Mock draft 2026

A guard I haven't seen talked about much is Labaron Philon Jr. He averaged 22 pts & 5 asts on 50.1% fg, 39.9% 3pt, and 79.8%fts. He was measured at 6'2.75 without shoes at last year's combine with a 6'6.25 wingspan. For those interested, he averaged 6 FTAs per game in 31 minutes. Here is a good video of his highlights:

 
Other than Caleb Wilson ... who I would take at #1 overall ... and AJ Dybantsa who is an elite scorer and athlete with a fantastic feel for creating scoring chances out of nothing ... Philon has been my guy since about mid-January. He's more realistically in our range unless we move up and I really like the mix of production and potential we'd be getting with him.

@Turgenev was asking about a floor general at the PG position in the mold of a Jason Williams. Obviously players who play with that kind of flash are few and far between but I do think, of the guards in the lottery this year, he has the best handle and that counts for a lot as far as getting into position to make those flashy passes. As a bonus, he's also developed into a solid outside shooter and he does occasionally make some fantastic bounce passes through traffic which tells me the muscle is there to become an even better playmaker if he can develop it further.

There is a certain "you either have it or you don't" type of talent when it comes to top level court-vision and I don't think Philon is in that top tier so I'm not expecting him to come in and transform an offense single-handily like J-Will did. However, I think there's an argument to be made for Philon over the other guards if you value ball-handling skills, shiftiness, and "bend the defense until it breaks" mobility as a key component to running an offense in the NBA. Worst-case I think Philon would still have value as a dynamic sixth man providing instant offense off the bench if he doesn't stick as a true #1 PG. I think he'll be better than that, but with PGs some of the equation is the right fit of coach, offensive system, and teammates to allow them to flourish. Remember that J-Will stepped into the league with Chris Webber and Vlade Divac as his teammates so right from the jump he had bigs with great hands to pass to.

Here's another video that will give you a general idea of his strengths and weaknesses:
 
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We were talking a fair amount about Philon a while back and most seem high on him.
He doesn’t seem to get the attention that a few other PG’s get, and im not sure why, but one thing I liked about him was his own player comparison or who he really admired. Jrue Holiday was his answer and something really refreshing about that answer in my opinion.
It will be interesting to see where he goes, my guess a little after where the Kings will end up picking but hope Perry gives him a serious look.
 
PurpleHaze said:
Does Philon play defense? His coach says no and this past season horrible on D and questions his leadership. Alabama was forced into having to outscore opponents which they often did as one of top college basketball offences.

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Not a big fan of Oats as I think he checked his integrity at the door when he showed up at Alabama, but that's a pretty damning press conference from a coach. I've liked Philon all year, but if he's putting up bad enough effort on the defensive end that his coach is calling him out publicly and looking for new leadership on the team...eek.
 
Coach K was picked up on mic lamenting to one of his assistants that Jalen Johnson was soft during his penultimate season at Duke. Players and coaches can have differences of opinion during the course of the season, it's not always indicative of long-term concern. It's not like Philon got benched either, he was carrying that team in the final month of the season and scored 35 points in their Sweet 16 loss to Michigan.

Philon was one of Alabama's better defenders in his Freshman season but he was asked to carry the offense this year and his level of effort on defense dipped as a result There are some questions to be answered here... primarily regarding, how he sees his own role changing in the NBA. Ideally he ends up on a team where he doesn't need to be a first option scorer and can focus on becoming a more well-rounded two-way player when he no longer needs to be the guy on every single play. That's a matter of mindset but also situation. Fox had a similar outlook coming into the league and he did end up on a team which asked him to be a primary scorer (ours) which I don't think helped his development.
 
PurpleHaze said:
Does Philon play defense? His coach says no and this past season horrible on D and questions his leadership. Alabama was forced into having to outscore opponents which they often did as one of top college basketball offences.

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None of the combo/point guards in this draft really scream defensive stopper. All of the PG's will likely pan out specifically based on opportunity. None look like true foundational pieces on first glance. Acuff could end up at the top, or Brown Jr, or Flemings, or Stirtz, etc. Who knows. They'll all be good, but no team takes any of them and figures they have their guy, or they shouldn't. They could end up the guy but situation is going to be a huge factor. The Kings need talent so badly that defense honestly shouldn't be the main concern. If the Kings end up outside of the top 4, get a player that can shine and at the very least flip them later for something else.
 
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SacTownKid said:
None of the combo/point guards in this draft really scream defensive stopper. All of the PG's will likely pan out specifically based on opportunity. None look like true foundational pieces on first glance. Acuff could end up at the top, or Brown Jr, or Flemings, or Stirtz, etc. Who knows. They'll all be good, but no team takes any of them and figures they have their guy, or they shouldn't. They could end up the guy but situation is going to be a huge factor. The Kings need talent so badly that defense honestly shouldn't be the main concern. If the Kings end up outside of the top 4, get a player that can shine and at the very least flip them later for something else.
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Also, the Kings randomly have some defensive pieces they can surround this pick with; Carter/Cardwell/Keegan in particular. So there CAN be a defensive infrastructure around the rook, if we actually play them.
 
Tetsujin said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2046618710719308039
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Wonderful! This will give me a third year to watch Haugh closely for one game, wonder what all the fuss is about, decide I'll check in again after the season is over (thanks, YouTubeTV for recording EVERY SINGLE college basketball game that airs), and then get to skip it when he stays out of the draft!

Oh, I guess next year he's definitely in. Unless they grant players five years, which I hear is on the table.
 
Thinking if we sit at 7 or so we need to take a hard look at Nate Ament assuming he is still available. Getting young talented big wings is really hard and you either need to tank hard for a top 3 pick (something this org won’t do) or take a risk on a none sure fire big wing.

Stacking guards for whom you can’t find playing time and for whom you can’t trade for a big wing is the mistake Monte made. Look at getting a point with the pick in the 2nd round.
 
sactowndog said:
Thinking if we sit at 7 or so we need to take a hard look at Nate Ament assuming he is still available. Getting young talented big wings is really hard and you either need to tank hard for a top 3 pick (something this org won’t do) or take a risk on a none sure fire big wing.

Stacking guards for whom you can’t find playing time and for whom you can’t trade for a big wing is the mistake Monte made. Look at getting a point with the pick in the 2nd round.
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There's at least a little buzz that Ament may portal instead of stay in the draft, I suppose we'll see.
 
sactowndog said:
Thinking if we sit at 7 or so we need to take a hard look at Nate Ament assuming he is still available. Getting young talented big wings is really hard and you either need to tank hard for a top 3 pick (something this org won’t do) or take a risk on a none sure fire big wing.

Stacking guards for whom you can’t find playing time and for whom you can’t trade for a big wing is the mistake Monte made. Look at getting a point with the pick in the 2nd round.
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Man get out of here with ament unless we get a second lottery pick. And we don’t have guards to stack Carter/nique are role players at best you take a guard if he’s bpa
 
Joshyjosh31 said:
Man get out of here with ament unless we get a second lottery pick. And we don’t have guards to stack Carter/nique are role players at best you take a guard if he’s bpa
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Yeah except guards are much easier to replace with later picks. Big Wings are not. If Ament is there I think you have to take a swing at him or risk being Monte 2.0.
 
QWERTYLICIOUS said:
He's one of those who I think a team will take a gamble on early in the first round, only to regret it many seasons later.
I just hope that the Kings ain't that team.
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You either have to tank for top 3, take a risk you hope pays off or replay the last 5 years. I preferred we tank but here we are with 7 our most likely pick.
 
sactowndog said:
You either have to tank for top 3, take a risk you hope pays off or replay the last 5 years. I preferred we tank but here we are with 7 our most likely pick.
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We did tank. We just didn't go scorched Earth nuclear with it like our peers in Indiana, Washington, and Utah did. Utah also had the worst overall record last season and dropped to 5th in that lottery. And they traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline, played him for 3 games (during which he averaged 22 pts per game) and then announced he was done for the year. If there are any consequences at all, that team needs to be banned from the lottery for multiple seasons.
 
hrdboild said:
We did tank. We just didn't go scorched Earth nuclear with it like our peers in Indiana, Washington, and Utah did. Utah also had the worst overall record last season and dropped to 5th in that lottery. And they traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline, played him for 3 games (during which he averaged 22 pts per game) and then announced he was done for the year. If there are any consequences at all, that team needs to be banned from the lottery for multiple seasons.
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But Danny Ainge is a genius!
 
Dime Dropper said:
If I'm taking a swing on a prospect, it's not going to be Ament.
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I feel like Ament is the best example of a "swing" (i.e. hit big or miss big) prospect in this draft. If you were taking a swing around our worst case of 7-8-9, who do you see as your "swing" in this draft? I guess I'm seeing most other prospects in this draft as either having a pretty high floor or a pretty low ceiling so I'm not sure who else you're seeing as a "swing" guy.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
I feel like Ament is the best example of a "swing" (i.e. hit big or miss big) prospect in this draft. If you were taking a swing around our worst case of 7-8-9, who do you see as your "swing" in this draft? I guess I'm seeing most other prospects in this draft as either having a pretty high floor or a pretty low ceiling so I'm not sure who else you're seeing as a "swing" guy.
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Mike Brown jr he actually showed Star potential
 
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Capt. Factorial said:
I feel like Ament is the best example of a "swing" (i.e. hit big or miss big) prospect in this draft. If you were taking a swing around our worst case of 7-8-9, who do you see as your "swing" in this draft? I guess I'm seeing most other prospects in this draft as either having a pretty high floor or a pretty low ceiling so I'm not sure who else you're seeing as a "swing" guy.
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Don't get me wrong, Ament is absolutely a boom or bust prospect. As someone posted below me, I'd take Mikel Brown Jr ahead of him. He's not exactly a swing in the same way, but he is a polarising prospect, but someone I'd be far more comfortable taking at that spot. And I think his potential is very high if he pans out.
 
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