The 2026 NBA Draft is just over 24 hours away. On Tuesday night, NBA fans will get answers to the most pressing questions of the draft cycle. After months of debate about who the best player in the class is, the Washington Wizards will answer that question when the franchise gets on the clock with the No. 1 pick.
In our first NBA Draft roundtable with our CBS Sports experts, we answered the question of who we would take with the No. 1 overall pick. The answer heavily favored BYU wing AJ Dybantsa, but Kansas guard Darryn Peterson also got some consideration.
The top four picks in this year’s draft are expected to be Dybantsa, Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson in some order. Dybantsa is viewed as the current favorite to be the No. 1 pick, with Peterson having the best odds to go No. 2 to the Utah Jazz.
After that, it’s expected to be a lot more chaotic. The Los Angeles Clippers hold the No. 5 pick in the draft and will have an opportunity to pick from a loaded point guard class that includes Keaton Wagler, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr. and Kingston Flemings.
For our second roundtable, we asked CBS Sports experts to rank those four guards in order. We also asked for second-round sleepers and who will be the best big man, outside of the top 10, next season? Let’s dive in! If you want to read our first roundtable, you can find it here.
I’d go Wagler, Acuff, Brown and then Flemings — but I don’t think any order of those four would be too crazy. It’s real eye-of-the-beholder stuff once you get past the top four in this draft. But I’d take Wagler first because of his size, shot and ability to process things and get to spots — although I recognize passing on Acuff, the electrifying SEC Player of the Year who was incredible in one season at Arkansas, has the potential to make somebody look silly.
This is another topic I went into in depth over the last two weeks. The separation is razor thing, especially when it comes to the upside. Candidly, I think there’s a legit argument that any of the four could end up being the best player in five years, and I think they all have all-star type upside if everything were to break right. There is more variance in their respective floors, though. Acuff and Flemings’ floors seem the highest to me. At his worst, Acuff could still be an instant offense hub for someone’s second unit, and Flemings could be a reliable two-way guard. Wagler is unproven beyond his single season at Illinois, and Brown has too much history of posting empty stats for teams that didn’t win. Conversely though, I think there’s a real possibility that Wagler could just be scratching the surface of his potential. The bottom line is that I finished with Acuff, Wagler, Flemings, and then Brown.
Wagler’s size and versatility place him a rung above the others. While he primarily played (and thrived) as an on-ball facilitator at Illinois, he’s an excellent spot-up shooter with off-ball upside that has yet to be fully explored. Additionally, Wagler is the tallest of the group with the most potential to fill out physically and become a quality defender. These aspects create a situation where Wagler is playable next to other “lead” guards without there being too much concern about overlapping skill sets. That optionality, combined with a lethal perimeter shot and cerebral playmaking, makes Wagler a great choice at No. 5 overall.
To me, Darius Acuff Jr. is a tier above the rest of the guards in the class. The defensive concerns are real and sometimes hard to ignore, but Acuff will be an elite offensive engine in the NBA. Acuff is a knockdown shooter, gets teammates involved and can attack the paint. Out of all the guards in that tier, Acuff is the one with true superstar potential. I would go … Acuff, Wagler, Brown and Flemings in that order.
I have an equal grade on all four of these outstanding prospects. All four possess All-Star upside with a rare combination of a sky-high floor. I don’t see a bunch of boom-or-bust outlooks here, but here’s how I’d rank them:
I think it’s tough to go wrong here, but I’ll go with Mikel Brown Jr., Darius Acuff Jr., Keaton Wagler and then Kingston Flemings. Brown still has a lot of physical maturing to do, but I think he has the best overall combination of size, skill, athleticism and untapped potential. If we are talking about winning a game on opening night of their rookie seasons, then I would go with Acuff because he’s such a bully. I’m still interested to see if Wagler can truly be a lead guard in the NBA, and as much as I love Flemings, I just have him slightly behind the others.
I could see Meleek Thomas starting games in the NBA. He’s a great shooter already, even by NBA standards. I don’t love that he measured on the smaller side at the combine — that’s not ideal. But he’s the type of player opposing defenses have to respect out to 27 feet, and those types of players often find themselves in starting lineups, if only for floor-spacing reasons. Another way of interpreting this question is which mocked second rounded has a clear NBA niche that they could thrive in. I expect Richie Saunders could be a popular pick. There’s so much emphasis on floor-spacing in the NBA that his shooting, understanding of how to max out the corners of the court, adequate positional size and strength could all translate.
Otega Oweh is a physically imposing shooting guard who can be an NBA role player even if his clunky 3-point shot never sees significant improvement. He’s a great on-ball defender with a nose for the basket on offense. His combination of speed, athleticism and physicality, combined with a good change-of-pace step, makes him great at both attacking and finishing. The outside shot will be the swing skill that determines how far he goes. If it develops nicely, Oweh will be one of the top steals from the second round.
The first name that comes to mind is UConn’s Alex Karaban, who projects as an early second-round pick. Karaban is one of the winningest players in college basketball history after reaching the national title game in three of his four seasons. Karaban can contribute to winning right away at the NBA level because of his basketball IQ and ability to space the floor. If I had to project anyone as a future starter from the second round, it would be him.
BYU’s Richie Saunders is a terrific role-player bet if he can get healthy after suffering a season-ending knee injury last season. Saunders is a career 38% 3-point shooter at 6-foot-5. Size and shooting can get you a sniff, and Saunders will make NBA teams fall in love with the other aspects of his game. He is a terrific offensive rebounder who plays the game with such a high motor. He can cut. The ball won’t stick with him. He’s big enough and smart enough to survive defensively. He’s awesome.
I’m going to go outside of the box here and say Dillon Mitchell from St. John’s. I know that he has next to zero offense to speak of, but I see a guy who could develop into a multi-positional lockdown defender. If he commits to excelling in that role, I could see him developing into a Matisse Thybulle-type of player. Maybe not an everyday starter, but a dude who has real value because he can be a defensive chameleon thanks to his size, quickness and fluid athleticism.
Aday Mara. At this point, it feels like a franchise that believes it might need to go through Victor Wembanyama in the playoffs is going to prioritize the 7-foot-3 center who anchored college basketball’s best defense and played a major role in Michigan winning the national championship. In other words, I expect Mara to be playing in high-profile postseason games next year. In those games, he should have an impact on both ends. Aday Mara should be the popular answer here. There’s a definite trend of rim-protecting big men being able to make a quick impact coming into the draft (think about guys like Ryan Kalkbrenner and Walker Kessler). Mara will not only check that, but his passing and vertical spacing will give him some clear value on the offensive end as well.
Aday Mara’s 7-foot-6 wingspan and standing reach of 10 feet give him a high NBA floor. If nothing else, he’ll be a force in the paint who deters opponents from attacking the basket. Whether he develops into a premier NBA-level big is anything but a sure bet. But there’s no doubt he’ll be ready to play a role as an interior enforcer right out of the gate.
If Jayden Quaintance is fully healthy, there isn’t a player in the class who is a better defender. His tape as a 17-year-old at Arizona State was unreal. He wasn’t healthy this season at Kentucky and appeared in four games. If he lands in the right situation where he’s not asked to do a ton immediately, it would be beneficial to both parties. But if I had someone to be the most productive as soon as next season, it would be Aday Mara — who could crack the top 10. If he’s drafted somewhere like Oklahoma City, he will make an immediate impact. Mara was one of the best shot-blockers in the sport and would fill a clear need for OKC.
Aday Mara changes the geography of a game so drastically. So many NBA guards would stop their drives and do U-Turns to avoid Victor Wembanyama in the NBA playoffs. That’s exactly the type of impact Mara had for Michigan. Opponents attempted a layup just 24.8% of the time against Michigan when Mara was on the floor, per Hoop Explorer. Mara’s impact as a rim protector, passer and interior finisher gives him multiple pathways to being an impactful NBA rotation player — or starter — as soon as next year.
I’ve done a lot of talking with NBA personnel lately about what they are looking for in a big man. And the first question they have to answer is “Can he pull Wemby away from the rim?” NBA front offices now know if they have a big who can’t create space, face up and pull that alien away from the rim, they are doomed when it comes to scoring in the lane. None of these guys are in Wemby’s class, but to me the guy with the best chance to be a legit threat on the perimeter in the NBA is Henri Veesaar. Because he can shoot at his size and you don’t have to sacrifice rebounding with him, he may have a game that is best suited to the way teams want to play.
How would you rank the point guards/lead guards in the class (outside of Darryn Peterson)?
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Gary Parrish
Adam Finkelstein
David Cobb
Cameron Salerno
Isaac Trotter
Eric Bossi
What player mocked/ranked in the second round could be an NBA starter?
Parrish
Finkelstein
Cobb
Salerno
Trotter
Bossi
Which big man ranked in the 10-25 range do you see having the most immediate impact in the NBA next season?
Parrish
Finkelstein
Cobb
Salerno
Trotter
Bossi
