With NBA Summer League now in the rearview mirror, a promising 2026 NBA Draft class can officially begin eyeing the regular season.
It’s a class loaded with talented prospects capable of becoming franchise centerpieces. Fans of summer-league play got to see the top-five picks — BYU’s AJ Dybantsa (Washington Wizards), Kansas’ Darryn Peterson (Utah Jazz), Duke’s Cameron Boozer (Memphis Grizzlies), North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson (Chicago Bulls) and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler (LA Clippers) — lead their teams for the first time. Fans also saw players like Arizona’s Brayden Burries (Milwaukee Bucks), Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg (Golden State Warriors) and Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas (Cleveland Cavaliers) put on a show in Las Vegas. (Thomas was the only player drafted in the second round to make the Summer League First Team.)
Of these rookies (and others), who will stand tallest this season? The NBA is coming off a 2025-26 campaign where former Duke roommates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel headlined one of the closest Rookie of the Year races in years. The players were separated by only 26 points. Flagg had 12 more first-place votes than Knueppel.
The race for the upcoming season can be equally close — if not closer. A handful of lottery picks, if they remain healthy, can be in the running for the 2026-27 award. The Athletic asked its NBA writers to name their 2026-27 Rookie of the Year and explain why.
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What You Should Read Next
2026 NBA Draft: The best, worst and weirdest from an unusually orderly two days
Despite a fairly ho-hum first round, there are still plenty of highlights and head-scratchers from the NBA Draft.
The top pick in the eyes of some
AJ Dybantsa | Washington Wizards | G-F | 6-9, 212 | No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft | BYU
Why AJ Dybantsa is the no. 1 prospect in this year’s NBA Draft
Sam Vecenie
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Nick Friedell: Dybantsa is a solid scorer and will get plenty of chances to showcase his offensive skills with the Wizards. He has a chance to help his new team improve quickly and shouldn’t have all the pressure on him early thanks to the veteran presence of Anthony Davis and Trae Young.
Will Guillory: Dybantsa will be a physical force against most forwards from the moment he steps into the league. He will be surrounded by shot creators in Washington who can take the pressure off him early on. If all goes well, Dybantsa has the potential to be a first-year player averaging 15 to 18 points on a Play-In team.
Josh Robbins: Last season, I voted for Knueppel as Rookie of the Year, with Flagg second. Flagg had more points, rebounds, assists and steals per game, but I valued Knueppel’s overall performance more because of his contributions to a 44-win team that reached the Play-In. I see an opportunity for Dybantsa’s Wizards to ascend similarly to the Charlotte Hornets last year.
Jay King: While Boozer is the most ready to impact winning at the start of his career, Dybantsa will fill it up from day one. The No. 1 pick’s relentless scoring will be enough to win a close Rookie of the Year race. But the real winner will be the NBA. This draft class will be one of the best in a long time, with several perennial All-Stars.
Hunter Patterson: I have Dybantsa because winning is applauded in all individual awards in the NBA, and I see the Wizards being more competitive than the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. I see the 19-year-old being a second or third scoring option on a Wizards team that should be going from 17 wins to playoff contention.
Fred Katz: The logic is simple. He went first overall. He has enough veterans around him that he doesn’t have to carry the offense. He has a chance to look good right off the bat.
In their Las Vegas Summer League openers, AJ Dybantsa had 27 points to lead the Washington Wizards to a 92-88 win over the Utah Jazz. Darryn Peterson had 24 points for the Jazz. (Ryan Stetz / NBAE via Getty Images)
The top pick in the eyes of others
Darryn Peterson | Utah Jazz | G | 6-6, 205 | No. 2 pick | Kansas
Why Darryn Peterson’s best basketball is still ahead of him
Sam Vecenie
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Christian Clark: I think there’s more to Peterson’s game than what he showed at Kansas. He didn’t look as athletic in college as he did in high school. I expect him to come out with a chip on his shoulder and prove he’s the best rookie in this class. I also like the fit between Peterson and Keyonte George in Utah’s backcourt.
Jason Quick: Peterson’s combination of confidence, skill and variety to his game made him stand out at NBA Summer League. I didn’t get to see Caleb Wilson play, but Peterson’s ability to create his own shot puts him a notch above what appears to be a bumper class of rookies. Love watching his floater.
Jason Jones: This is not a knock on Dybantsa, but he’s playing with Young and Davis, so he might not have the same opportunities as Peterson, who doesn’t have an established star in the backcourt. I also believe guards have more opportunities to produce big stats early, hence why I’m not going with Wilson or Cam Boozer.
Jon Krawczynski: Peterson was drafted onto a young, up-and-coming team that could make some noise in the West next season. He looked fantastic in summer league, showing a dynamic ability to create shots. If the Jazz are sniffing around the Play-In or more, Peterson will get a lot of attention.
Tony Jones: Peterson will start from day one in Utah, much like Dybantsa and Boozer in their respective cities. Peterson has the best chance to be the one scoring 20 points a night, and he’s the one with the best chance to play meaningful basketball this season. Those factors should ultimately get him the Rookie of the Year nod.
Dan Woike: The bet here is not just on Peterson; it’s on the Jazz, a team that looks primed to make a leap into competitive basketball after losing for years to get a player this talented. They’ll miss Walker Kessler, but there’s enough talent to push for a top-eight seed in the West. If they get there, it’ll be because Peterson is the talent they hope he is.
The reliable son of an All-Star
Cameron Boozer | Memphis Grizzlies | F | 6-8, 253 | No. 3 pick | Duke
Why Cameron Boozer produces and wins at every level
Sam Vecenie
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Law Murray: Rookies of the Year need touches and shots. Boozer is capable of putting up quality numbers, and he doesn’t have the kind of point-guard situation, nor another obvious play-finisher teammate, that will demand shots. Those factors mean his output could be greater than his fellow blue-chip draft classmates.
John Hollinger: The No. 1 player on my draft board was also one of the best players at summer league. While Boozer will face considerable competition from Dybantsa and others, he has the advantage of not fighting established stars to be the top option. Dybantsa has to take his turn alongside Young and Davis, while the Grizzlies’ rebuild has Boozer firmly established as the centerpiece.
Eric Koreen: Boozer is smart and polished. I also think the Grizzlies forward has a clear path to putting up numbers. Dybantsa and Peterson could be in semi-competitive situations in which they are blocked a little by veterans. Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Norman Powell could limit Wilson’s scoring. The Grizzlies will be all about Boozer.
Mike Vorkunov: I know that Dybantsa and Peterson will get a lot of votes, and all three have talent, but Boozer should have an opportunity that they don’t. Dybantsa and Peterson likely won’t be the top options on their teams this season. Boozer can be the Grizzlies’ leader in points and assists, considering the state of the Memphis roster. Stats win awards, and I think Boozer will have the best numbers.
Cameron Boozer (left) and Caleb Wilson were opponents in the Duke-North Carolina college basketball rivalry. Earlier this month, they competed as rookies in NBA Summer League. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
The (new) high-flyer from UNC
Caleb Wilson | Chicago Bulls | F | 6-10, 215 | No. 4 pick | North Carolina
The mentality that makes Caleb Wilson dangerous
Esfandiar Baraheni
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He was stunning both on and off the court, and the Bulls with Wilson finally have a direction worth traveling towards, a beacon of light in what has been proverbial darkness for The franchise for so many years. Maybe, just maybe, like another former UNC great, Wilson can get the Bulls back on track. It’s worth restating just how lost in the wilderness the Bulls have been since Derrick Rose injured his knee. They built around Jimmy Butler for a few years before contract talks became ugly and coaching hires stifled their growth. And in the last decade, they’ve made the playoffs just twice, and they haven’t won a First-round series since 2015. That’s partly due to poor talent evaluation and a lack of direction. Lowry Marketing came and went. They drafted Patrick Williams fourth overall and paid him handsomely, only for him to never even develop into a starter. The Zach Levine, DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Nikola Vuccevich Bulls had a few fun moments, but they never had any potential to compete in the playoffs and were almost to a fault winning. Too many games to ever really tank for talent. The Bulls have been living in mediocrity, and maybe they even became comfortable with it. That’s why landing the 4th overall pick in what was widely considered a 4-player draft might be the catalyst for the Bulls to finally be forced out of their comfort zone. And Caleb Wilson is going to demand that. He already has on the summer league roster, telling reporters that he didn’t care about breaking records because his team lost, crying before. His first summer league game because he hadn’t played in 5 months, and demanding that he play on a back to back because he wanted to train his mind to be ready for the NBA. However naive that mentality might seem, there’s actually power to not knowing any better. Wilson’s youthful exuberance is something the Bulls haven’t had in years, and it is the exact type of culture-setting tone that is required if this franchise wants to turn the corner. It also helps. that Wilson can back up that talk on the floor. In his one and only season at UNC, Wilson played with a motor and energy that made people compare him to a young Kevin Garnett. He displayed a soft touch in a wiry frame, which also drew comparisons to Pascal Siaca. He was elite at doing all the little things offensively, darting out in transition, cutting to the hoop for easy baskets, grabbing offensive rebounds, and finishing putback dunks with his Wild athleticism. And while all of that was on display in Summer league for the Bulls, where his gifted athleticism and size helped him look like a man amongst boys, he added new wrinkles to his game we had never seen before. At UNC Wilson made a total of 7 threes through 24 games. He tied that in just one game in Las Vegas, dropping a rookie-best 35 points against Cam Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies. He went on To finish summer league with 13 threes total, and he made those shots in a variety of ways. Stepbacks, pull-ups, catch and shoot 3s, the whole nine yards. This naturally adds a wrinkle that just wasn’t expected of him at this stage in his career that changes his trajectory as a player. If Wilson can shoot the ball, it’ll be incredibly difficult to stop a player who can also do this. The ball defended by Matt Cleveland. Wilsons. In Chicago, next to Josh Giddy, Norman Powell, Mattis Buzelis, and Nick Claxton, the Bulls will play fast, and Wilson will stand to benefit from that tremendously. That quick pace paired with initiator like Giddy and a scorer like Powell to play off of will help Wilson, similar to his role at UNC diving to the rim, running in transition, and using his athleticism to dominate the ancillary aspects of the game. But his seemingly newly developed skill as a shot creator. will also be put to the test and given an opportunity to blossom without necessarily pressuring him to do so. Essentially, the Bulls are the perfect landing spot for Wilson to experiment and also hone in on things he’s already good at. But naturally, the most exciting part about Wilson is that he’s far from a finished product. He still needs to work on his handle to prove he can be more of a shot creator rather than the play finisher he projects to be at the NBA level. His overall decision. Decision-making and passing has room to improve, and it will as long as the Bulls put the ball in his hands more often. And while he has all the tools to be an incredible defensive player and showed some of that potential at summer league, racking up 10 blocks through 4 games, his motor, no doubt will play a big role in him one day succeeding on defense, but the timing, patience, and coordination still have a long way to go before he dominates. Look, it’s fair to take everything we see in summer league with. The gigantic grain, nay, boulder of salt. But Wilson’s youthful energy and intensity that he plays with on the court trickles into the type of character and persona he’s developed off of it. That combination is what makes his summer league dominance almost undeniable. If you get that kind of player, with that kind of mentality and potential, it’s hard to believe they won’t succeed. And it’s that exact recipe that will help the Bulls kickstart a new era.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/edit-guidelines/”,”sameAs”:”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Esfandiar Baraheni”}]}
Shakeia Taylor: Maybe it’s recency bias considering summer league just ended, but Wilson made a statement, both in interviews and on the court, about how he plans to show up for the Bulls this coming season. With his impressive 35-point summer debut, I’d say Wilson appears poised to challenge the guys drafted higher for Rookie of the Year.
Eric Nehm: Rookie of the Year is all about numbers, and I think Wilson has the clearest path to putting up the best numbers with the Bulls. With Young and Davis in Washington, and Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in Utah, Dybantsa and Peterson are blocked from putting up the same kind of numbers. Boozer in Memphis is a threat, but I’ll take Wilson.
Jared Weiss: Watching Wilson bury tightly contested movement and pull-up 3s in Vegas completely reshaped the ROY race. We just saw last year how voters favored a higher-output rookie running a team instead of one that fit into a winning context. Wilson has the surroundings in place to do something similar this year, with his potential to be a dangerous three-level scorer.
The dark horse of the bunch
Brayden Burries | Milwaukee Bucks | G | 6-4, 215 | No. 10 pick | Arizona
Why Brayden Burries is built for the modern NBA
Sam Vecenie
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Doug Haller: Dybantsa is an easy answer, but I’m going with Burries. The versatile guard had a strong freshman season at Arizona, but his game always seemed better suited for the NBA. He showed as much during summer league. In Milwaukee, he’ll get an opportunity to play a leading role sooner rather than later, and he has a fearlessness that should allow him to thrive.