Mock draft 2026

[SacTownKid]

In Dukes final game, he got blocked at least 4 times at the rim with about 7 minutes still left in the half. Ignoring flaws doesn't negate them. I'm not saying he won't be a great player because it's impossible to know. But he does have limitations that should be noted.

Boozer has shown the ability to shoot and handle the rock though. And potentially very well. Him developing a hook shot is more likely than someone like Domas who just doesn't seem to have that in his arsenal. Or doesn't use it. The NBA is such a different game on the interior than college because of the 3 second rule. Also, in the NBA if you can face up in a triple threat and draw contact you negate a lot of that. In theory Boozer should have a much easier time in the NBA than college. Defensively? Eh, that's where things get into question territory. Offensively on the interior it shouldn't be anything for him to worry about.

 

[SacTownKid]

Here's my problem with Boozer. I think he is going to be a very good NBA player, not someone who is your best player. He may prove me wrong, but I think he will be at his best if he is the 2nd or 3rd best player on a team. One of the reasons for this he how he responded when his team needed someone to step up to stop a run or make a big play at the end of games. For Duke, that player was consistently Isaiah Evans, not Boozer. Now, he is only 18, but that bothers me.

For BYU, that player was almost always Dybantsa. For NC, it was almost always Caleb Wilson. Just a difference in mentality.

That is true, and that's where Boozer being a true franchise guy is questionable. Talent wise he's somewhere in between a Domas and Cuz, but he's also somewhere in between them in terms of mentality. That could be good or bad depending on what a team expects out of him.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047791658746442022

Baller who is like half a foot shorter than he would ideally be. The winner of the inaugural IT Award

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047802197417611770

 

[serbiangoat]

Pavle Backo the best current Serbian prospect has declared for the draft, he's a big man 6'10/6'11 his NBA comp I would say is a better 3 point shooting worse defending Marc Gasol(tiny bit of Jokic). While he does "play" for Mega Basket he's not really on the senior roster and has only played in the under 19s Mega squad and a team in the KLS (Serbian League), which means he's not tested at all since it's a low level league and none of the best six teams in the country playing in it.

Kind of surprised he declared he must have had a promise or maybe he can pull out I cannot see anyone taking him in the first round but the potential is there for sure the skills and size are there but he's Giannis level unproven (played in the 2nd division in Greece). I thought he would declare next year since he's a long term project and will start for the senior team next year will probably be a draft and stash guy.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048051725022421290

 

[AaronPDX]

I can't get excited until we know where the pick is LOL

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048435224061653320

I mean, there are certainly worse ways the Kings could use their second second round pick.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048435224061653320

I mean, there are certainly worse ways the Kings could use their second second round pick.

With NIL where it is (rumor is he's getting $2-3M from Illinois) it would be kind of surprising to me if he stays in to be a second-round pick and take that pay cut.

In fact, there's rumblings that the NCAA is going to change their eligibility rules to "5-in-5" this summer (meaning you have 5 years to play up to 5 seasons) and that they will grandfather everybody in to the rule, meaning all those 4-year seniors out there in the second round range are pretty likely to go back to school for another go - the only question is whether many schools have enough NIL money left over, since a lot of them have already blown through their budgets.

 

[hrdboild]

The second round has become the domain of "handshake agreements" between GMs and agents so if Andrej does stay in and we draft him, it would be because he wants to play for the hometown team. Which could be a possibility. Depth at SF remains a roster weak spot even if we include De'Andre Hunter who will be on the final year of his contract next season.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Today the NBA released the official Early Entry list for this year's draft:

NBA announces early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2026

71 players have filed as early entry candidates for the 2026 NBA Draft which will be held June 23-24.

www.nba.com

Players have until May 27th to withdraw and retain NCAA eligibility, or until June 13th to withdraw in general.

I only notice 3 notable names that are not on the list:

Motiejus Krivas
JoJo Tugler
JT Toppin

Aside from Krivas, who had a shot at the first round, the other two were probably mid-second round status.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048435224061653320

I mean, there are certainly worse ways the Kings could use their second second round pick.

I could have sworn I read that he was staying last week.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Today the NBA released the official Early Entry list for this year's draft:

NBA announces early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2026

71 players have filed as early entry candidates for the 2026 NBA Draft which will be held June 23-24.

www.nba.com

Players have until May 27th to withdraw and retain NCAA eligibility, or until June 13th to withdraw in general.

In related news, the NCAA has officially "advanced" the concept of "five-in-five", but contrary to some reports, players who participated in the '25-'26 season will NOT be grandfathered in to this.

NCAA moves closer to allowing athletes to compete for five seasons, eliminating red shirts

The potential rule change would not apply to current athletes who competed or are competing in the 2025-26 academic year.

www.nytimes.com

Monday, the Division I Board of Directors directed the Division I Cabinet to advance a concept that, if adopted, would permit athletes up to five years of eligibility. The potential rule change would not apply to current athletes who competed or are competing in the 2025-26 academic year.

This is pretty important for this draft, because it means that there won't be a huge outflux of college seniors from the second round chasing after bigger NIL money in an additional college year.

The report from The Athletic is a bit unclear to me - I'm not sure if the "non-application" of the rule applies to *seniors* who played this year, or to *any* player who played this year (and thus would not actually take effect until...the 2030 draft).

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I could have sworn I read that he was staying last week.

I think he has agreed to an NIL package with Illinois but can back out of that to go to the NBA if that's what he chooses. Seems likely to me he will "test the waters" and get some NBA feedback then return to Illinois, but stranger things have happened.

 

[Tetsujin]

I think he has agreed to an NIL package with Illinois but can back out of that to go to the NBA if that's what he chooses. Seems likely to me he will "test the waters" and get some NBA feedback then return to Illinois, but stranger things have happened.

Probably also a little different for the son of a former NBA all-star who isn’t getting his first jolt of money via NIL than it is for a lot of the guys in the draft though too

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Probably also a little different for the son of a former NBA all-star who isn’t getting his first jolt of money via NIL than it is for a lot of the guys in the draft though too

True that he's not worried about paying off his parents' mortgage and buying them nice cars. True, true. The feedback will probably be the thing, and he'll need to get an idea of what his role in the NBA could be if he gets drafted this year (G-league?? Rotation minutes??) vs. his college role (30+ minutes easy). But yeah, that's probably a bigger factor than the money. But I think it also probably will bias him to stay in school.

 

[hrdboild]

If Stojakovic does decide to play another year (or two) of college ball, he really needs to get that 3pt % above 35% next season and it would also be nice if he got his FT% over 85%. At that point he'll be a Senior entering the draft and if he still can't shoot from outside there may not even be an end of the bench NBA roster spot for him. I'm sure there are no shortage of leagues around the world which will offer him a contract though.

And @pdxKingsFan is right that ESPN has already reported that he's returning to Illinois with a quote from his agent saying so. It does make a lot of sense for him to at least go to the Draft Combine this year and run through the drills and gauge what the team interest is before making his decision. That's what I would have advised him to do, though without making a concrete statement about him returning.

 

[bajaden]

I'm assuming it's AJ settling in at #1 with Peterson slipping due to motivational/injury concerns and Boozer slipping due to positional/athleticism concerns?

I agree with both reasons for both Peterson and Boozer slipping, I also believe that Wilson is the best player in this draft and A.J. is the 2nd best player. I saw every game Wilson played this year, and he does things on the court that no one else in this draft can do athleticaly. In a strange way, there are parts of his game that are raw, yet it doesn't matter because of all the talent he has. And all those things are fixable.

I was listening to an NBA scout talk about Wilson and someone asked him what Wilsons ceiling was. His response was, he has no ceiling. I predict that he's going to be a superstar in the league. I haven't been this excited about a player in a long time. I also think that Fleming is the best PG in the draft, but there are at least 3, maybe 4 more PG's that are can't miss type players. Most of them will go in the lottery. What's rare about all of them is all of them are good three pt shooters, and all of them are good off the ball players as well as on the ball, and, almost all of them are good defenders. Only Acuff fails the taste test in that dept.

 

[bajaden]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047791658746442022

Baller who is like half a foot shorter than he would ideally be. The winner of the inaugural IT Award

If he was 6'5" he would likely be a lottery pick. I'm curious what his wingspan is. If he's 6' but has a 6'6" wingspan, that will make a difference.

 

[bajaden]

That is true, and that's where Boozer being a true franchise guy is questionable. Talent wise he's somewhere in between a Domas and Cuz, but he's also somewhere in between them in terms of mentality. That could be good or bad depending on what a team expects out of him.

Another comp I would give you is a lesser version of Tim Duncan. He just quietly goes about his job. The difference I see so far, is that Duncan was a very good clutch player, and so far I don't see that in Boozer. But, he's only 18 yr's old and has a lot of time to grow into our expectations.

 

[bajaden]

I cant remember if I did a write up on Cameron Carr or not. Don't get old amigo's. So to make sure I cover all the bases I'll assume I didn't.
Cameron Carr is one of my favorite players in the draft, and I'm confused as to why so many mock drafts have him far lower than I think he should be. After spending two years at, I believe Tennessee, and getting very little playing time, he transfered to Baylor and exploded. He's an explosive player and a freak athlete. He had some of the best dunks this year in college basketball. I can't wait to see what his vertical is.

He ended up scoring 19 pt's a game on 49.4% shooting overall, and 37.4% from three, while taking 6 a game. He's also a 80% freethrow shooter. He may have led college in blocked shots for a 6'5" SG at 1.3 blk's a game. He reportedly has a 7'2" wingspan. And yes, he's also an outstanding defender. Once again, not sure why he's so low on so many draft boards other than he's older than some of the other top prospects. All I know is that whoever drafts him is going to get a very good basketball player. For the Kings it would take a 2nd 1st rd pick to snag him.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

I cant remember if I did a write up on Cameron Carr or not. Don't get old amigo's. So to make sure I cover all the bases I'll assume I didn't.
Cameron Carr is one of my favorite players in the draft, and I'm confused as to why so many mock drafts have him far lower than I think he should be. After spending two years at, I believe Tennessee, and getting very little playing time, he transfered to Baylor and exploded. He's an explosive player and a freak athlete. He had some of the best dunks this year in college basketball. I can't wait to see what his vertical is.

He ended up scoring 19 pt's a game on 49.4% shooting overall, and 37.4% from three, while taking 6 a game. He's also a 80% freethrow shooter. He may have led college in blocked shots for a 6'5" SG at 1.3 blk's a game. He reportedly has a 7'2" wingspan. And yes, he's also an outstanding defender. Once again, not sure why he's so low on so many draft boards other than he's older than some of the other top prospects. All I know is that whoever drafts him is going to get a very good basketball player. For the Kings it would take a 2nd 1st rd pick to snag him.

The following was posted on 4/14...

Their are several players that could fall into the 2nd rd that would be great pickups for the KIngs. Some would be steals, like Cameron Carr.

Another player I like in the 2nd is Sergio De Larrea who plays in the Spanish league for Velencia. He's a 6'6" PG who is a very good 3pt shooter at 43% while taking 6 a game.. He's a better athlete than I thought. He's a very good off the ball player for a PG. He's not Acuff or Fleming, but I could see him being a very good backup combo guard.

I have many others that I like, but some are likely to go in the bottom of the first round. Like Dailyn Swain from Texas. A 6'7" wing who is a very good offensive player and and outstanding defensive player. He definitely deserves to be a first rd pick, but in this draft, he could get pushed into the top of the 2nd rd.

Some other players I like without the videos, (maybe later) are Alex Karaban, the 6'8" sf, 20 year senior from Uconn. I exaggerate of course, but it seems as though he's been there forever. He'd be a solid off the bench type player. I like Amari Allen, another 6'7" wing from Alabama.
Decent offensive player with some upside left and a very good defensive player. He shot just a tick under 37% from three.

I have to mention one of my favorites, Allen Graves, a 6'9" sf from Santa Clara. Santa Clara keeps producing NBA players. Graves shot 41% from three while taking around 2.7 threes a game. Graves is an excellent defensive player, and a good rebounder. Doesn't have that explosive first step, but is crafty with the ball and gets to the basket.

 

[SacTownKid]

Another comp I would give you is a lesser version of Tim Duncan. He just quietly goes about his job. The difference I see so far, is that Duncan was a very good clutch player, and so far I don't see that in Boozer. But, he's only 18 yr's old and has a lot of time to grow into our expectations.

Yeah, there's part of that too. This is why potentially people don't realize how good Boozer actually is because it's hard to see it sometimes. If the Kings lucked into that type of player this franchise is at least now getting back up to it's feet rather than dead flat on it's back. Take it and run if it's the choice.

 

[The_Jamal]

Yeah, there's part of that too. This is why potentially people don't realize how good Boozer actually is because it's hard to see it sometimes. If the Kings lucked into that type of player this franchise is at least now getting back up to it's feet rather than dead flat on it's back. Take it and run if it's the choice.

Exactly this. He's not flashy in the slightest. But the ball goes in the hoop and his teams win a ton of games.

He'll never be Duncan on defense, but I think Duncan's offensive profile is 100% in the cards for him.

 

[Tetsujin]

Exactly this. He's not flashy in the slightest. But the ball goes in the hoop and his teams win a ton of games.

He'll never be Duncan on defense, but I think Duncan's offensive profile is 100% in the cards for him.

To be fair, with the way the league has shifted since the end of his career, I don’t know if Duncan would even be Duncan on defense if he were coming into the league now.

 

[notoriousBEN3]

I like Wilson a lot and I think he fits the mold of the modern NBA player very well. My only concern is that he does seem a little more raw than some of the other prospects, and I can’t help but wonder if the Kings have good enough player development to bring out the best in him.

There have been many Kings players over the years that I’ve suspected could had better careers if they were originally drafted by a better organization that had their act together…

 

[hrdboild]

I like Wilson a lot and I think he fits the mold of the modern NBA player very well. My only concern is that he does seem a little more raw than some of the other prospects, and I can’t help but wonder if the Kings have good enough player development to bring out the best in him.

There have been many Kings players over the years that I’ve suspected could had better careers if they were originally drafted by a better organization that had their act together…

It's a valid point given our history, but the same is probably true of any of the freshman phenoms in this draft. The alternative is to draft more of a finished product -- an upperclassman with a fully developed skillset but a lower ceiling, most likely. We've seen the Kings do that plenty as well and that approach is likely to cap us in middling territory forever.

Part of the appeal with Caleb Wilson is that we've seen him put in max effort on both offense and defense. Even if he doesn't reach his absolute ceiling and become a superstar offensive force in the league, the fallback is that he will be a decent enough scorer to be part of a winning lineup while also providing value on the defensive end. And I'm also less worried about Wilson eventually feeling like he's too big for a small market team like ours then I am about Peterson, Dybantsa, and Boozer.

 

[datamanwes]

Caleb Wilson would be a dream to draft.So would AJ

 

[CWEBB04z]

Wagler intrigues me as well.

The fact that his 3PAR and FTAR are both above 47.5% is pretty impressive and unique…

So unique that I did a little bit of research to see how many top 10 picks in the past 20 years had both a 3PAR and FTAR above 47.5%. This is the list…

Eric Gordon (2008)
Nik Stauskas (2014)
Luka Doncic (2018)

That’s it. 3 players out of a pool of 200 top 10 selections. Damian Lillard barely missed the cut (.465 3PAR and .519 FTAR) and there are a couple others that were somewhat close like Trae Young (.531 3PAR and .443 FTAR) & Bradley Beal (.473 3PAR and .440 FTAR).

On top of that unique scoring profile, Wagler is an impressive passer/playmaker. So much so that he has a 2.46 AST:TO…as a freshman. He’s better in that metric compared to that list of 3 players (Doncic = 2.08, Stauskas = 1.76, and Gordon = 0.68).

Again, he has an interesting, unique scoring profile which seems to mesh very well with where the NBA has gone (threes and get to the FT line) and he’s a very good passer & playmaker who could have the potential to play a PG like role. Factor in that he’s 6’6”, a freshman, not a horrible defender, and you have quite a prospect on your hands.

He's who i would like if we can't AJ