The 2025 NBA Draft was over for roughly 14 seconds earlier than the 2026 NBA Draft lookaheads to Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa started, however there are actual classes that may be gleaned from a draft cycle that featured far more than simply the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes.
Let’s dive into how school basketball packages will react to the NBA Draft.
RJ Luis’ market fizzles
Luis was the lone school participant on the NBA’s early-entrant listing who wound up going undrafted even amidst a watered-down second spherical. Alabama’s Labaron Philon, UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford all had extra NBA Draft buzz than Luis and selected to return to high school. Luis didn’t, as a substitute selecting to guess on himself within the pre-draft course of and eschew the profitable seven-figure affords from switch portal suitors.
The Large East Participant of the 12 months was unable to boost his inventory significantly, as questions on his jumper remained unanswered.
Going undrafted shouldn’t be a dying sentence, particularly after a number of NBA decision-makers hinted that quite a few brokers spent Day 2 of the NBA Draft asking for his or her respective purchasers to not be picked within the second spherical in lieu of a greater undrafted free agent provide. That might be the case with Luis, who signed a two-way cope with the rebuilding Utah Jazz. Luis is predicted to crew up with Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. within the Las Vegas-held NBA Summer time League, which will get underway in lower than two weeks.
2026 NBA Mock Draft: BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa soars to prime of way-too-early lottery projection
Gary Parrish
Luis, already 22 years previous, remained steadfast all through the method that he wished to parlay his huge junior season at St. John’s into knowledgeable profession. If he is capable of play his method right into a assured contract, the chance was definitely worth the reward, however a two-way cope with Utah is a shaky proposition for a big-name school basketball star who handed on actual, assured cash that the faculty ranks may present, despite the fact that returning to high school wouldn’t have assured any completely different final result within the 2026 NBA Draft.
“It is extra than simply the cash,” a particularly assured Luis advised CBS Sports activities final month on the NBA Draft Mix. “Say I am going again to school, I get a big sum of money, however then what? I will be a 12 months older. Nonetheless going to need to do the method once more. It is extra about discovering the appropriate time to enter this. I believe that is my second.”
From 5 stars to the primary spherical
There have been 20 gamers within the unique five-star class in 247Sports’ Class of 2024 rankings. A 12 months later, 13 of them grew to become first-round picks within the 2025 NBA Draft.
Not too shabby.
| 247Sports Rating | NBA Draft choice | |
|---|---|---|
| Duke’s Cooper Flagg | No. 1 | No. 1 |
| Rutgers‘ Ace Bailey | No. 2 | No. 10 |
| Rutgers’ Dylan Harper | No. 3 | No. 2 |
| Duke’s Khaman Maluach | No. 4 | No. 10 |
| Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe | No. 5 | No. 3 |
| Texas‘ Tre Johnson | No. 6 | No. 6 |
| UConn’s Liam McNeeley | No. 10 | No. 29 |
| UNC’s Drake Powell | No. 11 | No. 22 |
| Maryland’s Derik Queen | No. 12 | No. 13 |
| BYU’s Egor Demin | No. 16 | No. 8 |
| Duke’s Kon Knueppel | No. 18 | No. 4 |
| Georgia’s Asa Newell | No. 19 | No. 23 |
| Illinois‘ Will Riley | No. 20 | No. 21 |
The preseason predictions that freshmen would begin to flex their muscle groups once more in a grizzled school basketball ecosystem have been on level, because the Class of 2024 simply separated in virtually each class from the earlier three cycles.
- 2025 NBA Draft: 13 of 20 (65%) five-star freshmen from the Class of 2024 grew to become first-rounders.
- 2024 NBA Draft: Seven of 17 (41%) five-star freshmen from the Class of 2023 grew to become first-rounders.
- 2023 NBA Draft: 10 of 25 (40%) five-star freshmen from the Class of 2022 grew to become first-rounders.
- 2022 NBA Draft: 9 of 29 (31%) five-star freshmen from the Class of 2021 grew to become first-rounders.
Switch portal reveals path to the draft
There have been 13 gamers from the 2024 switch portal cycle who grew to become NBA Draft picks. It is simply essentially the most in any class of the portal period.
- Cedric Coward, from EWU to Washington State
- Danny Wolf, from Yale to Michigan
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, from NIU to Penn State
- Javon Small, from Oklahoma State to West Virginia
- Micah Peavy, from TCU to Georgetown
- Amari Williams, from Drexel to Kentucky
- Koby Brea, from Dayton to Kentucky
- Sion James, from Tulane to Duke
- Adou Thiero, from Kentucky to Arkansas
- Chaz Lanier, from North Florida to Tennessee
- Alijah Martin, from Florida Atlantic to Florida
- Kobe Sanders, from Cal Poly to Nevada
- John Tonje, from Missouri to Wisconsin
This rise is undoubtedly fueled by the additional cash that’s out there within the school ranks, which helped retain extra younger school studs who may have been deserving of second-round picks. However there have been loads of sensible basketball choices that have been rewarded by NBA decision-makers.
Wisconsin pivoting to an injured Tonje who was dedicated to New Mexico? Nice transfer. Mark Pope making an additional flight to verify Williams didn’t reopen his Kentucky dedication after the ‘Cats landed fellow heart Brandon Garrison?
Value it.
Georgetown circled an analytics darling who couldn’t shoot in Peavy and breathed confidence into him that he might be far more than only a defensive menace.
They have been proper.
West Virginia outlasted Kansas‘ last-ditch effort to flip Small and watched as he remodeled into one of many elite level guards within the nation. Duke and Florida do not make the Last 4 with out James and Martin, respectively. The usual for mid-major transfers at Tennessee was so excessive after Dalton Knecht, and the sweet-shooting Chaz Lanier did not appear fazed by it one bit.
However the greatest portal winners are Wolf, Niederhauser and Coward. At the moment final 12 months, in case you have been choosing three guys from the 2024 portal cycle who would turn into first-round picks, you can have gotten the Wolf, Niederhauser and Coward trio at a million-to-one odds. Dusty Could’s imaginative and prescient and ingenuity helped Wolf remodel right into a first-round choose. Niederhauser was Penn State’s “Moneyball” addition out of Northern Illinois. That was a heck of an analysis and growth win for Mike Rhoades, assistant coach Brent Scott and the remainder of the Penn State workers. Coward’s totally absurd rise from Division III to the inexperienced room was well-documented by CBS Sports activities’ Matt Norlander.
Such is life within the wacky portal the place the vary of outcomes is remarkably extensive.
Sidenote: I have never determined who my three first-round picks from the 2025 portal haul will likely be but, however I do know that UNC’s Henri Veesaar will likely be one among them! For now, put Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz in there as placeholders, too.
The case for the position participant
Oklahoma Metropolis doesn’t win the West and finally, the Finals, with out wonderful play from position gamers like Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins. Indiana doesn’t win the East with out excellent play from position gamers like Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell and Obi Toppin.
A crew is rudderless with out its stars, however soulless with out selfless position gamers.
The 2025 NBA Playoffs confirmed simply how essential these position gamers need to be to outlive and advance, and that was carried over into the NBA Draft, the place position gamers like Duke’s Khaman Maluach went No. 10 to Phoenix, Arizona’s Carter Bryant grew to become the No. 14 choose by San Antonio and James was an early second-round choice by Charlotte.
Alternative and position are two various things. Duke supplied Maluach and James with a chance, however they needed to embrace low-usage roles behind Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. Arizona helped, not harm, Bryant’s inventory by rushing up his shot mechanics and using him as a complementary, 3-and-D wing. It is easy to see how San Antonio may use an identical position to weaponize Bryant early in his NBA profession.
Although Jahmai Mashack cracked double figures simply 14 occasions in his 137-game Tennessee profession, Memphis gave him a shot within the second spherical because of his defensive brilliance and successful intangibles.
There’s proof within the pudding that purchasing into being an elite position participant can nonetheless earn you a spot within the NBA.