Happy to share my first round board for the 2026 draft. Write up is still in process, but here are my R1 rankings. Cheers to another cycle and learning more. Hardest draft to scout this decade.

Kingston Flemings-Darryn Peterson sequence Good rotation forces a wide angle on KF layup miss, a persistent issue. Peterson goes baseline with a bit of tunnel vision, and is frustrated after his miss. Flemings pushes transition, slips by him for dunk.

Karim Lopez with force Same BLOB play twice, a dive for Karim + mismatch. Draws foul first time, finishes second time. A KL believer will see a physical role wing with OTD precocity and think of late-blooming ⭐️s: Deni, Jalen J. I’m not there, but I see an underrated floor.

Karim Lopez dribble liveliness Karim, not unlike Allen Graves, is a clunkier mover but with handle/feel optimism. At 6’8 220, he comes to the ball at top of key for a DHO, sheds defender seeking to deny, lays in 2 crossovers and draws foul. Good base to play faster in NBA.

Cam Boozer gaining traction Comes off a screen in corner and flattens his angle to directly get to paint - no waste at 250 lbs. Gets fouled. Cam is a paint touch addict, a very rare one at his size. His team must get him moving off ball bc he is a real weapon in that capacity.

It had been a minute since I revisited Caleb Wilson. His 10 missed dunks are almost as green a flag as his 67 made ones, though he was fouled by Ngongba here. Such impressive burst off the ground (and a good screen to slow down Foster, good angle pass by Veesaar).

Isaiah Evans offball curl and drive for dunk Takes Cadeau in a circle, then drives hard and beats a late-rotating Mara. Evans has been getting little hype for a 20 year old with 20+ dunks and 100 made 3s, including several in clutch. 56 % 2, 86% FT. Has lots to stick around.

Allen Graves Signature Graves offensive rebound, but then some handle sauce at 6’8 and an iso perimeter drive ending in lefty finish. A productive teenager who constantly improves.

Zuby Ejiofor recovery block Dillon Mitchell first to ball, eventually corrals and a filthy two hand windmill. Mitchell is why the right shooting coach can be worth their weight in gold. I think the slim chance he can ever become viable is worth the pick on draft night.

Zuby Ejiofor Iso perimeter drive for 2 around his assignment, 263lb Tarris Reed Eventually jumps out from semi circle to contest 27 footer from Karaban Finishes oop NBA wing every team should want

Morez Johnson motor sequence Crash + putback dunk Pressures at halfcourt, helps create TO Demands ball in post, gets fouled Energy tweeners like MJJ need to capitalize on every touch. Steinbach defended him well in post this half, but MJJ didn’t stop rim hunting. Good stuff.

Morez Johnson steals entry, drives and finishes on Hannes Steinbach. Hannes and Morez are contrasts as finishers. Hannes elevates off 1 foot a bit quicker, but he favors touch angles and floaters too much. Morez, ironically, has better touch and craves a bump. Rightly so.

Hannes Steinbach grab+go with speed Hannes’ rebounding talent is not just under the rim. He can go out of area and really extend laterally, like here. Underrated speed down the court to get fouled. Begging to play at NBA speed.

Hannes Steinbach Switches onto Keaton Wagler, contains drive and blocks shot in iso, beats Wagler and Ivisic to opposing rim for tip out rebound. Maybe the most underrated athlete in the class.

Monster help block by Chris Cenac Jr. Cenac is one of the toughest players to value this year. I still tend to fade towards 20s bc of lack of polish, but…how good of a shooter is he supposed to be at 19 with a 7’5 wingspan?

Jojo Tugler + Kingston Flemings havoc sequence v Kansas Monster extension block from Tugler Iso 3 from Flemings (yes, he can do that) Jojo stunt+steal Flemings misses layup with Bidunga on his back (prob could’ve elevated off one foot) Tiller drives into Jojo -> nada Sheesh.

Darryn Peterson lead rep Cut off on strong hand, quick DHO going to left, slingshot lefty pass to wing. Very good pass, not quite right in shooting pocket but close. Need more of this from Darryn, and not just to standstill shooters.

Tarris Reed interior dish I doubt Tarris will be forcing doubles like this at the NBA level, but this pass (past Cam Boozer) is great. Taste of Booz’ own medicine.

Zuby Ejiofor one dribble drive from 3pt line and finish. Wing movement

Christian Anderson vision vs the blitz 40 foot connective skip to opposite wing, results in an Atwell 3. So much skill with CA.

Yaxel Lendeborg (6’9, 235) Initiates on ball from 30+ feet out, drives and decels. Kicks to top off key where Morez Johnson has lifted for an easier passing lane, behind Mara’s roll. Morez (6’9, 255) put up 17 3s in first 26 games. 18 in last 12.

Morez Johnson shimmy + turnaround J Rez’ touch has gotten press, but what’s interesting is his midrange volume is quite light, same as 3s. His shot diet (and efficiency) mimic monster offensive rim centers like Kalkbrenner and Mark Williams. Morez a better athlete, of course…

Allen Graves verticality block. Blown transition chance, but look at how AG goes up w chest, blocks shot, and pirouettes and snags rebound *with blocking hand.* Need @polarfall or @spacebarNBA to weigh in, but stuff this good gives me optimism his foul issues are correctable.

Allen Graves steal on perimeter hub entry pass + dunk on other end. The more I watch, the better I feel about his movement skills. His burst for this steal (aided by his off hand on Ike, a compliment) and strides do not seem too slow for NBA at all.

Allen Graves -dives for loose ball (and tips it out accurately) -gets offensive rebound, -hits cutter from post, -picks up ballhandler in transition, -blocks at rim. Very funny that this player came off the bench.

Quadir Copeland blows by Dailyn Swain for the +1. I’ve been reluctant to buy into QC, and still am a bit. But when he gets his feet set to drive like this off catch, he has the extra half step he needs. Swain: gambled and missed, but QC made him look ineffective here.

Kingston Flemings -Good push where many PGs would go slow and let D set -Concedes 3p arc (bad) with step inside -Still bursts to rim in 1 dribble -Smokes finish, lightning 2nd bounce putback With polish, KF teases 3 and tortures defender. Still love effort/tools. Identifiable “upside” is good.

Allen Graves with a high show/blitz from PnR, recovers to roll to snag steal in the lane. Graves is above FT line when guard is gathering for live dribble pass. Characteristic closing speed and hand placement to get the TO.

Allen Graves inhales v Malachi Moreno Sets screen, initiates contact, enjoys the friendly bank hours. Graves has been cast as a deflections/analytics darling, and he is…but he also just wants perpetual smoke. No fear, NBA mentality with advanced mind.

Baba Miller backs down AJ Dybantsa Spins and hits live dribble lefty wraparound for a dunk. This draft is eating very well if there are 20 players better than Baba.