2026 NBA Mock Draft: AJ Dybantsa No. 1 to Wizards, Darryn Peterson to Jazz with lottery now set

Dybantsa is a polished scorer and shot-creator with great positional size, athleticism, and elasticity. He can rise-and-fire in the mid-range area on demand, made huge strides with his rim pressure, gets to the free-throw line in high volume, and is capable, albeit a bit unreliable, from three. He’s even creating for teammates and making reads better than ever before. The defense is the last frontier for Dybantsa and while he has physical tools, it’s not yet his point of emphasis.

While Peterson’s season at Kansas was full of controversy, he made massive gains with his shooting. Combine that with the playmaking, burst, and physicality we saw when he was completely healthy in high school and you have a prospect who could very well end up being the best player taken from this draft.

Boozer had a historic high school career, was the college basketball player of the year, and is the surest thing in this draft. His overlap of physicality, skill, and basketball IQ makes him unique. There will be questions about whether his creation or upside is on par with Dybantsa and Peterson, but his floor is the highest in this draft.

Wilson is a prospect with legit star type outcome and potential. He’s a high-level athlete with a big-time motor with unusual elasticity (or bend) for a player his size. Wilson exceeded expectations offensively last year, and yet still has immense room for progress, not just with his perimeter skill-set, but even his defensive polish.

Wagler came out of nowhere to be a freshmen star at Illinois. Adjusting to unprecedented levels of competition should have required patience, and yet it was seamless for Wagler. That could illustrate that he’s just scratching the surface of his potential with his size, skill, and feel for the game?

Acuff is a multi-level creator with shooting splits that were off the charts last year at Arkansas and the passing metrics to match. Of all the true freshmen point guards in this draft, Acuff is the most ready to play a major role offensively from day one. The questions are on the defensive end.

Flemings is an elite athlete who can get a piece of the paint on demand, rise-up explosively at the rim, get to his pull-up at virtually anytime, and be solid on the defensive end. His swing skill is his shooting and if it holds up then he too has legit star type outcomes.

Brown is incredibly skilled and has complete control of the basketball. He’s a vastly better shooter than his numbers showed last year at Louisville, a pinpoint passer, and as polished with the ball as any lead guard in the draft. The questions are more about how his frame holds up and what he becomes defensively.

Burries is a strong and aggressive two-way guard who can get downhill with force, provide a formidable three-point shooter, and simultaneously defend his position. He’s also more physically ready to make the transition to the NBA game than most of the other one-and-done guards in the draft.

Ament is a polarizing prospect with a wide range of outcomes on draft night. A late-blooming 6-foot-10 combo-forward who is fluid, has touch, and skill, he’s also inconsistent and needs to get stronger. While his freshman year was up and down, his overall arc has been linear, and there’s still glaring potential.

Mara kept getting better as the college season went on and ultimately led Michigan to a national championship. At 7-foot-3, he’s a giant, even by NBA standards, and a tremendous rim protector. He’s also got sneaky mobility, good hands, real passing ability, and provides vertical spacing.

Lendeborg is one of the more versatile two-way players, and specifically defenders, in the draft. At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, he often guarded opposing point guards this year, is unselfish, an excellent passer, and an improved shooter who made 37% of his threes.

Philon is one of the more gifted shot creators in this draft class. He not only stuffed the stat sheet this year while being the focal point of opposing defenses on a nightly basis, but had 50/40/80 shooting splits. His freshmen year also showed that he has more defensive potential than we saw this year.

Peat is another polarizing prospect, because he’s strong, physical, can finish, rebound, short-roll to get downhill, and even play-make a bit, but doesn’t shoot. He was pivotal to Arizona’s Big 12 championships and Final Four run, and loaded with winning intangibles.

Steinbach is a skilled and smart big man who has elite hands and is a high-volume rebounder. He’s a bit between a four and a five, but with the NBA trending back towards more size in the frontcourt, he should be capable of playing both positions on most nights.

Quaintance played only four games at Kentucky this year while recovering from a torn ACL. The prior year at Arizona State, he was a defensive monster before going down with the injury. He’s long, powerful, and violently athletic at the rim.

Johnson is tough, rugged, willing to do all the dirty work, capable of sliding his feet and being versatile defensively, and now even knocking down open threes. That type of two-way versatility, all while buying into a complementary role, makes him an ideal role player.

Stirtz is a highly skilled true point guard with an elite feel for the game. He’s not an overwhelming athlete or defender, but he’s a big-time shooter, ultra reliable and always in the right spots. Stirtz has an understanding of the game beyond his years.

Anderson is a highly skilled lead guard who is both a big-time shooter and a pick-and-roll maestro. There are questions about how he’ll adapt physically and defensively, but his offense is worth betting on.

Lopez is a Mexican native who played with the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL Next Stars program this year and made really nice strides. He’s a hard-playing, physical presence who pressures the rim and competes on both ends. He’ll get consideration as high as the late-lottery.

After playing a total of 18 games in the first two years at Tennessee, Carr had a breakout season at Baylor. He’s a long, athletic shot-maker who can rock the rim but also posted 49/37/80 shooting splits. He’ll need some time to fill out his frame and mature physically, but the raw talent is glaring.

Cenac has size, length, athleticism, mobility to slide laterally, and some developing face-up skill and shooting potential. He answered a lot of questions about his motor this year and asserted himself as a rebounder, but still has times where the potential exceeds the production.

Veesaar has one of the best overlaps of size and skill in this draft. A stretch-five who shoots it with ease out to the three-point line, Veesaart can play out of dribble hand-offs, pass, and still space the floor vertically. He has to be more consistent defensively and on the glass.

Bidunga is the No. 1-ranked prospect in the transfer portal and already committed to Louisville for a major payday. Chances are he’s playing for the Cardinals next year, but if something unexpected happens, he would make a lot of sense here. He’s a big-time athlete, tremendously versatile defender, rim-runner, and explosive lob threat.

Chinyelu is another one who may very well be headed back to Florida next year, but is ready to impact an NBA game defensively right now. At 6-foot-10 with a nearly 7-foot-8 wingspan, he’s freakishly long, powerful, and yet totally switchable with great recoverability. The offense has improved, but is still limited.

His speed and ability to get a piece of the paint on demand are his calling cards, but the shooting continued to tick up as the season went on. He lacks overwhelming size, strength, or vertical explosiveness, and a return to school is reportedly also on the table.

Another prospect who could return to school, Allen is a versatile wing who has both skill and toughness. He can handle, pass, and is a better shooter than his numbers indicate. Allen is a high-volume wing rebounder who is competitive, but not yet as polished as advertised defensively, and is not an elite athlete.

Swain is a polarizing prospect. At 6-foot-7 he can play off the bounce, create for himself and others, and has real defensive tools. The shooting is a major swing skill for Swain, which has improved within the last year.

Graves is an analytic darling who has elite BPM metrics and a rare overlap of defensive playmaking, passing, ball-security, and offensive rebounding. In addition to his combination of physicality and feel, Graves also has great hands and touch to stretch the floor. There is also a chance he could return to college.

Evans looks like the type of shooter you can run plays for in the NBA after proving he could make quick-released movement threes his year at Duke. He’s made gradual strides diversifying his game, but physicality, defense, and rim pressure are all swing variables