[NBA Draft]: 2026 Mock Draft Comparison, July 2025

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Kicking off what looks to be another stellar draft season ahead of us with our first mock draft comparison for 2026! We have ‘way too early’ mock drafts from Sam Vecenie/The Athletic, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo/ESPN, Jonathan Wasserman/Bleacher Report, Ricky O’Donnell/SB Nation, the No Ceilings crew, Tankathon and yours truly.

Draft analysts and scouts seem to be in agreement that there are at least three players respected as #1 pick caliber, franchise level talents in this draft including:

1. Darryn Peterson – SG, Kansas

• Peterson is praised for his polished scoring, elite shot-creation, and NBA-ready build at 6′5″ with a strong frame
• Comparable to Damian Lillard or Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander in his ability to create and control games, with 50/40/90 performances.

2. A.J. Dybantsa – Wing, BYU

• A 6′9″ athletic wing with elite scoring instincts, tremendous body control, and international pedigree
• Seen as nearly flawless in high school—flashes of a two-way All-Star with size and shooting, drawing comparisons to Tracy McGrady and Kevin Durant..

3. Cameron Boozer – Forward, Duke

• A highly polished 6′9″ forward with advanced IQ and feel. Son of Carlos Boozer, he combines post scoring, passing and defensive versatility.
• Multiple Gatorade Player of the Year honors, EYBL championships and multiple gold medals with Team USA solidify his winning résumé.

Most Likely Candidates to be in the Conversation as Top 5 Picks

• Nate Ament – A 6′11″ scoring wing with elite touch and upside; compared to Kevin Durant in ability to stretch the floor and run offense from the wing.
• Jayden Quaintance – A freshman at Kentucky known for his shot‑blocking, 7′5″ wingspan, and raw upside; is currently recovering post ACL surgery and transferred out of Arizona State.
• Chris Cenac – A rising 6′10″ high school big man with guard-like skills; adept at bringing the ball upcourt, face-up four play, shooting and rim protection.

Other top prospects climbing the ranks include Caleb Wilson (UNC), Mikel Brown (Louisville), Nik Khamenia (Duke), and Karim Lopez (New Zealand Breakers).

Please note: the picks from Vecenie and O’Donnell do not include teams.

I’ll be back each month with updated mock draft and big boards comparisons through Draft Day in June 2026, so bookmark the site, keep coming back and follow me @hoopsdistillery on Twitter where you can search #mockdraftcomp for all updates.

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Mock Draft Comparison

	Hoop Distillery (6/30)		The Athletic (6/29)		Tankathon (6/29)		No Ceilings (6/27)		Bleacher Report (6/27)		ESPN (6/27)		SB Nation (6/27)
1. BKN	Cameron Boozer	1	Darryn Peterson	1. UTA	AJ Dybantsa	1. UTA	Darryn Peterson	1. UTA	Darryn Peterson	1. WAS	Darryn Peterson	1	Cameron Boozer
2. UTA	Darryn Peterson	2	Cameron Boozer	2. WAS	Darryn Peterson	2. WAS	Cameron Boozer	2. WAS	AJ Dybantsa	2. UTA	AJ Dybantsa	2	Darryn Peterson
3. WAS	AJ Dybantsa	3	AJ Dybantsa	3. BKN	Cameron Boozer	3. CHA	AJ Dybantsa	3. BKN	Cameron Boozer	3. BKN	Cameron Boozer	3	AJ Dybantsa
4. CHA	Nate Ament	4	Nate Ament	4. CHA	Nate Ament	4. ATL	Tounde Yessoufou	4. CHA	Koa Peat	4. CHA	Nate Ament	4	Jayden Quaintance
5. CHI	Chris Cenac	5	Karim Lopez	5. POR	Karim Lopez	5. OKC	Nikolas Khamenia	5. TOR	Nate Ament	5. SAC	Mikel Brown	5	Nate Ament
6. POR	Mikel Brown	6	Mikel Brown	6. CHI	Chris Cenac	6. BKN	Mikel Brown	6. ATL	Tounde Yessoufou	6. MEM	Jayden Quaintance	6	Chris Cenac
7. MEM	Dame Sarr	7	Braylon Mullins	7. MEM	Tounde Yessoufou	7. TOR	Nate Ament	7. MEM	Jayden Quaintance	7. CHI	Karim Lopez	7	Karim Lopez
8. SAC	Nikolas Khamenia	8	Caleb Wilson	8. SAC	Braylon Mullins	8. SAS	Chris Cenac	8. POR	Caleb Wilson	8. ATL	Caleb Wilson	8	Mikel Brown
9. ATL	Karim Lopez	9	Tounde Yessoufou	9. ATL	Dash Daniels	9. POR	Meleek Thomas	9. MIA	Dash Daniels	9. MEM	Dame Sarr	9	Bennett Stirtz
10. TOR	Darius Acuff	10	Labaron Philon	10. TOR	Mikel Brown	10. ORL	Dame Sarr	10. OKC	Karim Lopez	10. MIA	Dash Daniels	10	Koa Peat
11. MIA	Jayden Quaintance	11	Koa Peat	11. MIA	Jayden Quaintance	11. MIA	Jayden Quaintance	11. SAC	Cayden Boozer			11	Isiah Harwell
12. MEM	Caleb Wilson	12	Bennett Stirtz	12. MEM	Thomas Haugh	12. DAL	Bennett Stirtz	12. CHI	Mikel Brown			12	Cayden Boozer
13. BOS	Koa Peat	13	Jayden Quaintance	13. IND	Bennett Stirtz	13. CHI	Patrick Ngongba	13. DAL	Braylon Mullins			13	Meleek Thomas
14. SAS	Thomas Haugh	14	Chris Cenac	14. SAS	Caleb Wilson	14. SAC	Karim Lopez	14. SAS	Chris Cenac			14	Caleb Wilson
15. MIL	Cayden Boozer	15	Thomas Haugh	15. MIL	Darius Acuff	15. ATL	Koa Peat	15. IND	Tahaad Pettiford			15	Darius Acuff
16. ATL	Isiah Harwell	16	Yaxel Lendeborg	16. ATL	Koa Peat	16. PHX	Yaxel Lendeborg	16. MEM	Karter Knox			16	Dash Daniels
17. IND	Dash Daniels	17	Nikolas Khamenia	17. DET	Yaxel Lendeborg	17. DET	Isaiah Evans	17. MIL	Isaiah Evans			17	Patrick Ngongba
18. DET	Braylon Mullins	18	Karter Knox	18. BOS	Patrick Ngongba	18. MIL	Magoon Gwath	18. ATL	Brayden Burries			18	Paul McNeil
19. OKC	Yaxel Lendeborg	19	Isiah Harwell	19. OKC	Nikolas Khamenia	19. MEM	Labaron Philon	19. BOS	Bennett Stirtz			19	Brayden Burries
20. DAL	Tounde Yessoufou	20	Dash Daniels	20. DAL	Isiah Harwell	20. GSW	Kam Williams	20. DET	Darius Acuff			20	Dame Sarr
21. GSW	Alijah Arenas	21	Tahaad Pettiford	21. GSW	Isaiah Evans	21. MIN	Isiah Harwell	21. ORL	Yaxel Lendeborg			21	Jasper Johnson
22. OKC	Karter Knox	22	Jojo Tugler	22. OKC	Labaron Philon	22. OKC	Tahaad Pettiford	22. GSW	Alijah Arenas			22	Adrian Wooley
23. LAL	Labaron Philon	23	Isaiah Evans	23. LAL	Cayden Boozer	23. IND	Karter Knox	23. MIN	JT Toppin			23	Thomas Haugh
24. MIN	Bennett Stirtz	24	Milos Uzan	24. MIN	Karter Knox	24. DEN	Darius Acuff	24. NYK	Alex Condon			24	Miles Byrd
25. CHA	Patrick Ngongba	25	Miles Byrd	25. CHA	Dame Sarr	25. LAL	Alijah Arenas	25. LAL	Isaiah Harwell			25	Yaxel Lendeborg
26. DEN	Hannes Steinbach	26	Neoklis Avdalas	26. DEN	Miles Byrd	26. NYK	Boogie Fland	26. OKC	Miles Byrd			26	Flory Bidunga
27. NYK	Boogie Fland	27	Alex Karaban	27. NYK	Paul McNeil	27. OKC	Thomas Haugh	27. OKC	Labaron Philon			27	Labaron Philon
28. OKC	Alex Condon	28	Braden Smith	28. OKC	JT Toppin	28. BOS	Alvaro Folguerias	28. CLE	Thomas Haugh			28	Ian Jackson
29. CLE	Tahaad Pettiford	29	Alex Condon	29. CLE	Tahaad Pettiford	29. CLE	Tyrone Riley	29. DEN	Wesley Yates			29	Karter Knox
30. WAS	Neoklis Avdalas	30	Henri Veesaar	30. WAS	Jojo Tugler	30. WAS	Paul McNeil	30. WAS	Boogie Fland			30	Kam Williams

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References:

The Athletic [Sam Vecenie]

Bleacher Report [Jonathan Wasserman]

ESPN [Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo]

No Ceilings

SB Nation [Ricky O’Donnell]

Tankathon

RealGM – future draft pick details

Search #mockdraftcomp on Twitter for all past Tweets

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Tankathon Draft Power Rankings:

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