The NBA playoffs are underway, which is good news if your team is one of the 16 that is still active. For everyone else, there is a long slog until the lottery picks are decided next month, as well as plenty of 2026 NBA mock drafts. After chats with scouts and executives, we’ve got a new one.
The order has been decided for all spots outside the lottery now, and the NBA held its coin flips to determine tiebreakers. So, from No. 15 on, this is how the order will remain. Some teams have seen significant changes–as well as players whose stock is rising.
- Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU. If, indeed, they win the lottery–the Wiz will have a 14% chance, along with the Pacers and Jazz–Washington should not overthink this. There are plenty of needs on the roster, but a star wing is something any rebuilder needs. Dybantsa is locked in as a Top 2 pick, a versatile 6-foot-9 scorer who has a natural, springy athleticism.
- Indiana Pacers: Darryn Peterson, SG, Kansas. As much as many in the NBA were put off by Peterson’s strange trip at Kansas this year, no one is going to drop him too far. The Pacers have strong options at point guard, center and power forward–a scoring wing is on the docket. Even those around the NBA who are hard on Peterson’s cramping issues don’t see him getting past No. 4 overall.
- Brooklyn Nets: Cameron Boozer, PF, Duke. The Nets will be an interesting team if they win the lottery–they might like Boozer at No. 1. He works well at No. 3, too. Scout: “He has so much skill around the basket, he knows how to win, and he makes everyone around him better. He will score 25 points and still throw elbows, set screens, dive on the floor. He is a guy you want on your team.”
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Jazz, Kings Have 11.5% Lottery Chance
- Utah Jazz: Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois. The Jazz and Kings have an 11.5% chance to win the lottery–Dybantsa would be a huge addition if they win. Here, though, they get Wagler. He’s averaging 17.5 points in four tournament games, making 44.0% of his 3s. Scout: “His upside is not as high as some other guys, but he is a very smart, very purely talented scorer and ballhandler. I love how he sees a game and picks it apart. That’s a skill that translates to the next level.”
- Sacramento Kings: Darius Acuff Jr., PG, Arkansas. Acuff’s stock rose steadily throughout the season, and he came out of the year as an excellent scorer who also developed as a playmaker and leader. The Kings are desperately in need of a player they can moor themselves to, and Acuff is a good candidate. “He could break into the Top 3 depending on how the lottery goes,” one scout said.
- Memphis Grizzlies: Caleb Wilson, PF, North Carolina. The Grizzlies are entering what figures to be a lengthy rebuild, and can have patience bringing along Wilson. His raw athleticism at 6-foot-10 will get him into the Top 10, maybe the Top 5. He can’t shoot (26% from the 3-point line), and whomever drafts him will gamble that he can change that over time. A late-season thumb injury and UNC’s disastrous season won’t hurt his stock much. There’s too much talent.
- Atlanta Hawks (via New Orleans Pelicans): Mikel Brown, Jr., PG, Louisville. The Hawks love what CJ McCollum is giving them, but they are completely lacking a young point guard to bring along. They will be in position to get one here. Brown did not have a great year for the Cardinals, as he shot only 41% and missed all of March with a back injury. But he’s still a coveted piece in the NBA, a polished guard whose game should translate to the pros.
- Dallas Mavericks: Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston. He’s not a prototypical NBA point guard, in that his game relies on downhill speed and midrange jumpers. But Flemings is a good shooter who can develop his 3-ball and has high defensive upside. He’s smart and polished, probably an ideal long-term running mate for Cooper Flagg.
Warriors Add Draft Wildcard
- Chicago Bulls: Brayden Burries, G, Arizona. After a rough start to the year, Burries’ stock has continued to rise into the Top 10. He’s a 6-foot-4 two-way combo guard who can hold his own on an NBA floor from the get-go, but the hope is that he develops into a solid starting point guard. He’s 13-for-19 on 3-pointers in the tournament, and that’s helping boost him now.
- Milwaukee Bucks: Labaron Philon, PG, Alabama. Scout: “He is all over the board. I think where he lands will depend on whether he gets a team who sees him as a starting point guard—and the way he played to close the season and into the tournament, I think his stock is up.”
- Golden State Warriors: Jayden Quaintance, PF/C, Kentucky. Expect the Warriors to seek a big guy here. Quaintance is the wildcard of this draft, athletic at 6-foot-10 but coming off ACL surgery this season. He went out again after a brief return this winter, an unfortunate bit of punctuation on a frustrating year. The knee is an obvious concern, but if healthy, Quaintance can be a defensive force inside. High risk, high reward, and maybe a gamble the Warriors can afford to take.
- Oklahoma City Thunder (via Los Angeles Clippers): Karim Lopez, F, New Zealand Breakers. Lopez has all the physical attributes (6-foot-9, 7-foot-1 wingspan) to make scouts’ mouths water. He showed some promise but didn’t quite put it together in his NBL season, where he averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 49% shooting. The NBL-to-NBA pathway has not worked out to be the pipeline that Aussies hoped it would become, so there is some wariness–Lopez’s workouts will be very important.
- Miami Heat: Hannes Steinbach, PF, Washington. Anytime you get a German prospect from Wurzburg, the imagination is going to run wild. But Steinbach is not Dirk—he is, instead, a dominant and polished rebounder who led the nation with 11.8 boards per game. The Heat are crowded up front but it’s expected that they will make some moves this offseason. They might not even keep this pick, in fact.
- Charlotte Hornets: Yaxel Lendeborg, PF, Michigan. Lendeborg could go higher, but he is a well-seasoned prospect whose age is an issue–most lottery picks are into their second contracts at Lendeborg’s age. But the Hornets are ready to keep winning, so the experience is welcome. Scout: “He’s going to be 24 in September, and that’s the big thing with him—he is ready to play in the NBA but you’d expect him to be more of a versatile, dirty-work kind of role player. That’s not a bad thing, but he fits best with a contender. Some teams might be looking for a bigger swing.”
Bulls Get Second Crack in NBA Mock Draft 2026
- Chicago Bulls (via the Portland Trail Blazers): Nate Ament, SF, Tennessee. The Blazers’ playoff trip means the Bulls get this pick and they can gamble here. Ament had high expectations, and while he was not great as a freshman (16.7 points, 39.9% shooting), he has talent. Scout: “Up and down year for him. It was good he came back after getting hurt (ankle injury in late February), but there’s a lot of question marks there. He’s a shooter at 6-foot-10, though, and he showed enough to keep him in the lottery (range). You just have to trust that you can develop him.”
- Memphis Grizzlies (via Orlando Magic): Cameron Carr, SF, Baylor. If the Grizzlies jettison Ja Morant this summer, they’re going to need to add some scoring for their rebuilding project. Carr is a high-volume scorer entering a league that has turned up its nose as high-volume scorers. But he is 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and good shooting ability—he’ll just need a team and system to tame him a bit.
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Philadelphia 76ers): Chris Cenac Jr., PF/C, Houston. The draft has size, and that could hurt Cenac, who is a candidate to return to college. But he could do well with good NBA development, too. Scout: “He is a risk, all the big guys in this draft are a risk. You’d like to see more rim protection, you’d like to see more consistency. But he can develop into a stretch big guy, and that’s at a premium, so he probably winds up in the lottery. There’s a lot of untapped potential.”
- Charlotte Hornets (via Phoenix Suns): Aday Mara, C, Michigan. Mara has boosted his stock in recent weeks, mostly thanks to 11 blocks in four NCAA tournament games. At 7-foot-3, has been showing a bit more variety in his offensive game, creating his own shots and scoring. Aday’s advantages are mostly defensive, though, and he is probably better suited to be a long-term starter than Moussa Diabate in Charlotte.
- Toronto Raptors: Morez Johnson, PF, Michigan. Johnson has shown himself to be more versatile and efficient than his reputation held coming into the season after spending last year with Illinois. He’s a rim-runner first and foremost, but he can defend, score out of dribble handoffs and has excelled in a double-big lineup, which more and more NBA teams like.
- San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta Hawks): Amari Allen, SF, Alabama. Scout: “If someone does not give him a first-round promise, he could go back (to school). But he is a smart player who has some areas of development still in front of him—I think a playoff team would give him a good look and maybe promise him.”
Lakers, Knicks Going Big
- Detroit Pistons (via Minnesota Timberwolves). Isaiah Evans, SF, Duke. Evans has slowly built up his stock after an inconsistent start, and appears to be firm as a Top 20 pick. He’s a durable three-level scorer whose game should translate well to the NBA.
- Philadelphia 76ers (via Houston Rockets): Koa Peat, PF, Arizona. Peat is 6-foot-8 and plays with some power, with the potential to land in the lottery depending on how things shake out with the other PFs in this draft—there is depth in this draft but not necessarily with size. How a team views him is probably based on whether it thinks he can develop a 3-pointer (6-for-19 in his college career).
- Atlanta Hawks (via Cleveland Cavaliers): Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech. The fact that teams are more likely to be looking for size in this draft is probably the only thing that would hold Anderson’s stock into the 20s. He is a very good shooter (41.5% from the 3-point line this year) and playmaker who can play on and off the ball.
- New York Knicks: Patrick Ngongba II, C, Duke. The Knicks will need to go big and might be hoping that an earlier prospect (Mara, Cenac) is still around here. Ngongba has the most upside of LA’s choices, and will likely only be on the board because of a foot injury at the end of the season. He has the size, skill and defensive chops, and with Mitchell Robinson’s future uncertain, the Knicks need to plan for a big man.
- Los Angeles Lakers: Motiejus Krivas, C, Arizona. The Lakers are hoping players like Krivas remain in the draft because they need size, and Krivas will be tempted to return to school. He’s a 7-foot-2 strong presence in the middle, though, and has shown potential to develop offensively.
- Denver Nuggets: Bennett Stirtz, PG, Iowa. Stirtz will be 23 in the fall, and that will be counted against him in the draft. But not for the Nuggets, who prefer their draftees to be polished and ready to play. Stirtz will need to add strength and physicality, but he is a polished playmaker who can shoot from deep.
NBA Mock Draft 2026: Mavericks Add Polish
- Boston Celtics: Allen Graves, PF, Santa Clara. Graves is a late climber who could secure a first-round spot and opt to move forward in the NBA, though he is certainly a candidate to go back to college. He is the kind of do-it-all contributor that the analytics folks will love. Scout: “If he comes out, he is probably going to move up, because he is so efficient, he makes winning plays, he is young and he got better as the year went on. Get him in workouts and interviews and he is the kind of kid someone is going to fall in love with.”
- Minnesota Timberwolves (via Detroit Pistons): Meleek Thomas, G, Arkansas. Thomas is not the long-term answer at point guard the Wolves will need to consider, but he is a very talented scorer and defender who could be a weapon off the bench. He did not get to show much playmaking at Arkansas, but he could develop as a secondary ballhandler.
- Cleveland Cavaliers (via San Antonio Spurs): Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas. Scout: “He is 6-foot-8 and he has always been sort of a question mark. But the more this season has gone on, and now the NCAA tournament, you see him converting potential into performance. He is passing better, he is shooting better, he is making better decisions. And he’s just scratching the surface.”
- Dallas Mavericks (via Oklahoma City Thunder): Alex Karaban, PF, UConn. The Mavericks have some youth, but they’re close to turning a corner, and want to start putting win-now players on the roster. Karaban will be 24 in November, and that is not a negative for the Mavericks, who would welcome a polished big man. A 17-and-11 showing in the NCAA final, even in a loss, should give Karaban a boost.
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