It is very early, but this freshman class is looking like an all-timer. Let’s go!

Draft order and lottery courtesy of http://www.tankathon.com

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Things were going to be tough without Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, but even the most pessimistic of Pacers fans did not expect this type of fall-off. Indiana has most likely accepted that this will be a waste of a season, and hope to get some lottery luck. Adding Darryn Peterson would be the most silver or linings. He would thrive playing off Haliburton in a secondary ball-handler role.He may be the best offense creator in this class. A three level scorer, who can shoot and drive, he could help Indiana get right back to the Finals in 2026-2027. Peterson has only played two games for Kansas so far, but his injury is not expected to be serious.

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Cameron Boozer got off to a bit of a slow start during Duke’s opening day matchup against Texas, but since then it has been smooth sailing. Boozer has proven to be too much for the opposing cupcakes to handle, racking up points, rebounds and stocks. He should continue to dominate college competition. The question mark will be if his old school, below the rim game can translate to the NBA level. I think he will be just fine. Even if he tops out as a Julius Randle type offensive player, his hustle, determination and strength should make him a fringe All Star, at the very least. The Nets are in desperate need of star power, and Boozer would be a great fit with the plethora of young guards on the roster.

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The Pelicans sure could use a future 25 ppg scorer like AJ Dybantsa on the roster. I hope, for their sake, Derik Queen was worth it. The Atlanta Hawks will be just fine with a top three pick here. Dybantsa remains a work in progress defensively, but he has already shown that he will be tough to contain as an offensive force. The NBA is a scoring league, and Dybantsa can do it from a variety of ways. What may be most impressive is his strong shooting early on. With Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher and now Dybantsa, Atlanta could be a load for opposing defenses to handle.

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After briefly flirting with the playoffs, the Sacramento Kings are back to being the Sacramento Kings. The roster construction is poor, morale is even worse, and this team is in desperate need of yet another reset. Nate Ament is right there with the top three players in this draft. Thought to be raw, he has shown better than anticipated shooting and scoring early on, as well as some nifty playmaking ability. He has the look of a franchise cornerstone, and would be a nice piece for Sacramento to build around.

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The Wizards are still in the infancy stages of a long rebuild, and desperately need an All Star talent on the roster. Even picking at five, they draft a player who would instantly be the most talented on the roster. Mikel Brown Jr. is coming off his best game of the season, scoring 29 points and leading Louisville to a win over bitter rival Kentucky. Like Darryn Peterson, Brown Jr. is a score first combo guard, who is a dynamo with the ball in his hands. He is tailor made for the NBA game, where teams need players who can create their own offense. Brown Jr.’s early statement game was a 29 point scoring performance in a win over top ten ranked Kentucky.

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The Mavericks have a glut in the front court and a clear need for a point guard of the future, but Caleb Wilson is the best prospect available. He is the rare North Carolina Tar Heel who is an elite NBA prospect. He has shown solid stretch four potential early on, both as a scorer as well as a shot blocker and rebounder. He is tall, lanky and quick and would be another talented interchangeable big man to go with Cooper Flagg in Dallas.

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The Grizzlies looked like one of the best up and coming teams in the NBA a couple of seasons ago, but are now a cautionary tale on how quickly things can change, especially when the player you built your team around has mentally checked out. Tounde Yessoufou is the type of rugged, tough wing player that would endear himself to Memphis fans. He needs to improve his jump shot, but there is potential there. Where Yessoufou excels is getting to the basket offensively and pestering wing players defensively. He is averaging over 3 stocks per game early on. With Cedric Coward looking like a keeper, Yessoufou would give the Grizzlies a solid pair of wing players to build around.

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It has been another tough season for the Hornets, but it has not been all bad. Kon Knueppel and the rest of the draft class has paid major dividends. If Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball can simply stay healthy, this could be a playoff team in a year or two. Charlotte misses out on a top prospect here, but still has a chance to land a solid contributor. Koa Peat would be a nice compliment to all of the shooters on the Hornets roster. He is built like a football player and can really attack the basket. While he is not much of a shooter yet, the potential is there. He could give this roster some desperately needed front court beef.

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The Thunder are on pace for a historic season, and have two picks in the top ten of this mock. Life is good in Oklahoma City. Sam Presti can just sit back and draft the best player available here. Karim Lopez is the top international prospect in the early going. He is a gifted scorer, who can slash to the basket and is showing a nice shooting stroke as well, knocking down almost 45% of his three point attempts, which bodes well for his draft stock.

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The Utah Jazz simply can not tank properly, no matter how hard they try. If this pick lands outside of the top 8, it goes to the shrewd Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to a Derrick Favors salary dump half a decade ago. The Thunder have more talented guards than they will likely be able to pay, so drafting someone to take on some bench scoring would be a nice luxury here. Labaron Philon Jr. is my favorite non-freshman so far. He struggled offensively in Alabama’s close loss to Purdue, but has shown an improved jump shot to go along with serious point guard potential.

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The Trail Blazers are on the fringes of playoff contention, and expect to get a healthy Damian Lillard back in 2026-2027. The roster will be guard heavy, so perhaps drafting a big man would be the way to go here, even after selecting Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen the past two drafts. Chris Cenac Jr. is a different type of player than those two lumbering centers. He is agile, can shoot and run the floor. He is a major work in progress offensively, but is coming off of his best scoring output of the season, with 18 points in a close Houston win over Auburn.

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Memphis could be on the lookout for a future, or perhaps current, Ja Morant replacement. Bennett Stirtz would be the anti-Morant. It has been an interesting career path for Stirtz, who has found his way onto Iowa as a senior. So far, so good. He has shot the ball extremely well, as expected. He has good size and has shown enough point guard ability to convince scouts that he could play that position in the NBA. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that he has played 116 of a possible 120 minutes so far this season.

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Unlike the Indiana Pacers, Boston is deep enough to not completely fall off of a cliff without its best player. The Celtics should hover around .500 unless they trade pieces and decide to pack it in and play for lottery balls. Neoklis Avdalas is the type of offensively gifted point forward that scouts drool over. He has great size for a playmaker and can shoot it from deep. He also has potential as a defender, as he is averaging 1.3 blocks per game early on.

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While all the talk has been about Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Aledxander and Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo is quietly putting together a historic season for the Bucks out East. Unfortunately, the rest of the roster has once again let him down, which is a shame, because Antetokounmpo has remained loyal to this franchise, despite the best efforts of ESPN to get him out of there. This is a team that needs to hit on its draft picks to supplement some young talent on the roster. If Darius Acuff Jr. was bigger and stronger, he might be a top five pick. He is a very good shooter and has serious point guard skills. It is tough for small guards to break in to today’s NBA, but Acuff Jr. has starter potential. Ryan Rollins is playing very well for the Bucks, but is probably not a long term answer at point guard.

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After a very hot early start, Chicago finds itself back in the very familiar 10-15 draft range. On first glance, it looks like the international representation for this class may be lacking, but that is because several of those guys are playing at American universities. The best of the bunch may be Hannes Steinbach, who has the name of a chemistry teacher, but a very NBA friendly game. Steinbach has shown some serious stretch four ability offensively, with NBA three point range. he has also gobbled up rebounds by the handful, and even blocks shots. He has the look of a modern day NBA big man, and would be a great replacement for Nikola Vucevic in Chicago.

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The Hornets most likely thought they had another lottery pick here, but so far the Phoenix Suns have defied expectations. I expect this pick to eventually land in the lottery, but with so many openly tanking teams, it could be later on. There have been rumblings that Jayden Quaintance will sit out his sophomore year and prepare for the draft, but Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has denied those rumors. Quaintance is NBA ready as a rebounder and defender, but may top out as a Kevon Looney type offensively. The Hornets, loaded with offensive players, would be fine with the ruggedness Quaintance could provide.

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I usually do not include players who have played less than 20 minutes per game, or not played at all, in my mocks, but I expect Braylon Mullins to have a big impact once he is cleared to join Connecticut. He is a fantastic shooter with good size and athletic ability. His archetype usually does not last long on draft day. If he can shake the rust off, I expect him to be a lottery pick. The Heat have a few solid guards on the roster, and further bolster their bench scoring with this selection.

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Just when you think the Warriors are dead, Stephen Curry reminds us all that he is one of the very best offensive player sin NBA history. This team will hold on as long as Curry is around, but should continue to add cheap, young talent to the bench. Like his older brother Dyson, Dash Daniels is a solid ball handler and defender, but is behind the curve offensively. Golden State has plenty of scoring guards, and would bring in Daneils as a defensive stopper while working with him to improve his jump shot.

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Knicks starters are still playing too many regular season minutes, but perhaps new head coach Mike Brown will be more amenable to playing rookies than his stubborn predecessor. Thomas Haugh has developed into a great all around player, both as an offensive weapon, rebounder and play maker. He will be 23 during the 2026-2027 NBA season, which may limit his draft position upside, but he should be able to immediately produce off the bench for a team that desperately needs just that.

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The Kansas roster is not as deep or strong as it has been in recent memory, but Darryn Peterson has hardly been a one man show. Former five star recruit Flory Bidunga has stepped up in a big way during his sophomore season. He will never be a shooter, but is knocking down almost 80% of his shots, shooting well from the free throw line, and rebounding and blocking shots at a very high rate. He has the look of at the least a mid-tier starting center.

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Dame Sarr has had limited opportunities so far for Duke, but has made the best of his minutes. He is shooting very well from the arc, and has been a pesky defender as well. Sarr is coming off of back to back double digit scoring performances, and I expect him to continue to up his numbers, as Duke will be on the lookout for additional offense once the brutal ACC schedule kicks off.

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Early on, few freshmen have been as impressive as Houston guard Kingston Flemings. Houston may be the best team in the country, and Flemings has played big minutes, including 35 in a strong win over Auburn. He has shot the ball very well, and could play point guard, which may be the weakest position on the Toronto roster.

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The sample size is small, but Aday Mara’s decision to join Michigan has looked brilliant thus far. He has put up two absolute monster performances, showing massive improvement as a scorer, playmaker and rebounde.r The first round talent was always there, but sometimes big men are extremely slow to develop. If Mara can maintain this type of production for one of the best teams in college basketball, he could shoot into the lottery. In this particular scenario, good luck to any scorers who try to drive the lane against the Spurs 7’3 and bigger duo of Victor Wembanyama and Mara.

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John Calipari rosters usually have more players who need the ball in their hands than actual balls available on the court. Meleek Thomas has had to fight Darius Acuff Jr. and DJ Wagner for touches, but has been relatively effective in the early going. He may struggle from an efficiency standpoint, but is a talented scorer who can play point guard in a pinch.

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Through the very early goings, JT Toppin sits in the drivers stat for NCAA player of the year. He is off to a blistering start, filling up the stat sheet in every way imaginable. His NBA potential may be capped a bit, but it is hart to ignore his potential as an energy scorer and defender, who could provide 20 or so solid minutes off of the bench.

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The Lakers have seemingly been on the lookout for a rim running big man for years. They failed to land Mark Williams in a trade, but land a similar type of player here. Patrick Ngongba II may never be an offensive force, but he is strong, athletic and has solid defensive potential. It will be a work in progress, but there could be a future starting center here.

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Sergio De Larrea is off to a nice start for his international team, shooting over 57% from deep and showing the ability to play point guard in spurts. He is not much of a defender, but that scoring ability would be use to any playoff team.

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It has been a struggle offensively for Cayden Boozer thus far, but I think he is a better shooter than he has shown. He shots the ball well from the free throw line, and those three point shots should start falling with more regularity. Boozer takes good care of the ball offensively and chips in on defense. He may not be a starter, but a playoff team could appreciate his heady approach as a back up point guard.

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What a turnaround for the Pistons. It seemed like only yesterday this team lost 28 games in a row, and now they are on pace to win more than 60 games. I expected Isaiah Evans to take a larger leap as a sophomore, but he is still off to a solid start. He has a couple of duds offensively, but also showed his strengths with a 23 point performance against Texas. Even when his shot is not falling, he is still aggressive on defense, which scouts will appreciate.

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The Washington Wizards round out the first round, and could continue to draft young players with upside. However, the front court lacks serious size, so they could go the rare route and draft for need at the end of the first round. Henri Veesaar has done a bit of everything for a good North Carolina team, as a scorer, shooter and defender. His ability to knock down jump shots on offense and block shots on defense makes him an intriguing late first round option.

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