Men's College Basketball

NBA mock draft 2026: Updated projection after March Madness ends

Here’s our latest NBA mock draft.

Apr 7, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 21: Cameron Boozer #12 of the Duke Blue Devils runs downt the court against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 21, 2026 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.

College basketball season is over, and the Michigan Wolverines are national champions. Now the 2026 NBA Draft is on the clock.

This has long been considered a strong class due to the three star freshmen expected to go with the first three picks. The draft lottery on May 10 will determine in what order Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa come off the board. The rise of fellow freshmen like North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, Arkansas guard Darius Acuff, and Houston guard Kingston Flemings makes this class even stronger in the first half of the lottery.

The Final Four had so many great NBA prospects on display. This mock draft features a whopping nine players who competed in Indianapolis for the national semifinals. Wagler will have a chance to go as high as No. 5 overall, and Braylen Mullins’ incredible Elite Eight buzzer-beater to stun Duke now has him in his highest mock draft position all season.

Michigan’s dream season was also great for the NBA hopes of their top players. Yaxel Lendeborg made a brilliant decision by choosing Michigan over entering last year’s NBA draft. Aday Mara went from the end of the bench at UCLA to a top-10 pick in this mock draft. Morez Johnson just missed the lotto after leaving Illinois for Michigan.

Here’s our latest projection of the 2026 NBA Draft. The order is determined by the NBA’s current lottery position standings.

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School	Age
1	Washington Wizards	Cameron Boozer	Forward	Duke	Freshman
2	Indiana Pacers	Darryn Peterson	Guard	Kansas	Freshman
3	Brooklyn Nets	AJ Dybantsa	Wing	BYU	Freshman
4	Utah Jazz	Caleb Wilson	Forward	North Carolina	Freshman
5	Sacramento Kings	Darius Acuff	Guard	Arkansas	Freshman
6	Atlanta Hawks (via Pelicans)	Keaton Wagler	Guard	Illinois	Freshman
7	Memphis Grizzlies	Kingston Flemings	Guard	Houston	Freshman
8	Dallas Mavericks	Mikel Brown Jr.	Guard	Louisville	Freshman
9	Chicago Bulls	Aday Mara	Center	Michigan	Junior
10	Milwaukee Bucks	Brayden Burries	Guard	Arizona	Freshman
11	Golden State Warriors	Yaxel Lendeborg	Forward	Michigan	Senior
12	Portland Trail Blazers	Nate Ament	Wing	Tennessee	Freshman
13	Miami Heat	Karim Lopez	Forward	NZ Breakers	Born 2007
14	Memphis Grizzlies (via Magic)	Jayden Quaintance	Center/Forward	Kentucky	Sophomore
15	Oklahoma City Thunder (via Clippers)	Hannes Steinbach	Forward/Center	Washington	Freshman
16	Charlotte Hornets	Morez Johnson	Center/Forward	Michigan	Sophomore
17	Toronto Raptors	Labaron Philon	Guard	Alabama	Sophomore
18	Oklahoma City Thunder (via 76ers)	Braylon Mullins	Guard	UConn	Freshman
19	Charlotte Hornets (via Suns)	Bennett Stirtz	Guard	Iowa	Senior
20	San Antonio Spurs (via Hawks)	Patrick Ngongba	Center	Duke	Sophomore
21	Detroit Pistons (via Wolves)	Thomas Haugh	Forward	Florida	Junior
22	Atlanta Hawks (via Cavs)	Cameron Carr	Wing	Baylor	Junior
23	Philadelphia 76ers (via Rockets)	Motiejus Krivas	Center	Arizona	Junior
24	Los Angeles Lakers	Dailyn Swain	Forward	Texas	Junior
25	New York Knicks	Tyler Tanner	Guard	Vanderbilt	Sophomore
26	Denver Nuggets	Allen Graves	Forward	Santa Clara	Freshman
27	Boston Celtics	Tounde Yessoufou	Guard	Baylor	Freshman
28	Minnesota Timberwolves (via Pistons)	Joshua Jefferson	Forward	Iowa State	Senior
29	Cleveland Cavaliers (via Spurs)	Koa Peat	Forward	Arizona	Freshman
30	Dallas Mavericks (via Thunder)	Tarris Reed	Center	UConn	Senior

Some do some quick takes here:

Boozer is my No. 1 prospect because he was obviously the best player in the country this year, he’s the youngest of the big three, he has the strongest feel for the game, and the best offensive versatility. I don’t understand the skepticism about his upside as he goes to the next level. All he does is impact winning to the highest degree. I really like his fit in Washington with a mobile defensive center in Alex Sarr.
Acuff shouldn’t be a top-five pick in my view, because he might be the worst defensive player in the class. Still, the freshman point guard’s production was incredible this season and there are already rumors the Kings are interested. Acuff to Sacramento makes too much sense.
I love the fit with Mikel Brown Jr. going to Dallas. The Point Flagg experiment was cool, but let’s get him focused on playing elite level defensive again.
Bennett Stirtz is my favorite prospect after the lottery this year. He’s an elite shot-maker with the strong feel who should thrive once he exits Iowa head coach Ben McCollum’s super slow offense.
The toughest evaluation this year is Jayden Quaintance. He looked like a stud as a 17-year-old freshman at Arizona State a year ago, but recovering from a torn ACL wiped away almost his entire season at Kentucky this year. Quaintance has great physical tools, but his offensive impact is questionable. I thought he’d be a lock for a top-10 pick coming into the year, and now it’s extremely difficult to project where he could go.