New NBA Draft 2026 Big Board from The Athletic Drops, How Does It Compare to B/R, ESPN?

As the countdown to the 2026 NBA draft continues to move closer to zero, rankings for the top prospects in this year's class have come into focus.

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie dropped his latest top 100 big board rankings on Tuesday, with AJ Dybantsa occupying the top spot.

Here is the top 10 for Vecenie, along with those from B/R and ESPN's Jeremy Woo to see how the three lists compare and contrast at the top of the class.

The Athletic	B/R	ESPN
1. AJ Dybantsa	Cameron Boozer	AJ Dybantsa
2. Cameron Boozer	Darryn Peterson	Darryn Peterson
3. Darryn Peterson	AJ Dybantsa	Cameron Boozer
4. Caleb Wilson	Caleb Wilson	Caleb Wilson
5. Darius Acuff Jr.	Darius Acuff Jr.	Keaton Wagler
6. Keaton Wagler	Kingston Flemings	Darius Acuff Jr.
7. Kingston Flemings	Keaton Wagler	Mikel Brown Jr.
8. Brayden Burries	Brayden Burries	Kingston Flemings
9. Yaxel Lendeborg	Mikel Brown Jr.	Nate Ament
10. Mikel Brown Jr.	Ebuka Okorie	Aday Mara

One thing that stands about the rankings is Caleb Wilson seems like a lock to be the fourth player off the board, but the order of the three players ahead of him remains up in the air.

Vecenie's ranking also includes tiers, with Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson in their own group for being potential franchise cornerstones and All-NBA upside.

In his scouting report for Dybantsa, Vecenie described him as having "elite tools" as a wing and the upside to develop into a top-10 player in the NBA.

B/R is the lone outlier in not having Dybantsa ranked No. 1. Instead, the "unteachable knack for making the right reads, with the skill set to handle the ball, use strength and rise into jumpers" gives Boozer the edge.

One interesting note that came out on Monday from Woo and Shams Charania is that Peterson's lone pre-draft visit was with the Washington Wizards, who own the No. 1 overall pick, and he won't meet with any other clubs.

This could suggest Peterson has received some indication from Washington that he will be selected with the top pick.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman projected Dybantsa to the Wizards in his newest mock released on Tuesday. Peterson was cited as a potential "surprise" in that spot, but it was also noted their front office has been "very tight-lipped" about their plans.

The main thing that all three big boards indicate is there's a clear hierarchy in the class with Dybantsa, Boozer and Peterson above everyone else. How that trio is ordered by teams is likely just personal preference.

We will find out who the Wizards have atop their board when the 2026 draft begins with the first round on June 23.