AJ Dybantsa Locks Down #1 — Plus the 2026 NBA Combine's Biggest Winners
AJ Dybantsa cleared 42 inches on his vertical. Cameron Carr dropped 30 points and shot up to mid-lottery. Here's how the post-combine NBA mock draft actually breaks down.
The 2026 NBA combine is in the rearview, and the post-combine mock drafts are out. As usual, the top of the board got mostly confirmed, the middle of the lottery got scrambled, and a few names you had never heard a month ago are suddenly first-round locks.
Here is the cleaned-up read on where the top picks stand, who actually moved at the combine, and which player just made the biggest stock jump of the entire pre-draft process.
The top of the board, post-combine
1. Washington Wizards — AJ Dybantsa, SF, BYU. Dybantsa was already the presumed first overall pick. The combine sealed it. He measured at 6-8½ barefoot with a 42-inch maximum vertical leap. He is the rare combo of elite size, elite athletic testing, and a polished mid-range scoring repertoire from a one-and-done college season. Washington has needed a face of the franchise since the Wall era ended. Dybantsa is it.
2. Utah Jazz — Darryn Peterson, PG/SG, Kansas. Peterson's situation is a little more complicated. He measured well, including a +5¼ wingspan, but he is awaiting medical evaluation results after a cramping issue during combine workouts. If the medicals are clean, this pick is essentially locked. If not, the entire top three could shift.
3. Memphis Grizzlies — Cameron Boozer, PF/C, Duke. Evaluators are calling Boozer "arguably the safest pick in this draft." He is not vertically explosive, but his functional athleticism, frame, and feel for the game make him as close to a no-bust prospect as the lottery offers.
4. Chicago Bulls — Caleb Wilson, PF/C, North Carolina. Wilson tested well athletically but weighed in at just 211 pounds, which locks him into the four-spot rather than as a small-ball five. That is fine — the Bulls need stretch at the four more than they need another center.
Picks 5 through 10
The rest of the lottery, per Jeremy Woo's updated mock:
- 5. LA Clippers — Keaton Wagler
- 6. Brooklyn Nets — Darius Acuff Jr.
- 7. Sacramento Kings — Kingston Flemings
- 8. Atlanta Hawks — Aday Mara
- 9. Dallas Mavericks — Mikel Brown Jr.
- 10. Milwaukee Bucks — Nate Ament
None of those are massive shocks, but the Hawks landing Mara at 8 is the one execs around the league are pointing to as the best value of the top ten. He fits Atlanta's interior need almost perfectly.
The combine's biggest winner: Cameron Carr
If you want one name to remember from this combine, it is Cameron Carr out of Baylor. He scored 30 points in his combine scrimmage, posted a 42.5-inch vertical, and effectively launched himself from the back half of the first round into mid-lottery conversation.
That is the largest single-week stock jump of any prospect in this class. Lottery teams who came into the week thinking they had this year's draft solved are rewriting boards because of Carr.
The sleeper winner: Yaxel Lendeborg
Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan is the second story worth tracking. He is 24 years old — a senior in a class otherwise dominated by one-and-done freshmen — but his measurements at the combine were elite and his skill profile is unusual enough that he has now climbed into legitimate lottery conversation.
Older prospects historically get penalized in the draft because of perceived ceiling concerns. The teams in the back half of the lottery this year are starting to push back on that math. If you are picking 12 through 15 and you can take a 24-year-old who can contribute in year one, that may be worth more than a teenager with a higher ceiling but a longer development curve.
What this all means
This is shaping up to be a draft with a clear top tier (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer), a deep secondary lottery (Wilson, Wagler, Acuff, Flemings), and a back half that just got significantly more interesting because of combine performances.
The Wizards are getting their franchise player. The Jazz are getting either a star or a question mark depending on those medicals. The Bucks are picking at 10 and probably getting a starter — which feels like a steal for a team that drafted in the lottery for the first time in over a decade.
The Bottom Line
The 2026 NBA draft is now mostly readable. Dybantsa first, Peterson second pending medicals, Boozer third. The combine confirmed the top of the board, rearranged the middle, and gave us Cameron Carr as a brand new lottery name. If you are a team picking 11 through 20, you just got a longer list of options than you had a week ago — and that, more than anything, is what makes this draft fun.