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Jeremy Woo
Multiple Authors
The 2026 NBA draft might be over, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop talking about it. While the lottery didn’t offer many surprises — I hit the first eight picks in my final mock draft — this was a deep and interesting class, and there were a few compelling themes throughout.
The first: There were zero trades in the lottery. It’s clear teams really liked this class and valued taking the top guys on their boards instead of acquiring future assets. That trend might not change with the new lottery system coming in 2027.
Another theme: The NBA is valuing big men again.
Which team had my favorite pick — in the top 10 and outside it? Which team drafted the best class? What are execs buzzing about? And which players will be named first-team All-Rookie? I’ve spent years studying these prospects, and I have a few opinions about how things turned out. Let’s dig into the fallout of this draft by answering 13 big questions:
Jump to a topic:
Favorite picks | Ideal situation | Best value
Biggest surprise | Top class | Execs buzz
Where were the trades? | ROY pick
All-Rookie team | Undrafted underdog
Big prediction | Overall takeaway
What was your favorite pick of the entire draft?
Let’s separate this into two categories. My favorite high-profile pick was Darryn Peterson to the Utah Jazz at No. 2.
I would have taken him first, so it’s hard not to like this outcome for the Jazz. I’ve explained this plenty — check out my writeup on him after Round 1. He’s going to get right and be extremely good.
My favorite pick outside the top 10 was Aday Mara to the Oklahoma City Thunder at No 12.
Color me fascinated by how the chess match between OKC and San Antonio is going to evolve over the next few seasons. I enjoyed watching it unfold in the draft. I don’t think it’s a coincidence both teams loaded up on size. Mara was the only prospect in the class who could give the Thunder the type of lineup they didn’t already have. He will give them more size and skill at center, and they have the depth to optimize his minutes.
What was your favorite value pick?
Jayden Quaintance to the San Antonio Spurs at No. 20.
I liked what the Spurs did from an upside perspective. Quaintance confirmed to reporters this week that he will need another surgery to repair his injured right knee after tearing an ACL in February 2025. Multiple teams told me during the predraft process that he might end up having to miss all of next season. But he’s a player whom scouts rave about, with excellent physical skills and defensive upside. The healthy version of him is exactly what the Spurs need, but there’s no guarantee he will be healthy soon.
There are a lot of ways this can break since an injury recovery is hard to predict. But if this works out, San Antonio will have a stellar long-term frontcourt pairing, and Quaintance could also prop up the Spurs’ defense with Victor Wembanyama off the floor. It’ll be a while before we know for sure, but this was the correct gamble for a team that can afford the risk.
Which player landed in the ideal situation to maximize his talent?
Yaxel Lendeborg to the Golden State Warriors at No. 11.
In a way, Lendeborg was predestined to land on a winning team, purely due to his age (he will turn 24 in September). But if the Warriors are going to have a chance to win big, they’ll sorely need him at his best since he will immediately be their best option at the other forward slot next to Draymond Green.
We should know quickly if this pick is going to work out, but he’s exactly what they need on paper.
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Is Yaxel Lendeborg the perfect fit for the Warriors?
Which pick most surprised you?
Morez Johnson Jr. to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 9.
This was one of the few picks I didn’t see coming. I actually liked how shrewd it was for Dallas, though. No one was sure of the level of influence new coach Dusty May — who coached Johnson at Michigan — would have on this pick, and there were several good options available for the Mavericks. It should tell you plenty that Johnson, the youngest and least flashy of the Michigan trio, was the player Dallas selected.
While there were bigger upside swings on the board — Nate Ament and Aday Mara in particular were fits I thought were interesting for the Mavericks — Johnson was a culture pick who will match Cooper Flagg‘s intensity and help Dallas win games right away.
Which team drafted your favorite class?
The Hawks were the team that most inspired me, adding Kingston Flemings (No. 8) and Zuby Ejiofor (No. 23), two players who will raise the bar for intensity and toughness as Atlanta continues to configure a winner.
But I should note that I thought teams generally drafted well — I didn’t see any decisions that defied logic.
What are execs in the league buzzing about the day after the draft?
One interesting thing I caught wind of is that the LA Clippers were apparently taking calls up until they used the No. 5 pick on Keaton Wagler. My understanding is that the Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies were in pursuit.
However, teams really loved this draft — and highly valued their lottery picks — and LA’s asking price was justifiably high. The Clippers stood pat with Wagler, who I believe was the correct pick. He’ll be an outstanding fit next to Darius Garland.
Round 1 featured only minor trades this year. Should we expect that trend to continue?
There were ultimately no trades within the lottery because teams loved the prospects available in the top 14. All the movement happened after No. 15, as franchises began chasing specific players, and Memphis and the New York Knicks played the asset accumulation game.
There were no trades in the 2025 lottery either — top picks simply don’t change hands that often. But I’m curious how this will look in 2027, with the draft landscape very flat and the draft class not likely to be as strong.
In five years, we’re all going to wonder why ____________ fell in the draft.
The market simply didn’t go his way, with several playoff teams opting for veteran bigs ahead of him. He landed at No. 27 with the Boston Celtics, who have done a fantastic job of developing non-lottery picks in recent years and easing them into roles.
The 6-foot-11 Cenac has the ability to be a useful NBA player, and the Celtics will help him develop an identity.
Call it now: Who will win NBA Rookie of the Year?
Cameron Boozer, Memphis Grizzlies
The No. 3 pick has by far the clearest path to production, minutes and a featured role. This will be a fun race to track, but I would call him the favorite based on situation and NBA-readiness.
Call it now: Which players will be named to the NBA All-Rookie first team?
My picks will be pretty chalky, but all five of these top-seven picks have a chance at outstanding seasons:
F AJ Dybantsa, Washington Wizards
F Cameron Boozer, Memphis Grizzlies
F Caleb Wilson, Chicago Bulls
G Darryn Peterson, Utah Jazz
G Darius Acuff Jr., Sacramento Kings
Which undrafted player are you most interested to follow?
Oscar Cluff, who is going to play summer league with the Houston Rockets, should eventually be worth a two-year deal.
I don’t totally understand the general lack of interest in him: He’s physical, productive, 6-foot-11 and the league is clearly tilting back toward teams valuing good bigs. Think of Cluff as a player similar to Jonas Valanciunas or an Aron Baynes-type who could eventually have value as a niche role player off the bench. I irrationally enjoyed watching him last season at Purdue, where he averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Make one prediction about this class five years from now:
All of the top four teams walk away feeling like they made the right decisions.
While I preferred Peterson to Dybantsa, the fit factor was critical for the Wizards after they paid Trae Young, and I don’t question the logic. Those two, Boozer and Caleb Wilson (Chicago, No. 4), wound up in organizations that strongly value their skills and have immediate, clear paths to playing time.
Even for the best prospects, maximizing potential still has to do with landing in the right spot, and I’m confident they’ll all pan out.
What is your top overarching takeaway from this draft?
We’re seeing the influence of analytics more than ever up and down the first round. Players such as Ebuka Okorie (Detroit Pistons, No. 17), Christian Anderson (Charlotte Hornets, No. 18) and Allen Graves (Toronto Raptors, No. 19) rose during the process as a direct result of that.
Flashier eye-test players such as Labaron Philon Jr. (Philadelphia 76ers, No. 22) and Cameron Carr (Los Angeles Lakers, No. 24) slipped into the 20s. Super-efficient but stout point guard Bruce Thornton was a player Houston traded up to make sure they got at No. 31. While the power of predictive draft models wasn’t enough to get Boozer drafted No. 1, this is a trend that’s here to stay.
I also think it’s clear that big men are back. The rise of Johnson, Mara, Ejiofor, Hannes Steinbach (Charlotte, No. 14) and Tarris Reed Jr. (San Antonio, No. 26) — tough, reliable players who stabilize teams in different ways — goes to show what teams now value.
Toronto and San Antonio threw darts on Graves and Quaintance in the top 20, and the Spurs doubled down with Reed. We’re seeing that teams need quality bigs to win in the playoffs, and there just weren’t that many of them in this class. That scarcity was reflected as those players moved up the board over the past few months.
