2026 NBA draft thread

[F Gump]

Look at it this way - I see two major talent cutoff points in this year's draft - after four, and after nine. What do the Mavs really need to happen? Only one of the top four players is going to give them sufficient improvement for next year (in spite of being a rookie) and for the few years after since we do not have our own picks. If the Mavs don't move, the ship has sailed and the pooch is screwed, so to speak. I don't believe any one guy after four is going to make enough difference - Acuff's defense offsets the fantastic offensive impact he will have (and the Mavs won't pick 5th or 6th, where he's going, anyway). At that point, for this draft to be as impactful as Nico's idiocy made it necessary to be, I think they need to grab two guys who will be perennial quality starters rather than one barely-star. I've already said I want no part of Brown with a top nine pick. If they're picking tenth and Philon and the other good guards are gone, then I would be actively angry *if* they had the opportunity to grab two mid-teen picks in this draft and didn't.

Of course, it all depends on the mind of the guy making the picks. If he's a Keith Grant, it's not going to matter where we pick. If it's a Presti, then I will trust him to make the right picks/decisions wherever that may be.

I'm not convinced Brown will be a bad pick or the last PG standing. The No Ceilings guys' video provided a good (and informative) analysis of his game, the worries that exist, and some of the tremendous upside he might bring to the table. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMRv27y9uo

They noted items like a growth spurt that may have been part of the back issues, and the back issues/forced missed games leading to the inconsistency, layered with info about some mid-season off-the-charts performances that hint he MIGHT be the very best of the group, once he gets healthy. I would encourage you to take a look (and perhaps mitigate your worry over Mavs getting him in the draft).

I do agree that the questions raised by the back injury demand an expert. I would think an expert GM (Presti, please!) who then hired an expert medical team (Casey, please!) is how you want these things figured out.

In any event, at this point, with more info, I'm now very open to the idea of Brown. He might be THE star PG in this draft.

ONE MORE GENERAL NOTE. There are some key dates looming and we are only about 3 weeks from knowing way more than we do now, and reducing the things we have to speculate about. For example, we still don't know how tall Brown (or any of the others) truly are. That info is coming, pre-draft, in May, and the results may considerably juggle the evaluations. The schedule of informative events:

Apr 17 (after games) Non-lottery draft order set, other than ties and lottery
Apr 20 Coin flip to resolve ties in records for lottery seeds (if neither team is drawn) and other draft order
Apr 24  Deadline for a player to decide if he is in/out of this draft
May 8-10  G-League combine, with extensive measurements and tests and drills
May 10 Draft lottery
May 10 NBA Combine begins, when we get accurate physical measurements of all kinds