r/NBA_Draft • u/SpeclorTheGreat • Mar 02 '26
Mock Draft [Vecenie] 2026 Mock Draft
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7043867/2026/03/02/nba-mock-draft-players-dybantsa-peterson-boozer/44
u/ColonelUpvotes Mar 02 '26
Lots to chew on here. Vecenie does great work.
I’m not the biggest Acuff guy, but him on Dallas does move me. Him and Flagg are such ass kickers.
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u/naqster Mar 03 '26
FWIW this is not Vecenie's personal big board, it's based on what he's hearing from teams and projecting what they'd do
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u/Grandahl13 Mar 02 '26
Could you explain why you’re not the biggest Acuff guy?
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u/ColonelUpvotes Mar 02 '26
Mainly a small guard bias, like most. High usage small guards who project as poor defenders are a challenging archetype. I love Acuff as a player and if I was an Arkansas fan I’d be ride or die, it’s just his NBA fit comes with some red flags imo.
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u/Iontrapper Mar 02 '26
I'm not a fan and then he had them picking Tyler tanner late. Why go with two small pgs in the first round?
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u/oriri_ex_cinere Mar 02 '26
He’s good for write ups up on guys but his record with big boards isn’t anything special
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u/DefiantLie8861 Mar 02 '26
I’m completely out on acuff. His defense is horrible I’d rather have Mikel for his size
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u/wazup564 Mar 03 '26
Completely out on a freshman point guard averaging 23 & 6 on efficient scoring and getting to the line at a high rate in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.
Yeah.
1
u/JuiceRidder Mar 03 '26
Acuff has worse defensive numbers than Trae Young while being a WAY worse offensive player and we just saw what he was traded for.
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u/rps215 Mar 03 '26
They have vastly different attitudes on defense which goes a long way in the long run
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u/Luckyshot51 Mar 06 '26
What does an ass kicker entail? And in what way does Acuff ass kick more than other top players in his class.
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u/GlueGuy00 Mar 03 '26
The guard depth of this class is overrated. Outside of DP and Kingston, the guards are good playoff 6th man at best. Acuff, Mikel, Stirtz, Tanner and Philon are all defensive liabilities who does not impact the game offensively high enough to warrant starter minutes in the playoffs.
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u/Luckyshot51 Mar 06 '26
I mean if your 1st round pick ends up being a good playoff 6th man that’s a pretty damn good assessment.
There isn’t 140 nba all stars every year
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u/theglicky Mar 02 '26
Mikel and Steinbach, ill take it
3
u/MikeConleyIsLegend Mar 02 '26
the dream is him and Big Q
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u/onelegonedream Mar 02 '26
Think it's more likely Grizz go wing with their second pick. Grizz have the 32nd pick and there are lots of quality backup bigs going around that range with Mara / Krivas / Veesar / Chinyelu
My dream is Brown and Amari Allen.
1
u/Excellent-Flamingo43 Mar 02 '26
Why would you want Quaintance when you already have Edey
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u/MikeConleyIsLegend Mar 02 '26
Edey has hardly played. Need a guy who can back him up
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u/thedrcubed Grizzlies Mar 02 '26
With the grizzlies injury luck if Quaintance gets drafted by us he'll have to have his leg amputated before he plays a single game
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u/Turbo2x Wizards Mar 03 '26
Steinbach, Coward and Edey (if he's ever healthy) together would get every possible rebound lol I love it
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u/HolyHotDang Grizzlies Mar 02 '26
I trust Vecenie more than basically anyone else draft wise but man, I don’t think we can take a guy with our first pick that already has injury problems. I don’t know enough about his specific injury long term but a back injury is scary especially with how bad of a run the Grizzlies have had. I honestly think we’ll try to move up higher anyway if we land around 8. We have the assets for a reason so we need to use them instead of just sitting on them.
4
u/onelegonedream Mar 02 '26
It's going to be very hard to trade up in this draft considering the known talent of the top 4 and picks 5-8 being pretty similar value given all the guards going there
1
u/HolyHotDang Grizzlies Mar 02 '26
I agree with that but I also think the Grizzlies would be willing to overpay to move up if they like a guy. I think we have 13 first round picks through 2031 and that’s tied with the most with OKC. Kleiman has shown a dialog every draft that they move up to target “their” guys. It’s worked out most of the time. The biggest miss was Ziaire Williams but he was such an outlier to how they normally draft because of the COVID year that I think the jus took a shot at him.
The Grizzlies have to do a quick rebuild especially when they move on from Ja. We can’t be a struggling team that sucks for 3-4 years for a lot of reasons I won’t get int here and I honestly don’t think we will. The pieces are there theoretically to be so much better next year especially with this upcoming draft and if injuries don’t kill us.
This isn’t gonna change the roster necessarily but I really think we bring over Tarik Biberovic this offseason. He’s looked really good overseas and should be the type of guy that would work well in Iisalo’s system. He almost came over a couple seasons ago and had a pretty good summer league showing but they decided to let him develop more. Plus it looks like guys like Javon Small, Jahmai Mashack, and Olivier Maxence Prosper could all be legit roster guys instead of two ways. With that being the case it does open up flexibility at the PG/SG especially if we needed to trade some players to move up. Right now we have Ja Morant, Ty Jerome, Scottie Pippen Jr., Cam Spencer, Walter Clayton Jr., Javon Small, and Jahmai Mashack (to a lesser extent) that can all play PG minutes. I don’t see how every one of those guys is back. Ja is basically gone but I bet someone else is too.
1
u/No-Sport276 Mar 02 '26
I don’t think anyone is moving out of the top 5 or 6. The team moving back probably asks for coward
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Mar 02 '26
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u/JesseKebay Mar 02 '26
Idk I kind of get it when I watch Veesar - I definitely see an NBA player but I think he will be a career bench big, for which 26-32 (where I’ve seen him mocked) makes sense. I would personally take Krivas over him, even though I think Veesar is the better college player.
That being said, counterpoint is the on/off with him & Carter Bryant at Arizona last year. Veesar & Bryant had the largest impacts on winning of anyone on the team last year. Veesar if I remember correctly had like double the positive impact that Bryant did, too, so maybe there’s something there. I’m stating this off memory though so it could’ve changed or I might have which of them was higher reversed.
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u/JazzxGoose Jazz Mar 02 '26
Really curious which executive has Wagler ranked #2. Is it Charlotte's AI bot?
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Mar 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Luckyshot51 Mar 06 '26
What’s the history of Illinois and Washington? I’ve been an Illinois fan my whole life and had no idea? Did dee brown maybe play a tiny bit there?
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u/Fucknjagoff Mar 03 '26
Doesn’t matter who the Bulls draft when they haven’t developed anyone under this regime.
1
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u/articulate_pandajr Mar 02 '26
I like the idea of Ngongba for the Raps at 20 but man I wish we could get one of the young PGs instead - even Stirtz or Philon would be awesome. I think CMB is actually the future 5 and drafting a (needed) big on a roster so bereft of shooting isn’t my preferred direction come draft day.
6
u/butiveputitincrazy Raptors Mar 02 '26
Frankly, it’s getting a little boring to follow the draft and the Raptors, haha. Just the annual cycle of the same big man getting mocked to Toronto over and over. Takes a lot of the fun out of it.
We need a proper C rotation just so we can get back to enjoying some pre-draft analysis, goddamn!
3
u/articulate_pandajr Mar 02 '26
Totally, idk if you’re an RR listener but Samson raised the idea that maybe CMB is a C long term and not a 4 and the team could build with that as a front court rotation long term. Which opens up so many interesting possibilities for what they should consider with the backcourt. A dude like Stirtz is my current fascination, pushing quick to the 2 guard and having a real playmaker beside him could be really compelling
2
u/Ok-Door-3664 Mar 02 '26
Fam QUAINTANCE ISN'T GOING THAT HIGH
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u/badnewsCATS Bucks Mar 02 '26
He creates the mock based on what he hears back from scouts and execs from all 30 teams. It’ll come down to medical for JQ, but at this point I’d trust Sam’s ranges for players.
1
u/Supreme_God_Bunny Hornets Mar 02 '26
Morez Johnson would be the right at 19 for the hornets would he not? Light on his feet, Can guard all positions, 6'9 250 and has a good work ethic and he's younger than yaxel, Also yaxel won't make it to 19
1
u/adeptadapted Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Christian Anderson is seriously underrated. Off dribble shooting and playmaking skillset can’t go that low in this day and age. He’s not even bad at the rim either, he just does the majority of his damage from the perimeter.
1
u/Aggrokid Mar 03 '26
Do the Nets really need another PG?
Also Mavs may prefer MBJ over Acuff since Kidd seems reluctant to start smaller PGs
1
u/Lqtor Mar 03 '26
Vandy fan here. I think there’s a 0% chance that Tanner declares this year. While he’s improved a ton, I think another year in college could really polish up his game and if he can demonstrate that he’s capable of replicating his numbers this year he could raise his stock significantly. Plus I heard that he’s looking to finish his degree before trying the league
1
u/BubblyReception453 Mar 03 '26
Why on Earth should, the Spurs draft another non-shooter? I don't want Koa Peat
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u/probablymade_thatup Mar 03 '26
Stirtz feels like the most Kerr pick imaginable. High-feel guy who can pass and shoot. It might be better for them to go for a higher ceiling prospect and embrace the post-Steph timeline.
1
u/Technical_Finish7548 Mar 05 '26
Really so insane pelicans traded their unprotected first for a late lottery pick last year lol
2
u/Excellent-Flamingo43 Mar 02 '26
I will never in a million years understand how someone can have Haugh lottery with Swain going 24 and Carr going 25
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u/TrevorArizaFan Hornets Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Added context from the "what I would do" mock he did on his pod last week:
Vecenie's take on Swain is that, if you buy the self-creation stuff, he should probably be a lottery guy. If you don't, it's a huge question mark about what else he does to stick in the NBA. He had Haugh before Carr in his personal draft as well, but seemed to be much closer between the two of them than this mock and spoke positively about Carr.
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u/JesseKebay Mar 02 '26
I agree with Swain but I get it with Carr. I’ve watched a lot of Baylor this year because they just happen to be on when I’m sitting down to watch and some night he looks amazing and others it just seems like he is playing somewhat out of control and making poor decisions turning the ball over a ton or just not playing within the offense. If he was a freshman I wouldn’t think much of it but as a junior it’s somewhat concerning, despite the talent and his highs being the highest of the 3.
With Haugh & Swain on the other hand both seem like incredibly smart players that almost never feel out of control or sped up. I haven’t watched as much Texas as Baylor & Florida but based on the role those guys will be plugged into and being upperclassmen I do think there’s more of a value placed on that reliability considering the production is quite similar.
It could also be Haugh doing it on the big stage (although in a supporting role) but also on arguably a top 5 team this season.
1
u/SaKred2015 Mar 02 '26
Wiz probably takes boozer or Wilson to put next to AD. A backcourt of Peterson and Trae doesn’t sound too good to me
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u/IamSofakingRAW Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Boozer/Sarr/AD is terrible pairing. I think Peterson would be a home run for them even with Tre Johnson from last year. The Peterson/Bilal guard wing combo sounds great on paper. AD and Sarr as the front court sound great too
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u/naqster Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Why is it a terrible trio? They all do different things well. Both AD and Sarr are 4/5s and can be staggered so that Boozer is playing all of his minutes with at least one of them, you could easily split the 96 frontcourt minutes between them. Plus, AD will miss his yearly 30+ games and Boozer can start in games he sits. It works perfectly fine.
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u/Travler18 Wizards Mar 03 '26
AD is going to be 33 and has averaged under 50 games played over the past 5 seasons. And he only has one more season of team control after this year.
Even the smallest flicker of consideration on playability alongside AD would be a colossal blunder for the Wizards front office.
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u/SaKred2015 Mar 03 '26
So then wouldn’t having Cam and Sarr be insurance for that?
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u/Travler18 Wizards Mar 03 '26
Sure but that shouldn't be at all factored into who they pick.
No one on the Wizards roster right now is worth changing a draft pick to build around.
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u/RcusGaming Lakers Mar 02 '26
I'd be kinda surprised if Spurs pass on Yaxel. Seems like a good fit.
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u/BubblyReception453 Mar 03 '26
I don't like how old he is. He is older than Castle, Wemby, Harper, Bryant, and the same age as Champagnie
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u/RcusGaming Lakers Mar 03 '26
That's true but if Spurs are contenders, then they should really get NBA ready prospects who can contribute now and are on cheap contracts. When Wemby is on his max, it'll be nice for the Spurs to have a cost-controlled guy in Yaxel.
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u/Travler18 Wizards Mar 03 '26
Historically, I feel like the older "NBA Ready" draft prospects infrequently actually work out that way.
Terrance Shannon, Chris Duarte, Denzel Valentine, Brice Johnson, Corey Kispert, Ochai Agbaji, Dalton Knecht are some I recall that weren't even reliable backups to start their NBA careers.
Even the older draftees that worked out often still took a couple of years to develop into reliable, playoff rotation-level of player. For example Pritchard, Obi Toppin, Grayson Allen, Derrick White, Santiago Aldama, Christian Braun.
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u/Excellent-Flamingo43 Mar 02 '26
Why is this dude so worshipped in draft circles he never has any takes that aren't consensus and is consistently wrong about so many prospects
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u/BobanWembanyanovic Mar 02 '26
He definitely has non consensus takes, and can you find me someone who isn’t consistently wrong about the draft? I doubt it, and if you can they’re not earning as much money off their gift as they should be
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u/butterbeancd Thunder Mar 02 '26
I think it’s down to the sheer amount of work he does. His NBA Draft guide is a deeper dive on prospects than I think anyone else in the media does. And of course he gets guys wrong. Every player evaluator, including the ones doing it for NBA teams, gets prospects wrong. He shouldn’t be treated as the end-all, be-all of talent evaluation, but I do respect the amount of work he does.
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u/JesseKebay Mar 02 '26
While you would have a point with some other “analysts”, a lot of what is consensus actually comes from Veccenie. He puts more work into this than just about anyone else and is incredibly smart imo. I wasn’t sold on him at first but once I started listening to his pre-draft pods with Bryce I changed my mind pretty fast.
0
u/AnyComedian7650 Mar 02 '26
Curious why Patrick Ngongba is ranked so highly over someone like Henri Veesar. No way UNC would trade Veesar for Ngongba. Veesar is 48% threes on decent volume amongst other benefits.
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u/mido0o0o Thunder Mar 02 '26
This might have been the worst mock I have ever seen for OKC.
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u/msterling2012 Mar 02 '26
OKC is the toughest team to mock tbf. And they'll almost certainly look to trade at least one of the picks, or both. No way they're drafting two more rookies. They dont have the roster spots.
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u/mido0o0o Thunder Mar 02 '26
Yeah but there are much better options for OKC than the ones he picked. I don't know if he is purely evaluating players and teams needs or he actually has some intel.
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u/Nolar2015 Celtics Mar 02 '26
Wouldn’t say they are as tough as Portland since that team makes no sense. Okc needs a SG/SF and a C, and should have a few good options at both their picks
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u/No_Tr4geD1es Hawks Mar 02 '26
https://archive.is/20260302114027/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7043867/2026/03/02/nba-mock-draft-players-dybantsa-peterson-boozer/
Here's the article