Latest NBA Mock Draft Predictions from Industry Experts After 2026 NBA Finals

With the 2026 NBA Finals in the books, Draft Season has officially dawned.

And all corners of the hoops world should take note, since the rave reviews of this draft class suggest it has true landscape-altering potential.

With only one week remaining until the first round gets underway, big boards are being cemented and draft decisions are coming clearer into focus. That makes this the perfect time, then, to zoom in on the latest prognostications from the most plugged-in draft analysts.

A Surprise at No. 2

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Most mock drafts, including the latest from ESPN's Jeremy Woo, The Athletic's Sam Vecenie and Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman, start the same and don't feature any disagreement until near the mid-point of the draft lottery. Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor, though, just took a sizable step in a different direction.

After making the universally agreed-upon selection of BYU's AJ Dybantsa at No. 1, O'Connor had the Utah Jazz making Duke's Cameron Boozer—not Kansas' Darryn Peterson—the second overall pick.

It is worth pointing out that O'Connor admitted this was a "gut feeling based on history" and "not based on any intel at all." In other words, it's O'Connor's view of the situation, not information gleaned from anywhere else. And in his view, there are too many question marks with Peterson to select him over Boozer, whom O'Connor called "one of the greatest college freshmen in recent history."

That would create an enormous roster, since Utah's frontcourt already features Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen and is seemingly holding a spot open for restricted free agent Walker Kessler. Still, O'Connor opined that Boozer's skill versatility and polish could actually make this jumbo-look work.

Mikel Brown Jr. Trending Up

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The glut of guards in the 5-10 range makes stock changes a little tricky to spot, but it seems like Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. is rising within that group.

Now, that's not a universal opinion. Vecenie, for instance, has Brown falling to the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 10, a pick made after Illinois' Keaton Wagler, Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr., Houston's Kingston Flemings and Arizona's Brayden Burries are all off the board.

The other three mocks, though, all have Brown going no later than No. 8. Woo mocked Brown seventh while noting he "appears to be on solid footing going into next week and has had a positive predraft process" and mentioning he is "in play" for the fifth and sixth picks. O'Connor went a step further and mocked Brown No. 5 and wrote that "he is dominating workouts."

Brown's lone season of college ball wasn't the most efficient you'll ever see, but it was injury-impacted and still featured some truly jaw-dropping stuff. He might have the widest gap between peaks and valleys among prospects in this range, but that also means he might offer the most upside, and that often serves as the biggest driver behind draft decisions.

Opinions Split on Yaxel Lendeborg

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As a first-team All-American and national champion, Yaxel Lendeborg did everything he could this past season to present a compelling sales pitch to NBA evaluators. They still maybe aren't buying it, or at least not to the degree that his accolades and accomplishments say they should.

While he has hovered near the 10th pick for much of mock draft season, he might be starting to slip. Wasserman, for instance, mocked Lendeborg 14th overall while noting there "have been rumors about [him] not finishing workouts due to either conditioning or the leg injury suffered during the season."

O'Connor projected an even bigger fall, leaving Lendeborg on the board until the 20th pick. "He'll be 24 as a rookie, and teams still have concerns about his maturity level," O'Connor wrote.

Vecenie slotted Lendeborg the highest of the four at No. 11, but did so while noting that "Lendeborg's draft stock is one of the most difficult to figure out." His age alone creates obvious questions of growth potential, and with a lot of lottery teams valuing upside over everything, that could be a deal-breaker for many.