Who’s NBA Draft’s No. 1 player on your board? Rank Peterson, Dybantsa, Boozer, and more

This year’s NBA rookie class feels like one of the strongest in recent memory with Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and V.J. Edgecombe leading a fantastic group of first-year players that’s already leaving its imprint on the league. Would you believe the 2026 draft class could be even better?

There’s tons of star-power at the top of the 2026 NBA Draft, and it doesn’t feel like an exaggeration to say the long-term future of the league hinges the lottery drawing on May 12. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing A.J. Dybantsa, and Duke forward Cameron Boozer give this year’s class three potential No. 1 overall talents. The bigger surprise during this season of college basketball is all of the other intriguing prospects who have emerged behind them.

I published an NBA mock draft last week that was mostly sorted by own personal board, but not entirely. With that in mind, I thought I would drop my mid-season board and ask you to submit your own draft boards in the comments. Want to know more about these players? My mock draft has a blurb on every first-round pick, and features almost 5,000 words of analysis.

Here’s how I’d rank the best prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft with about six weeks before the start of March Madness.

Let’s do some quick-hit takes on my board.

• Team USA is going to field a starting lineup in the Olympics with Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, and A.J. Dybantsa one day (put me down for Chet Holmgren as the fifth starter).
• Boozer is every bit as strong of a prospect as Flagg was last year.
• Peterson might be the strongest No. 2 overall prospect ever on my board, and I’d take him No. 1 in most of the drafts I have covered here (starting in 2014).
• I’m starting to get a bit worried about Dybantsa, mostly because his defense looks pretty bad right now and I’m skeptical he’s ever going to be a high-volume three-point shooter. There’s a case for Wilson over Dybantsa but I’m not there yet.
• Wilson looks more like a super role player than a star bet to me, but that’s okay. He’s huge (6’10) for a forward, he’s super athletic, his motor never stops running, and he can defend all sorts of player archetypes all over the floor.
• Flemings has been the biggest revelation of the season in my eyes. He’s such an awesome driver and playmaker with ridiculous burst and change-of-direction. I also love his ability to self-create and drain mid-range shots, and I think he’s going to be solid defensively. I’m a bit worried about his low free throw rate and lack of three-point volume, but I think he can overcome it.
• Yaxel Lendeborg is literally older than Josh Giddey, but it’s so hard to find two-way wings with this much length (7’4 wingspan) and shooting. I could see him being a nice small-five ball in the league, but he can also work well alongside a true center.
• I’m buying Hannes Steinbach for his offensive rebounding, his hands, his coordination, and his scoring efficiency. He has to improve as a shooter, and I’m still a little skeptical of his defensive translation. I feel like he’ll be best in two-big looks.
• I’m not sure there’s ever been a 6’6+ one-and-done lottery pick who finished a full season without a dunk. Keaton Wagler is on pace to do that right now. It feels like Wagler needs to shoot the hell out of the ball to make it work in the league given his athletic limitations, but he looks like an incredible off-the-dribble shooter so far. Can he do any of the dirty work on defense? I doubt it. It’s a high bar to be an on-ball star in the NBA, and he’ll be a worse athlete than most of them. For all the holes I can poke in his game, he’s still a really good shot creator prospect with great length for a de facto point guard, and his shooting is the great equalizer.
• I have a hard time ranking Koa Peat. He can’t shoot at all, but his frame is great, I like his defensive mentality, and he can make some great reads as a passer or scorer on the ball. I’m not sure how he slots into an offense that doesn’t already have a lot of shooting, but I’ll give a player the benefit of the doubt when he’s a freshman playing a crucial role on one of the country’s best teams.
• I love Morez Johnson as a bad-ass paint protector, and I think he’ll find offensive value with his rebounding, his play-finishings, and possibly his shooting.
• The player who could be higher on my final year-end board? I’ll go with Brayden Burries, the freshman guard who has been electric for

Drop your board in the comments

These will be fun to look back on later. Let’s see those boards.