The 2025-26 college basketball season kicked off on Monday, with dozens of future NBA prospects showcasing fire-power on Opening Night.
The true freshmen were especially potent, with players like Arizona forward Koa Peat, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa and plenty more seeing scorching debuts.
Just days before, we did our best at projecting how the 2026 NBA Draft lottery would shake out — a tall task this far removed from next year’s draft. There’s little information to truly work with, given we don’t know where NBA teams will land record-wise, as well as how collegiate and international players will fare in the coming months.
You can watch the video, or read on to see how the lottery shook out and further analysis:
1. Brooklyn Nets: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
2. Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
3. Atlanta Hawks (via Pelicans): Cameron Boozer, Duke
4. Utah Jazz: Chris Cenac Jr., Houston
5. Indiana Pacers: Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky
6. Memphis Grizzlies (via Suns): Nate Ament, Tennessee
7. Toronto Raptors: Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
8. Memphis Grizzlies: Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
9. Boston Celtics: Koa Peat, Arizona
10. Sacramento Kings: Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville
11. Charlotte Hornets: Karim Lopez, New Zealand Breakers
12. Miami Heat: Cayden Boozer, Duke
13. Portland Trail Blazers: Dash Daniels, Melbourne
14. Dallas Mavericks: Labaron Philon, Alabama
In this projected mock draft, the Brooklyn Nets landed the top pick, given their 0-fer start to the season. They took who is likely the projected No. 1 pick at this point in time in Darryn Peterson, who saw a 21-point opener for the Jayhawks.
The 1-6 Wizards grabbed AJ Dybantsa, who saw a similarly stellar night against a tough opponent in Villanova.
The first major shake-up was Atlanta landing the No. 3 pick via the Pelicans’ unprotected first rounder, and subsequently taking Cameron Boozer, who made his debut for Duke Tuesday night. He saw a slow start, but finished strong in leading the Blue Devils past Texas.
Other notable selections include Memphis getting two lottery picks, one via Phoenix and one themselves. They took both Tennessee’s Nate Ament — who scored 18 in his Vols’ debut — as well as Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou, who saw 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting.
The draft’s top riser on Monday was true freshman Koa Peat, who went for 30 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four stocks in a major win over No. 3 Florida. He was drafted to Boston here, though No. 9 could potentially be low given just how polished a shot-maker he looked Monday.
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Derek Parker covers the National Basketball Association, and has brought On SI five seasons of coverage across several different teams. He graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2020, and has experience working in print, video and radio.
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