2026 NBA draft thread

[Winter]

I agree with a lot of this. BUT I've watched many full games on all of these guards throughout the season and one thing that I always come back to is "upside". Knowing that each of them has flaws and they aren't finished products yet, I tend to rank them based on upside, especially if we're talking pick 8 or so. I actually think Burries has the least upside of the group. Not that I don't like him, but of the 5 or so games I've watched, in all but one of them it was Bradley that was more impressive. I think Burries will be a good pro, I just think he's more of a high floor guy (safer) pick than the others. If I'm at 8, and I can pick between any of those guards listed or Burries, I'm picking the other guy. That's really what it comes down to for me.

I know we're splitting hairs, and all of these guards will be talked about at length, I think it's important to remember that none of them are without flaws.

There is a problem for fans to get a good evaluation out of a player who is nether a PG nor a centerpiece of their respective college team. I have the same problem with Burries in this way as I do with Brayden Mullins. Neither of them feel like they are the alpha players to watch on their respective teams.

To put it another way, how would fans evaluate Devin Booker when he was drafted from Kentucky? He was drafted 13th, and not considered the Kentucky's star player (KAT was Kentucky's star along with Willie-Cauley Stein). So Burries is a harder evealuation for me than someone like Acuff or Wagler.