2026 NBA draft

Simmons says Caleb Wilson's potential seems limitless.

“But then Caleb, it just feels like the ceiling has been removed for where it could go”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA One Guy (the East!), a Man City Punishment Primer, and Tom Cruise’s Bomb With J. Kyle Mann, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 5:07

Simmons grades the draft an A for talent but a C-minus for entertainment.

“draft from a talent standpoint was an A. And from an entertainment standpoint, probably a C-”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: 2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:52:07

Simmons praises Daryl Morey for turning Jared McCain into the pick used on Phylon.

“McCain was a declining asset. He just turned him into Phylon and two more years on a rookie contract”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: 2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:22

Simmons argues the first twelve picks were the twelve best players in the draft, leaving no surprises.

“I had the first 12 picks regardless of the order. I thought were the 12 best guys in the draft”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: 2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:20

Legler endorses the Kevin Love comparison for Cameron Boozer, citing his rebounding positioning and quick outlet passing.

“With Boozer, it's Kevin Love. I thought that was a pretty good comp”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA Draft Questions, Harper vs. Fox, and the USMNT’s World Cup Ceiling (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 16:56

Legler says he does not see Darryn Peterson as a true point guard but as a natural raw scorer.

“I see a guy that wants to go score and get his bucket”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA Draft Questions, Harper vs. Fox, and the USMNT’s World Cup Ceiling (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 22:15

Legler says AJ Dybantsa should be the first pick because of his combination of size, toughness, athleticism and skill.

“I think for me, combination of size, the toughness, athleticism, with the skill set, I think this is the right pick”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA Draft Questions, Harper vs. Fox, and the USMNT’s World Cup Ceiling (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 11:54

Legler argues that draft player comparisons set analysts up to be embarrassed years later, either by overreaching or underselling a prospect.

“And I feel like either way, five years from now, like you set yourself up to just get absolutely taken apart”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA Draft Questions, Harper vs. Fox, and the USMNT’s World Cup Ceiling (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 5:08

Mann says Cameron Boozer is the rookie he is most excited about, despite it being the safe answer.

“I think I probably still just go boozer. Just I know that's the boring answer”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: NBA One Guy (the East!), a Man City Punishment Primer, and Tom Cruise’s Bomb With J. Kyle Mann, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 3:48

Mann suggests Bulls pick Dailyn Swain could replace Josh Giddey as a better two-way version of a similar player.

“I think Dalen Swain could be swappable for Josh Giddey because they're similar place”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: 2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:26:11

Mann attributes the lack of draft surprises to analytics creating guardrails against wild decisions.

“It seems like the nerds have taken over and the math has kind of crept into the point where even”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: 2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 2:57

House said he still believed the Wizards would take AJ Dybantsa and that Utah should take Cameron Boozer at No. 2.

“I think he raises their floor. And for that team, what they've assembled, you want somebody that's not a question mark in any way”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The Giannis Never-Trade and a Mega-Mailbag With Zach Lowe, Plus Wyndham Clark’s Second U.S. Open Title With Joe House (Jun 22, 2026) · Listen from 1:51:23

House said Dybantsa has the highest ceiling, while Caleb Wilson remains more of an unknown because injury limited his exposure.

“The ceiling with him feels like, to me, the highest ceiling. Just acknowledging that Caleb Wilson is more of an unknown quantity because the injury limited”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The Wizards Win (Something!) and More Lottery Reactions, Plus the Juggernaut Knicks With Joe House, Tate Frazier, and Chris Vernon (May 11, 2026) · Listen from 16:49

House suggested Peterson strategically waited weeks after his disappointing season before explaining his health issues.

“the innovation for Peterson was to wait. He waited enough time for the stink of how his season played out to deliver the excuse six, seven weeks”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The Wizards Win (Something!) and More Lottery Reactions, Plus the Juggernaut Knicks With Joe House, Tate Frazier, and Chris Vernon (May 11, 2026) · Listen from 8:25

Lowe said he would take Darryn Peterson with one of the first two picks because teams saw no long-term medical concerns.

“I would take him with one of the first two picks just because I've heard all of the teams have seen every bit of medical data”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The Giannis Never-Trade and a Mega-Mailbag With Zach Lowe, Plus Wyndham Clark’s Second U.S. Open Title With Joe House (Jun 22, 2026) · Listen from 1:17:54

Lowe said Amen Thompson has developed roughly as he expected and never projected as a point guard.

“he's more or less kind of what i expected him to be this year i did not think that he was going to be like oh now suddenly he's going to be a point guard”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: UConn’s Miracle, Weirdest NBA Season Ever, A Scary Playoff Team Draft, and an Iffy Expansion Plan With Zach Lowe (Mar 30, 2026) · Listen from 42:29

Lowe said Acuff's smoothness and control would put him in number-one-pick conversation if he were taller.

“If he were two or three inches taller, would he be in the conversation to be the number one pick in the draft?”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: UConn’s Miracle, Weirdest NBA Season Ever, A Scary Playoff Team Draft, and an Iffy Expansion Plan With Zach Lowe (Mar 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:27

Karaban says he has told teams that if they are not winning, he wants a strong culture.

“if we're not winning, I just want there to be a good culture”

Pardon My Take: World Cup With Roger Bennett, 2X National Champ Alex Karaban, Knicks Parade, Ronaldo vs Messi And Fyre Fest Of The Week (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:29

Karaban says Stephon Castle has exceeded even his expectations in the NBA.

“He's definitely gone to a whole different level that I probably didn't expect either”

Pardon My Take: World Cup With Roger Bennett, 2X National Champ Alex Karaban, Knicks Parade, Ronaldo vs Messi And Fyre Fest Of The Week (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:42:29

Alex Karaban says his draft preparation focused on sharpening his strengths, particularly elite shooting.

“becoming an elite shooter and really just doing the things that will help me make an impact on a team”

Pardon My Take: World Cup With Roger Bennett, 2X National Champ Alex Karaban, Knicks Parade, Ronaldo vs Messi And Fyre Fest Of The Week (Jun 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:27:20

Jacoby says he would avoid drafting Darryn Peterson and prefers AJ Dybantsa or Caleb Wilson.

“AJ or Caleb, I'm staying away from Peterson”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Game 7 Fever in OKC, NBA Lottery Reform, and a Mega-Mailbag With Rob Mahoney, David Jacoby, and Joe House (May 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:45:17

Jacoby argues that with four equally strong top prospects, the only mistake a GM could make is trading up.

“I think you can only make the wrong move by trading up in this draft”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Wemby Gets Revenge, Morey’s Out, and a Trade-Fueled Mega-Mailbag With Kirk Goldsberry and David Jacoby (May 13, 2026) · Listen from 1:32:26

Russillo picks Wagler over Acuff for the better career, citing his composure and control.

“I think Wagler has some of that stuff in where once they just gave him the keys to that team, like that guy was unbelievable”

Pardon My Take: Ryen Russillo In Studio, NFL Schedule Release, Zoo Trades, Playoffs And Fyre Fest (May 15, 2026) · Listen from 1:47:24

Russillo questions the consensus favoring AJ Dybantsa, saying Darryn Peterson outplayed him head-to-head.

“Peterson is so much better than DeBonson when they played against each other”

Pardon My Take: Ryen Russillo In Studio, NFL Schedule Release, Zoo Trades, Playoffs And Fyre Fest (May 15, 2026) · Listen from 1:44:13

PFT Commenter says Darryn Peterson could end up the best player from the draft despite going after Dybantsa.

“But I would not be surprised if Darren Peterson is like an absolute fucking legend in a”

Pardon My Take: NBA Draft, Giannis To The Heat, Wyndham Clark, USMNT Team Captain Tim Ream + Mt Rushmore Of Hard To Spell Words (Jun 24, 2026) · Listen from 26:18

Verrier predicted Darryn Peterson would be taken second overall in the 2026 NBA draft.

“Yeah, Peterson's going to go two there. It's a little disappointing”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Giannis to Miami! An Urgent Gathering Pod With Chris Ryan and Justin Verrier (Jun 23, 2026) · Listen from 43:18

Goldsberry says NBA teams' statistical draft models rank Cameron Boozer first.

“When you look at the draft models, PFT, that all the stats dudes are building at these NBA teams, Boozer comes up number one”

Pardon My Take: NBA Finals With Kirk Goldsberry, FSU Head Coach Luke Loucks, Myles Garrett To The Rams + Memes Vs Zac (Jun 3, 2026) · Listen from 1:47:40

Vernon described Cameron Boozer as a low-drama, uncontroversial player unlikely to generate off-court problems.

“80 percent chance you never hear like i don't even know if he's on social media right like he's not a character”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: The Wizards Win (Something!) and More Lottery Reactions, Plus the Juggernaut Knicks With Joe House, Tate Frazier, and Chris Vernon (May 11, 2026) · Listen from 1:35:19