NBA mock draft: 2 recent champions rise in stunning lottery simulation

The 2026 NBA championship race is shaping up to be a thrilling, wide open chase between emergent young teams and established juggernauts, yet somehow it feels like the bottom of the league is getting more attention. The 2026 NBA Draft class is so strong that commissioner Adam Silver is in the process of rushing through lottery reform in an attempt to solve a purported tanking crisis. The fact that teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons quickly went from worst-to-first after landing the No. 1 pick in the draft in recent years makes the stakes even higher when the ping-pong balls bounce on May 10.

The NBA’s decision to flatten the lottery odds ahead of the 2019 draft has opened up the tank race to even more teams and resulted in some surprising winners in recent years. It happened again in our latest mock draft.

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We simulated the lottery with one spin of Tankathon to get the first-round order, and there were some major surprises. Three teams moved up at least six spots in the order. Seven teams fell at least two spots from their starting lottery position. Imagine the chaos if this is how the draft actually breaks.

After the lottery results shook up the order, the picks in this mock draft were based on how I think things will actually go, not necessarily what I would do. Let’s hit on some key themes after the jump.

Pick

Team

Player

Position

School

Age

1

Atlanta Hawks (via Pelicans)

AJ Dybantsa

Wing

BYU

Freshman

2

Brooklyn Nets

Darryn Peterson

Guard

Kansas

Freshman

3

Milwaukee Bucks

Cameron Boozer

Forward

Duke

Freshman

4

Golden State Warriors

Caleb Wilson

Forward

North Carolina

Freshman

5

Washington Wizards

Keaton Wagler

Guard

Illinois

Freshman

6

Los Angeles Clippers (via Pacers)

Yaxel Lendeborg

Forward

Michigan

Senior

7

Sacramento Kings

Kingston Flemings

Guard

Houston

Freshman

8

Utah Jazz

Brayden Burries

Guard

Arizona

Freshman

9

Dallas Mavericks

Darius Acuff

Guard

Arkansas

Freshman

10

Memphis Grizzlies

Jayden Quaintance

Center/Forward

Kentucky

Sophomore

11

Chicago Bulls

Mikel Brown Jr.

Guard

Louisville

Freshman

12

Portland Trail Blazers

Nate Ament

Wing

Tennessee

Freshman

13

Charlotte Hornets

Koa Peat

Forward

Arizona

Freshman

14

Miami Heat

Karim Lopez

Forward

NZ…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-mock-draft-2-recent-120000599.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-02 12:00:00

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