{"id":1996784,"date":"2026-06-18T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1996784"},"modified":"2026-06-18T09:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:30:19","slug":"2026-nba-mock-draft-intrigue-remains-at-the-top-and-with-the-guard-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1996784","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA mock draft: Intrigue remains at the top and with the guard prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 2026 NBA Draft is less than a week away, and the intel from sources trying to figure out what teams will do on Tuesday is starting to flow.<\/p>\n

This draft is considered a strong one at the top and throughout the lottery, although withdrawals of college players lured by NIL riches have substantially hindered the depth of the class. Most executives I\u2019ve spoken with have first-round grades on about 20 to 25 players and think the final 20 picks of the draft could result in some interesting<\/em>\u00a0selections. They say teams could be making deals with players ahead of time to lock them in on two-way contracts, as they don\u2019t see much difference in talent level between players ranked from, say, No. 45 to No. 100.<\/p>\n

A few notes before the mock:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Each first-round pick features a link to the in-depth scouting report in my NBA Draft Guide<\/a> on that player.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ages are as of the night of Tuesday\u2019s first round.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Heights are from the NBA Draft Combine in May.<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 NBA executives, scouts, agents, players and other sources across the basketball ecosystem were granted anonymity in exchange for speaking freely about prospects.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0Washington Wizards<\/h2>\n

AJ Dybantsa | 6-9 wing | 19 years old | BYU<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m sticking with Dybantsa here, but sources say that Washington continues due diligence and that the Wizards haven\u2019t made a decision yet. One thing that has been made clear in recent days is that the team is doing a lot of research into Darryn Peterson to understand everything it needs to know about him.<\/p>\n

However, sources have also said not to read too much into the fact that Peterson is not currently scheduled to go to the Utah Jazz to work out; they don\u2019t think that means the Wizards have made an undisclosed promise to pick Peterson.<\/p>\n

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Why AJ Dybansta is the no. 1 prospect in this year’s NBA Draft<\/div>\n
Sam Vecenie<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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