2026 NBA DRAFT CLASS

[Caneman786]

Based on rookiescale.com's consensus big board rankings. See more:

Here's a list of the biggest risers and fallers at the NBA draft compared to the rookiescale.com's consensus big board rankings.

Only one player got drafted who wasn't listed in their top 100 prospects. Five players who were in the top sixty did get drafted.

Drafted in the first round:

Spoiler:

(+6) (Ranked at 21, drafted at 15) Dailyn Swain
(+6) (Ranked at 23, drafted at 17) Ebuka Okorie
(+5) (Ranked at 33, drafted at 28) Joshua Jefferson
(+4) (Ranked at 13, drafted at 9) Morez Johnson, Jr.
(+4) (Ranked at 24, drafted at 20) Jayden Quaintance
(+4) (Ranked at 29, drafted at 25) Sergio de Larrea
(+3) (Ranked at 26, drafted at 23) Zuby Ejiofor
(+3) (Ranked at 32, drafted at 29) Alex Karaban
(+1) (Ranked at 9, drafted at 8) Kingston Flemings
(+1) (Ranked at 12, drafted at 11) Yaxel Lendeborg
(+1) (Ranked at 17, drafted at 16) Bennett Stirtz
(-1) (Ranked at 25, drafted at 26) Tarris Reed, Jr.
(-1) (Ranked at 11, drafted at 12) Aday Mara
(-2) (Ranked at 20, drafted at 22) Labaron Philon, Jr.
(-3) (Ranked at 27, drafted at 30) Koa Peat
(-5) (Ranked at 22, drafted at 27) Chris Cenac, Jr.
(-5) (Ranked at 8, drafted at 13) Nate Ament
(-6) (Ranked at 15, drafted at 21) Karim Lopez
(-8) (Ranked at 16, drafted at 24) Cameron Carr

Drafted in the second round (as well as undrafted players who were ranked in the top 60 prospects prior to the draft):

Spoiler:

(+?) (Not ranked in rookiescale.com’s consensus big board’s top 100 players, drafted at 57) Narcisse Ngoy
(+40) (Ranked at 94, drafted at 54) Lajae Jones
(+16) (Ranked at 76, drafted at 60) Malique Lewis
(+14) (Ranked at 72, drafted at 58) Jaron Pierre, Jr.
(+13) (Ranked at 44, drafted at 31) Bruce Thornton
(+13) (Ranked at 69, drafted at 56) Vsevolod Ishchenko
(+10) (Ranked at 53, drafted at 43) Tyler Bilodeau
(+8) (Ranked at 49, drafted at 41) Otega Oweh
(+8) (Ranked at 57, drafted at 49) Bryce Hopkins
(+6) (Ranked at 50, drafted at 44) Maliq Brown
(+5) (Ranked at 37, drafted at 32) Richie Saunders
(+3) (Ranked at 38, drafted at 35) Trevon Brazile
(+3) (Ranked at 45, drafted at 42) Ja’Kobi Gillespie
(+3) (Ranked at 51, drafted at 48) Tobi Lawal
(+1) (Ranked at 39, drafted at 38) Braden Smith
(+1) (Ranked at 41, drafted at 40) Dillon Mitchell
(+1) (Ranked at 47, drafted at 46) Felix Okpara
(+1) (Ranked at 60, drafted at 59) Trey Kaufman-Renn
(-1) (Ranked at 36, drafted at 37) Ryan Conwell
(-2) (Ranked at 34, drafted at 36) Baba Miller
(-3) (Ranked at 52, drafted at 55) Nick Martinelli
(-3) (Ranked at 48, drafted at 51) Izaiyah Nelson
(-3) (Ranked at 35, drafted at 39) Jack Kayil
(-4) (Ranked at 30, drafted at 34) Meleek Thomas
(-5) (Ranked at 40, drafted at 45) Emanuel Sharp
(-5) (Ranked at 28, drafted at 33) Isaiah Evans
(-8) (Ranked at 42, drafted at 50) Jaden Bradley
(-10) (Ranked at 43, drafted at 53) Ugonna Onyenso
(-21) (Ranked at 31, drafted at 52) Henri Veesaar

(-?) (Ranked at 54, undrafted) Milos Uzan
(-?) (Ranked at 55, undrafted) Aaron Nkrumah
(-?) (Ranked at 56, undrafted) Tobe Awaka
(-?) (Ranked at 58, undrafted) Kylan Boswell
(-?) (Ranked at 59, undrafted) Nate Bittle

Here are some tables showing the demographic distributions of the draftees in the first and second rounds of this draft, what was expected and what actually occurred.





The overall takeaway is that there were two American seniors selected higher than two expected American underclassmen in the first round, and that the consensus big board was overlooking some international talent that was chosen in the second round (as opposed to some American seniors). This particularly happened towards the end of the second round.

[Chuck Everett]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

[Caneman786]

Here's an overall look of how the NBA draft landscape has been changing over the previous decade, with the new figures from this week's draft included. The impact of NIL can clearly be seen, with seniors taking over the second round almost completely. The small amount of players who chose to come in through the G League and other domestic leagues has been decimated. The first round of the NBA draft still has its usual diversity, though, with 10 to 18 freshmen being drafted every year.

When it comes to the 2026 draft class, this class specifically was very American, but I doubt that's due to any trend, but rather just due to normal variance with this year's prospect grouping having more American talent. It is a stark difference to the previous two draft classes where 34% and 41% of prospects were international. Interestingly, it is a real trend that the second round of the NBA draft has more international players than does the first round (over the last six years, 24% of first-round draft selections were international players, while 36% of second-round draft selections were international players). This honestly goes against what I was expecting given how international players have almost completely taken over the MVP race and make up most of the top players in the league. I was thinking there would be a similar distribution among drafted players, with the top-tier international talent being selected in the first round (for example the stereotype like Victor Wembanyama). However, there is real depth with international players. This either can suggest that the American domestic development programs are still strong, and that basketball is starting to build up in the grassroots outside the United States, but those are just two theories I came up with.

[Cammo101]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

You were banging that drum early for sure. Nice job.

[Bad Bart]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

Nice call! How do you feel about him on Chicago?

[Chuck Everett]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

Nice call! How do you feel about him on Chicago?

I think it's a home run selection by Bryson Graham.

Provided, of course, he comes into the league as a POA defender, then he's a seamless fit next to Giddey-Buzelis-Wilson 1-4. His handles are good enough to be a big guard, Joe Johnson style, but if he can also defend the lead guards in this league (since Giddey cannot), then he is probably a day-1 starter for Chicago.

If you're a fan of Dailyn, a rebuilding situation like the Bulls was absolutely the best case scenario for immediate development and playing time.

[Bad Bart]

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

Nice call! How do you feel about him on Chicago?

I think it's a home run selection by Bryson Graham.

Provided, of course, he comes into the league as a POA defender, then he's a seamless fit next to Giddey-Buzelis-Wilson 1-4. His handles are good enough to be a big guard, Joe Johnson style, but if he can also defend the lead guards in this league (since Giddey cannot), then he is probably a day-1 starter for Chicago.

If you're a fan of Dailyn, a rebuilding situation like the Bulls was absolutely the best case scenario for immediate development and playing time.

That makes a lot of sense. I also think his rim pressure will be valuable for them as well.

[azcatz11]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

You probably could become a front office guy if that’s a career you wanted to pursue. Correct me if I’m wrong but you have a photographic memory correct?

[Chuck Everett]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

You probably could become a front office guy if that’s a career you wanted to pursue. Correct me if I’m wrong but you have a photographic memory correct?

You are correct about my memory. But no, I'm not built for corporate America sadly. It's too rigid of a structure for my brain.

[tmorgan]

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

You probably could become a front office guy if that’s a career you wanted to pursue. Correct me if I’m wrong but you have a photographic memory correct?

You are correct about my memory. But no, I'm not built for corporate America sadly. It's too rigid of a structure for my brain.

Is that nicespeak for “I can’t stand people telling me what to do?”. That was always my issue. Doesn’t matter now, I managed to comfortably retire, but I had real trouble in a couple of corporate jobs. People thought I didn’t respect my supervisors or thought they were incompetent, but that actually wasn’t it at all — I just do my best work with freedom of approach, and my companies wouldn’t allow it. I started my own business because I had to to do things my own way.

[Chuck Everett]

You probably could become a front office guy if that’s a career you wanted to pursue. Correct me if I’m wrong but you have a photographic memory correct?

You are correct about my memory. But no, I'm not built for corporate America sadly. It's too rigid of a structure for my brain.

Is that nicespeak for “I can’t stand people telling me what to do?”. That was always my issue. Doesn’t matter now, I managed to comfortably retire, but I had real trouble in a couple of corporate jobs. People thought I didn’t respect my supervisors or thought they were incompetent, but that actually wasn’t it at all — I just do my best work with freedom of approach, and my companies wouldn’t allow it. I started my own business because I had to to do things my own way.

Like you, I eventually started my own business, but it wasn't because I couldn't take orders. I was all about paying my dues.

I am an artist though. I tried to go the corporate route in the entertainment industry and have met or done business with nearly a dozen billionaires. However, none was willing to promote me into a role that was better than a subordinate position regardless of how hard I worked or how much acumen I showed, so after over 15 years, I just grew disillusioned, invested in the stock market and decided I didn't care anymore if I didn't become super wealthy or famous.

I am content to live a modest life with my hobbies and not sweat the rat race too much. I also understand I am blessed to be in this situation. I've basically gone from March Madness to the NBA playoffs to the World Cup. I'll get back to work in July.

[FarBeyondDriven]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

biggest reach of the draft imho. Had him #37 on my Big Board. Production was a product of usage. High dribble, over-reliance on spin move, high turnovers, suspect shooting, and tested poorly at the combine. Not a great defender. Most of his scoring won't translate because he isn't a great athlete and won't have the ball in his hands. He's too big and slow and can't shoot well enough to imagine him starting at SG so which forward is he stealing minutes from; Buzelis, Wilson, Williams, Essengue? I think he can carve an end of rotation role out for himself as a backup and injury insurance. Funny how different people can view a prospect. One of us is going to look like a fool. I'll own it if it's me

[Chuck Everett]

So, another name I think scouts are going to get a good look at this season is Dailyn Swain, 6'8 wing for Texas. He followed Sean Miller from Xavier but he looks like a prototype 3/D player. So far this season he's filling up the stat sheet with boards and assists.

Wouldn't shock me if Sam Presti was scouting him pretty heavily during the season. Guy looks like a future pro to me.

Wasn't sure if anyone mentioned his name yet.

And he played well enough this season to become the #15 pick. Someone give me a scouting job.

biggest reach of the draft imho. Had him #37 on my Big Board. Production was a product of usage. High dribble, over-reliance on spin move, high turnovers, suspect shooting, and tested poorly at the combine. Not a great defender. Most of his scoring won't translate because he isn't a great athlete and won't have the ball in his hands. He's too big and slow and can't shoot well enough to imagine him starting at SG so which forward is he stealing minutes from; Buzelis, Wilson, Williams, Essengue? I think he can carve an end of rotation role out for himself as a backup and injury insurance. Funny how different people can view a prospect. One of us is going to look like a fool. I'll own it if it's me

I personally see him as a role player long-term, but how good depends on how well he can defend those lead guards. If he can't do it adequately, then yup, he's a bench guy. I mean, Sidy Cissoko and Jordan Walsh are quality POA defenders, but their offensive games keep them from getting more minutes.

I would have never expected Toumani Camara to become an All-NBA defender coming out of Dayton, but here we are.

[Chuck Everett]

Raptors signed Nate Bittle to an exhibit-10. Here's hoping he can stay healthy because he can play and their last couple of center prospects (Koloko, Chomche) have just not worked out.

[Caneman786]

Analysis of the draft picks and which pre-draft events they attended.

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament breakdown:

Spoiler:

Of the 64 players who attended the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (my previous post about this is here), five of them were drafted, all in the second round of the NBA draft:

Felix Okpara, the 46th pick, who is going to the Washington Wizards
Tobi Lawal, the 48th pick, who is going to the Dallas Mavericks
Izaiyah Nelson, the 51st pick, who is going to the Orlando Magic
Lajae Jones, the 54th pick, who is going to the Golden State Warriors
Trey Kaufman-Renn, the 59th pick, who is going to the Minnesota Timberwolves

This means 8% (5 / 64) of the players at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this year got drafted. It is up from 3% (2 / 64) last season.

G League Combine breakdown:

Spoiler:

Of the 44 players who attended the G League Combine (my previous post about this is here), four of them were drafted, all in the second round of the NBA draft:

Bryce Hopkins, the 49th pick, who is going to the Denver Nuggets
Jaron Pierre, Jr., the 58th pick, who is going to the New Orleans Pelicans
Trey Kaufman-Renn, the 59th pick, who is going to the Minnesota Timberwolves (He attended the G League Combine as well as the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament)
Malique Lewis, the 60th pick, who is going to the Milwaukee Bucks

This means that 9% (4 / 44) of the players at the G League Combine this year got drafted. It is down from 11% (5 / 45) last season.

NBA Draft Combine breakdown:

Spoiler:

Of the 77 players who attended the NBA Draft Combine (or did similar activities in Europe such as De Larrea):

71% (55) were picked in the NBA Draft (which is up from 67% (53 / 79) last year)
39% (30) (55% of those 55 drafted) were picked in the first round of the NBA Draft
32% (25) (45% of those 55 drafted) were picked in the second round of the NBA Draft

29% (22) were not drafted
8% (14) (64% of those 22 not drafted) withdrew from the draft and went to school to play D1 college basketball (M. Able; A. Allen; F. Bidunga; J. Blackwell; R. Chinyelu; J. Cofie; J. Fears, Jr.; M. Momcilovic; M. Moreno; B. Richmond III; A. Stojakovic; L. Suigo; T. Tanner; T. Yessoufou)
10% (8) (36% of those 22 not drafted) stayed in the draft and went undrafted (T. Awaka, K. Boswell, N. Boyd, R. Castro, K. Hall, A. Nkrumah, P. Suder, M. Uzan) (all eight of these players have already signed deals with NBA Teams)

Looking at all the information from another standpoint.

Of the 30 players who were drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft:

Spoiler:

All 100% / 30 players only attended the NBA Draft Combine

Of the 30 players who were drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft

Spoiler:

67% / 20 players only attended the NBA Draft Combine
3% / 1 player (Bryce Hopkins) attended the NBA Draft Combine as well as the G League Combine
10% / 3 players (Tobi Lawal, Izaiyah Nelson, Felix Okpara) attended the NBA Draft Combine as well as the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
3% / 1 player (Trey Kaufman-Renn) attended the NBA Draft Combine, the G League Combine, and the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
7% / 2 players (Malique Lewis; Jaron Pierre, Jr.) attended only the G League Combine
3% / 1 player (Lajae Jones) attended only the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament

7% / 2 players (Vsevolod Ishchenko, Narcisse Ngoy) did not attend any camps or combines that I am aware of, and thus have no official public measurements. If anyone knows where to find the measurements of these two, please reply to let me know, because I am interested!