So the Washington Wizards won the lottery and now everybody is losing their minds trying to figure out what they’re going to do with that pick. June 23 at the Barclays Center. That’s the date. The No. 1 question in every front office right now is whether they take AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson. People keep saying this is the deepest draft in like ten years, and honestly? They’re not wrong.
Meanwhile, apart from monitoring and predicting who their teams pick in the first round, fans can also wager on the outcome at selected sportsbooks and make some rewards for doing so. Several bookies now cover draft odds, and punters can bet on such outcomes. It doesn’t stop there, they can make futures wagers on NBA winners, World Cup matches and other sports events. However, the platform you use matters, and for those in Hungary, information from independent reviews show that an operator like MostBet might be a good option to use.
As evident in the feedback seen on MostBet Trustpilot reviews, many users have mentioned that the bookie boasts top-notch security, reliability, and an extensive betting market. Those are some of the features that matter the most to most punters.
In the end, draft picks require a lot of research and decision making, and sometimes, momentum plays a huge role. Which is why you will see some names not originally thought of as a top prospect landing a big move. And, speaking of momentum shifts, the 2026 NBA Finals just reminded everyone how fast things can turn. The Knicks were down 14 points to San Antonio in Game 1 and somehow pulled off a comeback victory. That’s exactly what every lottery team is hoping their new guy does. Here’s how we think the first round plays out.
Quick Context Before We Get Into It
The Draft is two nights, June 23 and 24. First round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. ABC and ESPN have the broadcast. Lottery order: Washington Wizards at one, Utah Jazz at two, Memphis Grizzlies at three, Chicago Bulls at four. NBA TV ratings have been a talking point all season. A draft this good gives the league something to build momentum around heading into next year.
The “Big Four” are AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson. Scouts are genuinely giddy about this group. The NBA immaculate grid has been an obsession for basketball nerds and this draft class is going to add a whole new layer once these guys start logging real NBA minutes. Also lurking is the whole Giannis Antetokounmpo situation in Milwaukee which could blow up the entire draft board if a trade drops before the first pick. Wild times.
Picks 1 through 4 – The Big Four
These four picks are what everyone is actually here for. Every choice here sets the tone for the rest of the night and probably the next five years of basketball in those cities.
Pick 1 – Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa vs Darryn Peterson
Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points a game at BYU. He’s 6’9” with a 42-inch vertical. The two-way ceiling on him is genuinely absurd. Peterson on the other hand is probably the most naturally gifted scorer in the whole class.
His shot creation is crazy good and his perimeter shooting is real. He had a messy freshman year at Kansas though, some efficiency stuff that raised eyebrows. Washington has basically narrowed it down to these two. Betting markets have Dybantsa at -450. He’s going first.
Prediction: AJ Dybantsa
Pick 2 – Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer
Utah has an interesting situation here. Peterson would give them a perimeter engine that slides right next to Ace Bailey and Keyonte George. Boozer had maybe the most productive college season anyone’s had at Duke in years. Passing, IQ, readiness. All of it.
But Utah already has Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Walker Kessler upfront. They don’t need more frontcourt. They need someone who can shoot and create off the ball on the perimeter and Peterson does that.
Prediction: Darryn Peterson
Pick 3 – Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer
Memphis had like a 9.4% shot at a top-four pick and somehow ended up at three. That’s lottery luck doing its thing. Boozer is a perfect fit here. His offensive game is polished in a way most 18-year-olds aren’t.
He passes from the high post at a level that’s just weird for someone his age. He slots next to Cedric Coward nicely. With the whole Ja Morant situation still sort of hanging in the air, having a foundational piece like Boozer gives this rebuild something real to build around.
Prediction: Cameron Boozer
Pick 4 – Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson
The last time the Bulls were this high in a draft was Patrick Williams in 2020. Wilson averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 boards at North Carolina before two separate hand injuries cut his year short. He switches everything defensively, he has the length, the athleticism.
Chicago is starting something new in the front office and Wilson is the kind of versatile forward that makes a rebuild feel like it has a direction.
Prediction: Caleb Wilson
Picks 5 through 10 – The Guard Zone
Once the Big Four are off the board the draft shifts into a stretch that’s basically five or six guards and combo players all competing for the same handful of slots.
Pick 5 – LA Clippers: Keaton Wagler
The Clippers traded Zubac and got Darius Garland at the deadline. You know, one of those NBA trades. So they’re already stacked in the guard-ish area and don’t really want another small ball-dominant point guard. Wagler is 6’5”, can play next to Garland, fits as a combo guard who can space the floor. Mikel Brown Jr. was in the conversation here but a back injury has teams nervous. Wagler pulls ahead.
Prediction: Keaton Wagler
Pick 6 – Brooklyn Nets: Darius Acuff Jr.
Brooklyn needs a guy who can create his own shot. Like badly. Acuff already worked out privately with them after a really strong year at Arkansas. His finishing at the rim is elite, the analytics back it up. Kings are also lurking but this one feels like it ends with Brooklyn.
They’ve got $47 million in cap space so they can build around whatever he needs to succeed. The NBA Cup courts single-elimination format is basically built for a guy like Acuff. High offensive load, minimal turnovers, creates his own shot in tight windows.
Prediction: Darius Acuff Jr.
Pick 7 – Sacramento Kings: Mikel Brown Jr.
Kings wanted Acuff but he’s gone now. Brown averaged 18.2 points and 4.7 assists at Louisville as a freshman. Shoots 84.4% from the line which is a great sign for his shooting development. He’s a complete ball-handler. People keep comparing him to Tyrese Haliburton, who is famously the guy Sacramento traded away years ago and have been kicking themselves about ever since. Maybe this is their version of getting that right.
Prediction: Mikel Brown Jr.
Pick 8 – Atlanta Hawks: Aday Mara
This guy showed up to the combine and measured 7’3” barefoot with a 7’6” wingspan. Second-longest standing reach in combined history. Led the Big Ten with 2.6 blocks per game. And he can actually pass from the high post which you just don’t expect from a guy that size.
Hawks need a real anchor and a Mara-Okongwu frontcourt looks like it could be genuinely scary on the defensive end. The one thing scouts watch closely with Mara is discipline. How many fouls to foul out in NBA games is six and big men who block everything sometimes get there fast.
Prediction: Aday Mara
Picks 9 and 10 – Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks
Dallas is building around Cooper Flagg and needs shooters who don’t need the ball. Brayden Burries shot 39.1% from three at Arizona. He’s a perfect catch-and-shoot piece for that system. Milwaukee is in full best-player-available mode while the Giannis thing plays out behind closed doors.
Nate Ament is 6’10”, 19 years old, and handles the ball way better than someone his size has any right to. If Giannis gets traded before the picks come in, Milwaukee might have extra assets here and this whole slot reshuffles.
Predictions: Brayden Burries (Dallas), Nate Ament (Milwaukee)
Picks 11 through 20 – The Middle Lottery
This is where the draft starts to breathe a little. The pressure of the top ten is behind us and now teams are hunting for role players with at least one skill they can use right away.
Picks 11 through 14 – Warriors, Thunder, Heat, Hornets
Golden State has a genuine decision to make about whether to develop long-term or go win-now for Steph. Yaxel Lendeborg is 23, national champion, switchable defender, IQ guy. That’s real. Oklahoma City holds two picks in this range and Sam Presti will probably try to trade one of them because that’s just what he does.
Miami’s pick at 13 might also get moved if something big happens. Karim Lopez out of New Zealand is the best international prospect outside the top ten, face-up forward with real scoring feel.
Picks 11–14: Yaxel Lendeborg (Warriors), Trade (Thunder), Labaron Philon (Heat), Karim Lopez (Hornets)
Picks 15 through 20 – Christian Anderson, Cameron Carr and the Plug-and-Play Tier
Picks 15 through 20 are where you start finding guys with one really good NBA skill. Christian Anderson from Texas Tech shot 41.5% from three and can navigate ball screens. Cameron Carr went off for 30 points at the combine and his athleticism and wingspan made teams rethink where he was sitting.
Hannes Steinbach is a reliable, physical rebounder out of Washington. Ebuka Okorie and Dailyn Swain both tested really well defensively at the combine.
Picks 15–20: Christian Anderson (Hawks), Cameron Carr (Spurs), Hannes Steinbach (Pacers), Ebuka Okorie (Pelicans), Dailyn Swain (Suns), Zoom Diallo (Cavaliers)
Picks 21 through 30 – Late First Round
The late first round is its own little ecosystem. Some of these guys have been first-round locks for months. Others shot up the board after one great workout or one elite combine measurement.
A few will get drafted and immediately stashed overseas. And at least one or two will turn out to be the most interesting picks of the whole night once we look back on this in four years.
Picks 21 through 25 – Morez Johnson Jr., Kingston Flemings and the Sliding Guards
Kingston Flemings measured a little smaller than scouts hoped but then went and hit 19 of 25 shots in the three-point drill at the combine. His max vertical is 40.5 inches. His sprint time is top-five. He’s a steal somewhere in this range. Morez Johnson Jr. has the measurements and the motor. Bennett Stirtz is 22, polished, pro-ready, and has been that way for two years. Tarris Reed Jr. brings interior depth with upside.
Picks 21–25: Kingston Flemings (Spurs), Morez Johnson Jr. (Timberwolves), Bennett Stirtz (Celtics), Tarris Reed Jr. (Knicks), Joson Sanon (Magic)
Picks 26 through 30 – International Prospects and Oklahoma City’s Extra Asset
OKC has picks down here too and will either package them or take developmental guys. Sergio de Larrea from Spain is headed to Dallas via an existing trade agreement. Good feel for the game, good size, might play overseas another year. Allen Graves is a stretch-four who offers value earlier but lands here.
Picks 26–30: Allen Graves (Nuggets), Shelton Henderson (76ers), Jeremiah Fears (Grizzlies), Malik Reneau (Kings), Sergio de Larrea (Mavericks via OKC)
What Makes This Class Special?
Four franchise-altering talents in the first four picks doesn’t happen often. Five distinct playmakers between picks five and ten means the mid-lottery carries real value too. The Giannis situation alone is must-watch television. Last year’s NBA finals ratings proved the league still has massive pulling power when the storylines are right and this draft has plenty of them.
If a trade drops before June 23 a dozen slots shift overnight. And with this much talent at the top hungry for NBA highlights, somebody good is going to slip. One team is going to get very lucky and not fully realize it for two years.
Summary Table
| Pick | Team | Player | Position | School/Club |
| #1 | Washington Wizards | AJ Dybantsa | SF | BYU |
| #2 | Utah Jazz | Darryn Peterson | SG | Kansas |
| #3 | Memphis Grizzlies | Cameron Boozer | PF | Duke |
| #4 | Chicago Bulls | Caleb Wilson | SF/PF | UNC |
| #5 | LA Clippers | Keaton Wagler | SG/PG | Illinois |
| #6 | Brooklyn Nets | Darius Acuff Jr. | PG | Arkansas |
| #7 | Sacramento Kings | Mikel Brown Jr. | PG | Louisville |
| #8 | Atlanta Hawks | Aday Mara | C | UCLA |
| #9 | Dallas Mavericks | Brayden Burries | SG | Arizona |
| #10 | Milwaukee Bucks | Nate Ament | SF/PF | Texas |
| #11 | Golden State Warriors | Yaxel Lendeborg | PF | Michigan |
| #12 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Trade Candidate | — | — |
| #13 | Miami Heat | Labaron Philon | PG | Alabama |
| #14 | Charlotte Hornets | Karim Lopez | SF | NZ Breakers |
| #15 | Atlanta Hawks | Christian Anderson | PG | Texas Tech |
| #16 | San Antonio Spurs | Cameron Carr | SG | Tennessee |
| #17 | Indiana Pacers | Hannes Steinbach | C | Washington |
| #18 | New Orleans Pelicans | Ebuka Okorie | SG | Stanford |
| #19 | Phoenix Suns | Dailyn Swain | SF | Texas |
| #20 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Zoom Diallo | PG | Washington |
| #21 | San Antonio Spurs | Kingston Flemings | PG | Houston |
| #22 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Morez Johnson Jr. | C | Michigan |
| #23 | Boston Celtics | Bennett Stirtz | SG | Iowa |
| #24 | New York Knicks | Tarris Reed Jr. | C | UConn |
| #25 | Orlando Magic | Joson Sanon | SG | Arizona State |
| #26 | Denver Nuggets | Allen Graves | PF | Santa Clara |
| #27 | Philadelphia 76ers | Shelton Henderson | SF | Texas |
| #28 | Memphis Grizzlies | Jeremiah Fears | PG | Oklahoma |
| #29 | Sacramento Kings | Malik Reneau | PF | Indiana |
| #30 | Dallas Mavericks | Sergio de Larrea | PG | Spain |
FAQs
When and where is the 2026 NBA Draft?
June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Starts 8 PM ET on ABC and ESPN.
Who are the “Big Four”?
AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Darryn Peterson (Kansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke), and Caleb Wilson (North Carolina). The four guys everybody agrees are in a tier of their own this year.
When is the NBA trade deadline?
The 2026 NBA trade deadline was on February 5, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET. The 2026–27 deadline should fall around early February 2027.
What happens if Giannis gets traded before draft night?
Chaos basically. Extra picks enter the first round, teams rethink their slots, and the whole board shifts. Nobody really knows what the order looks like if that deal happens which is exactly what makes this draft so interesting.
