Examining Latest Expert 2026 NBA Mock Drafts for Lakers, 1st-Round Teams
The wait for the 2026 NBA draft is down to a matter of days.
And there aren't even a handful of them left.
This year's talent grab gets rolling on Tuesday, June 23, meaning teams have between now and then to finalize their big boards, lock in their draft strategies and plot out ways of executing those plans.
Mock drafters have ideas on how things will go, and their information should, at least in theory, be sharper now than it has been at any point of the pre-draft process. So, let's lay out some of these expert predictions before taking a closer look at trends, disagreements and notable moves.
Top-10 Expert Predictions
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Sam Vecenie, The Athletic
1. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa (BYU)
2. Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson (Kansas)
3. Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer (Duke)
4. Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson (North Carolina)
5. Clippers (from IND): Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
6. Nets: Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)
7. Kings: Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)
8. Hawks (from NO): Kingston Flemings (Houston)
9. Mavericks: Brayden Burries (Arizona)
10. Bucks: Nate Ament (Tennessee)
Jeremy Woo, ESPN
1. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa (BYU)
2. Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson (Kansas)
3. Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer (Duke)
4. Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson (North Carolina)
5. Clippers (from IND): Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
6, Nets: Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)
7. Kings: Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)
8. Hawks (from NO): Kingston Flemings (Houston)
9. Mavericks: Brayden Burries (Arizona)
10. Bucks: Nate Ament (Tennessee)
Kevin O'Connor, Yahoo Sports
1. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa (BYU)
2. Utah Jazz: Cameron Boozer (Duke)
3. Memphis Grizzlies: Darryn Peterson (Kansas)
4. Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson (North Carolina)
5. Clippers (from IND): Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)
6, Nets: Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)
7. Kings: Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
8. Hawks (from NO): Brayden Burries (Arizona)
9. Mavericks: Karim Lopez (New Zealand Breakers)
10. Bucks: Kingston Flemings (Houston)
First-Round Mock from B/R's Jonathan Wasserman
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1. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa (BYU)
2. Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson (Kansas)
3. Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer (Duke)
4. Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson (North Carolina)
5. Los Angeles Clippers: Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
6. Brooklyn Nets: Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)
7. Sacramento Kings: Kingston Flemings (Houston)
8. Atlanta Hawks: Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)
9. Dallas Mavericks: Brayden Burries (Arizona)
10. Milwaukee Bucks: Nate Ament (Tennessee)
11. Golden State Warriors: Karim Lopez (New Zealand Breakers)
12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Aday Mara (Michigan)
13. Miami Heat: Cameron Carr (Baylor)
14. Charlotte Hornets: Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan)
15. Chicago Bulls: Christian Anderson (Texas Tech)
16. Memphis Grizzlies: Bennett Stirtz (Iowa)
17. Oklahoma City Thunder (via 76ers): Morez Johnson Jr. (Michigan)
18. Charlotte Hornets: Hannes Steinbach (Washington)
19. Toronto Raptors: Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama)
20. San Antonio Spurs: Allen Graves (Santa Clara)
21. Detroit Pistons: Ebuka Okorie (Stanford)
22. Philadelphia 76ers: Chris Cenac Jr. (Houston)
23. Atlanta Hawks (via Cavaliers): Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky)
24. New York Knicks: Meleek Thomas (Arkansas)
25. Los Angeles Lakers: Dailyn Swain (Texas)
26. Denver Nuggets: Tarris Reed Jr. (Connecticut)
27. Boston Celtics: Koa Peat (Arizona)
28. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Pistons): Isaiah Evans (Duke)
29. Cleveland Cavaliers (via Spurs): Sergio de Larrea (Valencia)
30. Dallas Mavericks: Henri Veesaar (North Carolina)
*Complete two-round mock with analysis for every pick can be found here.
Notable Trends, Disagreements and Selections
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The first five picks are the same for all three of Woo, Vecenie and Wasserman. O'Connor notably goes two different directions within his top five: Cameron Boozer over Darryn Peterson at No. 2, and Darius Acuff Jr. (not Keaton Wagler) at No. 5. On that latter prediction, O'Connor relayed hearing "increasingly loud rumors that either the Clippers or Nets could select [Acuff] to force the Kings (or another team) to move up for him."
O'Connor is also the only expert here who doesn't have the same 10 prospects within his top 10. He has Karim Lopez, the best NBA prospect to come out of Mexico, going ninth overall. Lopez lands between the Nos. 11 and 20 picks for the other three. Nate Ament, a top-10 selection for Woo, Vecenie and Wasserman, went 15th in O'Connor's mock.
On the stock watch front, there's clearly an up arrow next to Morez Johnson Jr., who impressed with his measurements, athletic testing and shooting at the combine. He hasn't always been a top-20 lock during mock draft season, but now he's a lottery pick for three of the four experts (Wasserman is lowest at No. 17).
Conversely, the arrow is going down for Koa Peat. He had lottery buzz at times this season, but a rough showing at the combine torpedoed that. Now, he's landing between picks Nos. 22 (for Vecenie) and 27 (for Wasserman).
Finally, on the marquee market watch, it's mostly frontcourt reinforcements for the Lakers and Knicks. With New York at No. 24, two mock drafters went with centers (Tarris Reed Jr. for Vecenie, Henri Veesar for Woo), while the others had a power forward (Peat for O'Connor) and a combo guard (Meleek Thomas for Wasserman). One pick later, L.A. was twice linked to wing Dailyn Swain (by Wasserman and O'Connor) and twice linked to centers (Zuby Ejiofor for Vecenie, Jayden Quaintance for Woo).
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