am being honest about where I was on Flagg pre-draft I thought he was an amazing prospect but not a future MVP caliber player. A few other things would be different, too, Kneuppel would be higher, Fears a bit lower, probably VJ over Tre and Bailey (but maybe not). So...

1. Peterson

2. Flagg (should be above Peterson w/hindsight)
3. Boozer (still really wrestling w/he and Dybantsa at 2)
4. Dybantsa
5. Harper

6. Wilson
7. Bailey
8. Johnson
9. Fears
10. Edgecombe

11. Kneuppel (should be either before or after Wilson w/hindsight)
12. Wagler (wrestling w/this group)
13. Flemmings

14. Brown

babyjax13 · Post #429 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 5:44 am

Chi town wrote:Also think Arenas will be lottery.

Need to see more but he looks like 7-9 to me.
NBA game. Lead guard with size and a good passer.

Arenas looks pretty good in highlights. I haven't caught a game yet, but it is nice another Freshman is picking up steam.

Hook_Em · Post #430 » by **Hook_Em** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 7:17 am

Arenas has looked awful what am I missing?

babyjax13 · Post #431 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 2:53 pm

Hook_Em wrote:Arenas has looked awful what am I missing?

Two pretty decent games in a row now that the minutes restriction is gone. I think he looks pretty interesting given what he is recovering from.

SeattleJazzFan · Post #432 » by **SeattleJazzFan** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 9:26 pm

babyjax13 wrote:With the benefit of hindsight I would have Flagg at 1, but I think of I am being honest about where I was on Flagg pre-draft I thought he was an amazing prospect but not a future MVP caliber player. A few other things would be different, too, Kneuppel would be higher, Fears a bit lower, probably VJ over Tre and Bailey (but maybe not). So...

1. Peterson

2. Flagg (should be above Peterson w/hindsight)
3. Boozer (still really wrestling w/he and Dybantsa at 2)
4. Dybantsa
5. Harper

6. Wilson
7. Bailey
8. Johnson
9. Fears
10. Edgecombe

11. Kneuppel (should be either before or after Wilson w/hindsight)
12. Wagler (wrestling w/this group)
13. Flemmings

14. Brown

this seems crazy to me to have peterson in a tier of his own. if you like peterson the best i won't begrudge you that (maybe a little) but to pretend he's so far above those guys seems insane. we're getting to a point now with AJ showing off his 3pt shooting chops that there really isn't anything Peterson has on him, but AJ's significant height/length advantage as well as health gives him a couple things that are pretty major over peterson.

even at that, if you like peterson better, listen the draft is a crapshoot, so i get it, but in his own tier - even including prospect flagg who was an absolutely elite prospect and clear cut #1 in a strong draft at the top, again, seems like insanity.

i might draft peterson #1, but wilson is a good enough prospect, that i can also see taking peterson as low as three. if he continues to underperfom (32% from three in his last 8 games) and show injury concerns, i might even drop him to 4 after Boozer.

babyjax13 · Post #433 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 9:35 pm

SeattleJazzFan wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:With the benefit of hindsight I would have Flagg at 1, but I think of I am being honest about where I was on Flagg pre-draft I thought he was an amazing prospect but not a future MVP caliber player. A few other things would be different, too, Kneuppel would be higher, Fears a bit lower, probably VJ over Tre and Bailey (but maybe not). So...

1. Peterson

2. Flagg (should be above Peterson w/hindsight)
3. Boozer (still really wrestling w/he and Dybantsa at 2)
4. Dybantsa
5. Harper

6. Wilson
7. Bailey
8. Johnson
9. Fears
10. Edgecombe

11. Kneuppel (should be either before or after Wilson w/hindsight)
12. Wagler (wrestling w/this group)
13. Flemmings

14. Brown

this seems crazy to me to have peterson in a tier of his own. if you like peterson the best i won't begrudge you that (maybe a little) but to pretend he's so far above those guys seems insane. we're getting to a point now with AJ showing off his 3pt shooting chops that there really isn't anything Peterson has on him, but AJ's significant height/length advantage as well as health gives him a couple things that are pretty major over peterson.

even at that, if you like peterson better, listen the draft is a crapshoot, so i get it, but in his own tier - even including prospect flagg who was an absolutely elite prospect and clear cut #1 in a strong draft at the top, again, seems like insanity.

i might draft peterson #1, but wilson is a good enough prospect, that i can also see taking peterson as low as three. if he continues to underperfom (32% from three in his last 8 games) and show injury concerns, i might even drop him to 4 after Boozer.

Oh, I think Flagg is a better prospect than I thought and a better prospect than Peterson, but I am trying to include my mistakes. I absolutely think that Dybantsa is an elite prospect, worthy of the first pick in many drafts - but I think Peterson is a sure thing. He will absolutely be a 25+ppg scorer and I think he has a good chance at being an MVP candidate - a better chance than Dybantsa or Boozer. But if Dybantsa is an MVP caliber player in the future will I be surprised? No.

But, I think taking a position is fun and more interesting than being milquetoast "they are in the same tier." I might be wrong - I would be wrong for exactly the reasons you say. I may also change my opinion by the time the draft rolls around, but right now this is where I am : )

SeattleJazzFan · Post #434 » by **SeattleJazzFan** » Mon Feb 9, 2026 9:36 pm

babyjax13 wrote:
SeattleJazzFan wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:With the benefit of hindsight I would have Flagg at 1, but I think of I am being honest about where I was on Flagg pre-draft I thought he was an amazing prospect but not a future MVP caliber player. A few other things would be different, too, Kneuppel would be higher, Fears a bit lower, probably VJ over Tre and Bailey (but maybe not). So...

1. Peterson

2. Flagg (should be above Peterson w/hindsight)
3. Boozer (still really wrestling w/he and Dybantsa at 2)
4. Dybantsa
5. Harper

6. Wilson
7. Bailey
8. Johnson
9. Fears
10. Edgecombe

11. Kneuppel (should be either before or after Wilson w/hindsight)
12. Wagler (wrestling w/this group)
13. Flemmings

14. Brown

this seems crazy to me to have peterson in a tier of his own. if you like peterson the best i won't begrudge you that (maybe a little) but to pretend he's so far above those guys seems insane. we're getting to a point now with AJ showing off his 3pt shooting chops that there really isn't anything Peterson has on him, but AJ's significant height/length advantage as well as health gives him a couple things that are pretty major over peterson.

even at that, if you like peterson better, listen the draft is a crapshoot, so i get it, but in his own tier - even including prospect flagg who was an absolutely elite prospect and clear cut #1 in a strong draft at the top, again, seems like insanity.

i might draft peterson #1, but wilson is a good enough prospect, that i can also see taking peterson as low as three. if he continues to underperfom (32% from three in his last 8 games) and show injury concerns, i might even drop him to 4 after Boozer.

Oh, I think Flagg is a better prospect than I thought and a better prospect than Peterson, but I am trying to include my mistakes. I absolutely think that Dybantsa is an elite prospect, worthy of the first pick in many drafts - but I think Peterson is a sure thing. He will absolutely be a 25+ppg scorer and I think he has a good chance at being an MVP candidate - a better chance than Dybantsa or Boozer. But if Dybantsa is an MVP caliber player in the future will I be surprised? No.

But, I think taking a position is fun and more interesting than being milquetoast "they are in the same tier." I might be wrong - I would be wrong for exactly the reasons you say. I may also change my opinion by the time the draft rolls around, but right now this is where I am : )

fair enough.

BigGargamel · Post #435 » by **BigGargamel** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 1:14 am

Glad to see Arenas back. I honestly completely forgot about him, glad he's able to play. I hope he stays one more year but it's not like he needs that college money, so he might just go to the NBA.

moss_is_1 · Post #436 » by **moss_is_1** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 4:20 am

Bidunga stock ^^^^ has been fantastic the last few games. Looked great against Arizona. will rise even higher if he measures well at the combine.

He was 6'7, 9'1 standing reach, 7'2 wingspan at the 2024 Nike hoop summit.

TheSuzerain · Post #437 » by **TheSuzerain** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 4:48 am

Krivas lotto?

The-Power · Post #438 » by **The-Power** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 2:55 pm

moss_is_1 wrote:Bidunga stock ^^^^

What other prospects in recent years had his combination of rim protection and perimeter mobility? Not saying he's unique but there aren't all that many. And considering that despite his lack of bulk he does have the will to play very physical, it's just a pretty great defensive combo, and he's gotten more useful on offense as well (solid touch, a couple moves around the basket, athletic finishing, tries to connect on screens, decent on the offensive glass not least due to a high motor). I still really like him. His archetype is not the most valuable in terms of draft stocks but I think he can be a very solid NBA player.

RipCity71252 · Post #439 » by **RipCity71252** » Tue Feb 10, 2026 5:47 pm

TheSuzerain wrote:Krivas lotto?

That's a bit rich.

I like his combination of strength and mobility at his size. Pretty good feel defending pnr. Uses his chest well defending the rim which helps him be so effective there despite his lack of length and explosiveness.

Reminds me of Jusuf Nurkic in a a lot of ways on that end.

I do think he needs to be able to shoot 3's to really make it in a big way though. The indicators show he could get there in time.

I don't think he comes out this year though but if he can put together another healthy productive year he could sneak into the first in a weaker draft next year.

TheSuzerain · Post #440 » by **TheSuzerain** » Wed Feb 11, 2026 12:06 am

Nurkic redux seems lotto to me.

Feel like Krisa more D less O talent than Nurkic though.