From AJ Dybantsa to Koa Peat, rewind through the entire First Round of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a> Steve Aschburner<\/p>\n Teams can get better in the Draft in several ways: quantity, quality or fit. My view of the Chicago Bulls was that their roster looked so threadbare after the previous regime\u2019s misdirections that new boss Bryson Graham needed to nail his two first-round choices at No. 4 and No. 15. With Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain, respectively, he did just that. Wilson was part of the Consensus Four for reasons, and he lands with the Bulls without less pressure than Washington, Utah and Memphis face after sifting through and picking other prospects. He and Swain are long and athletic and instantly make Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis look less lonely.<\/p>\n Memphis probably wanted Cam Boozer for weeks, if not months, and had him plop into its lap. The NBA-pedigreed forward fits nicely next to rim protector Zach Edey and burly Isaiah Stewart (acquired via draft picks from Detroit). If only Ja Morant could hit a reset button, the Grizzlies have enough to climb again in the West. Not that that will be easy, especially after Oklahoma City grabbed the Draft\u2019s rich-getting-richer trophy by adding Michigan\u2019s 7-foot-3 Aday Mara as a Victor Wembanyama counter.<\/p>\n Finally, it\u2019s important to acknowledge New Orleans and Derik Queen as Draft winners, even if the roster isn\u2019t much improved. All that pressure last season from trading up in 2025 to snag Queen, an All-Rookie honoree, is largely gone with Atlanta settling for Kingston Flemings plus Asa Newell as the final return. Flemings will be fighting uphill to get results, plus show potential, comparable to Queen.<\/p>\n Brian Martin<\/p>\n The Memphis Grizzlies select Cameron Boozer (Duke) as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center.<\/p>\n Memphis. In selecting Cameron Boozer, the Grizzlies get a polished, pro-ready forward who has won at every level<\/a> he has played. He\u2019s both versatile and efficient, averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 55.6% overall and 39.1% on 3-pointers as a freshman at Duke. In addition to adding Boozer, the Grizzlies traded down twice in the first round before selecting Karim L\u00f3pez at No. 21 and accumulating multiple future second-round picks. Lastly, the Grizzlies used three of those picks on Wednesday to acquire Isaiah Stewart<\/a> from Detroit, adding frontline depth next to Zach Edey.<\/p>\n Sacramento. After watching two of their recent former point guards playing in the last two NBA Finals \u2014 Tyrese Haliburton in 2025, De\u2019Aaron Fox in 2026 \u2014 the Kings may have landed their point guard of the future<\/a> in Darius Acuff Jr., who fell to them at No. 7 after speculation that he could go as high as No. 5. Acuff Jr.\u2019s dynamic play will make him an immediate fan favorite in Sacramento, which also traded up<\/a> to add two-time NCAA champion Alex Karaban out of UConn, giving the Kings some much-needed outside shooting after they finished last in 3-pointers made in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City. Despite finishing with the top record in the league for the second straight season, the Thunder entered the draft with a pair of top-16 picks. After falling to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder used the first of those picks to add 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara<\/a>, who brings a high basketball IQ, rim protection, playmaking and a soft touch around the basket as a finisher. The pick comes as the Thunder must decide whether to pick up Isaiah Hartenstein\u2019s team option for next season. Adding Mara gives OKC some insurance in case they lose Hartenstein.<\/p>\n Krysten Peek<\/p>\n Without stating the obvious, the Wizards drastically improved their roster. AJ Dybantsa was the first freshman to lead the country in scoring (25.5 ppg) since Trae Young in 2018. The duo is teaming up in D.C. \u2014 in fact, Young was one of the first phone calls Dybantsa received after being drafted. The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa joins a core of Tre Johnson, Will Riley, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr and Anthony Davis, among others, in Washington.<\/p>\n The Wizards were 17-65 last season. A full season of Young, Riley, Davis and the rest could have them thinking this is their chance to rise in the East. Washington hasn\u2019t made the playoffs since the 2020-21 season and hasn\u2019t had a winning record since 2017-18. Adding Dybantsa to their roster gives the Wizards the spark they need to rebuild and compete.<\/p>\n Shaun Powell<\/p>\n AJ Dybantsa sits down with Lauren Green after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n These types of questions are always tricky in the immediate aftermath, if only because players haven\u2019t suited up yet. That said, three teams are obvious answers to the question: Utah, Washington and Memphis because they nabbed Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cam Boozer, the most raved-about three in the entire draft. Time will tell on them, as well as what Oklahoma City did, in a more strategic way by comparison \u2014 getting 7-foot-3 Michigan center Aday Mara. Given that OKC\u2019s biggest competition in the West is San Antonio, perhaps for years to come, this was such a transparent decision, getting a big man who right now can see eye to eye with Victor Wembanyama and, OKC hopes, will someday go toe to toe with the Spurs\u2019 difference-making star.<\/p>\n John Schuhmann<\/p>\n Atlanta and Washington. The Wizards are an easy choice because they had the No. 1 pick, but they can obviously make a big leap next season. That\u2019s because AJ Dybantsa fits in well with their existing core of Trae Young, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr. Young\u2019s playmaking and Davis\u2019 rim protection should take a lot of pressure off the rookie on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n The Hawks had the 15th-ranked bench<\/a> in the playoffs, when they were outscored by 20.2 points per 100 possessions<\/a> in CJ McCollum\u2019s 96 minutes off the floor. So getting Aaron Wiggins from the Thunder (on a very reasonable contract) should help their depth. Time will tell if Kingston Flemings is ready to contribute, but he should be able to play alongside either McCollum or Nickeil Alexander-Walker.<\/p>\n Jeff Zillgitt<\/p>\n Charlotte. The Hornets took a versatile big in Washington\u2019s Hannes Steinbach at No. 14 and four picks later, they drafted playmaking Texas Tech point guard Christian Anderson. They should help the improving Hornets (19 wins in 2024-25 to 44 wins last season) bolster their depth to supplement the core of Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges.<\/p>\n Memphis. The Grizzlies selected a potential multi-year All-Star in forward Cameron Boozer at No. 3, and they made Karim L\u00f3pez at No. 21 the first Mexican-born player drafted in the first round. Boozer was an All-American at Duke in 2025-26, and Lopez has shown improvement in each of his three pro seasons internationally, including the past two seasons in Australia. The Grizzlies also selected Richie Saunders \u2014 a player with first-round potential \u2014 at No. 32 in the second round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From AJ Dybantsa to Koa Peat, rewind through the entire First Round of the 2026 NBA Draft at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105,234381],"class_list":["post-510800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports","tag-trending-topics-2026-nba-draft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022\u00a02026 NBA Draft Board<\/a><\/p>\n