2026 NBA draft thread

[mvossman]

This is where I am also.  Part of why I like the idea of Ament, Lopez, M. Johnson or even Carr in that 12 or 14  range is I'd like to put a young wing between Flagg and Christie.  The other part is I don't see that much space between the last PG of the bunch at #9 and guys like Philon, Okorie and Stirtz who you might get in the mid/late teens.  I see trading down as an opportunity to beef up the youth movement.  If you could tell me I'd come away with one guy from each of those lists instead of Burries or Flemings, I'm all over that.

I get the sentiment of wanting to get a young wing next to Flagg, but I would greatly prefer that guy can shoot, and most of those guys in your list don't project to be great shooters.  

I think there is more separation between the two tiers of guards, but we will just have to agree to disagree on that point.

Another way we look at this differently is that I don't consider Max part of the starting core.  I think we need a better defender at that spot and his ideal role is a shooter coming off the bench.

For me the primary goal of this draft is to find a plus starter.  I'm not nearly as interested in finding multiple depth pieces.  So for me the only argument for trading down is if you have better odds finding a plus starter by taking two shots later in the draft than you do taking one shot earlier.  Its a lot easier for me to envision one of those 5 guards turning into a plus starter, while it takes a lot more projection for me to see that with any of the guys behind them, so I lean towards staying at 9.