Every so often, the NBA’s talent pipeline swells, and a single draft class reshapes the league’s balance of power. In the past 50 years, it has happened six times:
- 1984: Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton;
- 1987: David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller;
- 1996: Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Ray Allen;
- 2003: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh;
- 2009: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Blake Griffin; and
- 2011: Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler.
(If you’re into ranking the classes, go with this order: 1984, 2003, 1996, 2009, 2011 and 1987.)
The 2026 NBA draft class is shaping up to be one of those seismic years, with at least four potential franchise players and an unusually deep pool of prospects with significant upside behind them.
Four players reside on Cooper Flagg tier
There are four prospects who are in a similar prospect tier as Cooper Flagg was entering last year’s draft. All the guys in this tier have the best shot at developing into superstars.
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa is a 6-foot-9 apex predator wing with a combination of explosiveness and fluidity that has people casually dropping comparisons to Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. He attacks the basket with the same type of ferocity as Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans once did for Duke and plays with an intensity few can match.
Kansas’ Darryn Peterson is a fully formed 6-foot-6 lead guard who will anchor the Jayhawks’ offense this season. Peterson has shades of James Harden (Los Angeles Clippers) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) in his game — the kind of player an entire offensive ecosystem can be built around — and he’s one of the best guard prospects since Derrick Rose.
Duke’s Cameron Boozer is a 6-foot-9 behemoth of an 18-year-old who is built like his father (two-time All-Star Carlos Boozer), but has a much more advanced skill set, especially as a playmaker for his teammates. He’ll draw a lot of comparisons to Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic, but he could be better than Banchero was in college (17.2 scoring average at Duke).
The dark-horse contender for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is Tennessee’s Nate Ament. The gangly 6-foot-10 wing with a sweet shooting touch might remind you of a certain “Slim Reaper” who starred for Rick Barnes in 2006-07 at Texas (psst: Kevin Durant). Ament hit a late growth spurt in high school and is still growing into his frame, so he’ll need to continue improving his strength and finishing around the rim to stay in the mix for the top pick.
Having four potential franchise players in one class is unusual on its own, but the crazy thing about this draft class is its depth of potential stars after these four.
North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, Arizona’s Koa Peat worth watching
North Carolina’s Wilson, a 6-foot-10 super-athlete, outplayed Peterson in their early season showdown, electrifying the UNC crowd with his intense defense and 24-point, seven-rebound, four-assist, four-steal performance. He could be a super version of Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets.
Or how about Arizona’s Koa Peat? The 6-foot-8 power forward went full alpha dog against last season’s defending champion Florida Gators and dropped a dominant 30 points in his first collegiate game. Interestingly, he plays a lot like Cameron Boozer’s father, Carlos.
There’s also Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. This 6-foot-5 point guard plays with the creativity of a Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers) and also has some of the same stop-and-pop, off-the-dribble scoring ability as Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.
All three of these guys would have almost certainly been the top pick of the 2024 NBA Draft over Zaccharie Risacher, the Frenchman who went to the Atlanta Hawks.
And be sure to keep an eye on Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas, too. This is a 6-foot-9 Greek point forward who has a lot of former NBA standout Hedo Turkoglu to his game and is skyrocketing up draft boards after dropping a 33-6-5 stat line in only his second career collegiate game versus Providence recently.
Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance, Chris Cenac Jr. turning heads, too
Finally, there’s a bevy of prospects who are prototypes of highly successful NBA players (comps in parentheses).
A pair of young big men headline the group: Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance (think Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons) and Chris Cenac Jr. (Kel’el Ware of the Miami Heat), both boasting major upside. On the wing, international standouts such as Mexico’s Karim Lopez (Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers) and Australia’s Dash Daniels (his brother is Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks) play with relentless energy. The shooting guard crop is deep, led by UConn’s Braylon Mullins (Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets) and Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou (former NBA standout Victor Oladipo). Even the senior class brings intrigue with Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz (Ty Jerome of the Memphis Grizzlies) and Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg (Thaddeus Young of the Phoenix Suns).
All told, this draft class seems to have it all — elite talent at the top and rare depth throughout. Even if a Michael Jordan–Kobe Bryant–LeBron James-caliber player doesn’t emerge to elevate it into the company of the 1984, 1996 or 2003 classes, it would still be surprising if this group doesn’t produce multiple Hall of Famers and go down as one of the best drafts in NBA history.
It’s that good.
