Five teams earned ‘A’ grades on Sam Vecenie’s post-draft report card for The Athletic, including four teams who had picks in the top six. The fifth team to earn an A was the Hawks, primarily for landing an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans to drop 10 spots in the middle of the first round.
Another 18 teams earned ‘B-‘ to ‘B+’ grades, meaning they mostly met or exceeded the value expected at their respective draft slots. Multiple clubs who only had second-round picks, like the Cavaliers and Warriors, found themselves in this tier. A few teams who ended up landing players who slid from pre-draft projections also ended up in this group, with the Jazz getting Ace Bailey at No. 5, the Heat landing Kasparas Jakucionis at No. 20 and the Thunder getting Thomas Sorber at No. 15.
That left five teams to earn a mark of ‘C’ or lower from Vecenie (Houston and Denver did not make any selections). The Pelicans were marked down for the haul they gave up to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 and select Derik Queen. The Nets were questioned for making three selections – Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf – with positional overlap, while the Knicks earned a middling grade for selecting a stash player who may not make it to the league.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The 2026 draft looks to be loaded on paper, with a strong blend of returners who would have been drafted this year and high-level incoming talent. In ESPN’s first full 2026 mock draft, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have Darryn Peterson of Kansas as the No. 1 overall pick. A.J. Dybantsa (BYU), Cameron Boozer (Duke), Nate Ament (Tennessee) and Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville) round out their top five. Among returning college players, Jayden Quaintance (No. 6, Kentucky) and Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 14, Michigan) are the highest-ranking.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report‘s top three looks identical to ESPN’s, but he has Arizona’s Koa Peat at No. 4 in his first 2026 mock draft. Another significant difference between the two boards is Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou‘s spot — Wasserman has him at No. 6, but ESPN places him at No. 23.
- France has named its 18-man preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2025, per the team (Twitter link). Bilal Coulibaly, Moussa Diabate, Ousmane Dieng, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Guerschon Yabusele are the current NBA players on the roster. Former NBAers on the team include Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntilikina and Theo Maledon, among others.
- Former NBA player Wenyen Gabriel is leaving Panathinaikos to sign with Bayern Munich in Germany, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gabriel played his first EuroLeague season in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points per game, and will remain in the league by signing with Bayern. The 6’9″ big man played 150 NBA games from 2019-24 across stints with the Lakers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Kings and others. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG for his career.
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Lol that’s the point genius
Not everything can be free
I only stated that there was a subscription required genius
Did you ever notice that 1/2 the links in stories are to paid content?
Maybe you can click on all of them and tell us which ones aren’t free?
You do that genius. Seems youve done it as you have an actual figure. Have fun doing that genius..
Ill click on things I want to read.
I liked the job Dunleavy did in this draft. Sure, no All-Stars, or stars. And it didn’t address their needs, a big man and a scorer. But, he is healing the wound of 22-23. Their bench was atrocious when they tried defend their surprising title in 22. These guys look like they close to NBA ready and can form a low cost contributing bench. It is why they had to trade Wiseman.
> These guys look like they’re close to NBA ready and
> can form a low cost contributing bench.
Giants74,. That’s an interesting take. You really believe that these 2nd round picks and undrafted players are ready to contribute to a contending team in their rookie year?
Has Dunleavey always had these extraordinary powers, but declined to use them until this season? Or, have the other 29 teams passed on these valuaable players due to the Warriors’ majesty?
Timberpuppies grade was Z.
New owners too cheap to pay a drafted player.
Instead, they did 2 draft and stash selections.
And picked up CA$H for dropping twice in round 2.
Is the Pohlad family in the new ownership group??
Seems like moves that CHEAP family would make.
I don’t think they are cheap. Based on the stories over the past year or two it seems like they could afford to barely buy the team. It’s a different issue but still a big problem.
Derik Queen will be ROY …. great pick …
just get rid of Zion first .
Aristotle…Huh? That is an odd take. I didn’t put any timeline. On any of the players the Warriors drafted or signed. But, they have 4 years of college or played professionally. They are further along than players that have only had one year of college.
Post was able to contribute in his rookie year. So, why not these guys.
Teams miss on players all the time. Ben Wallace was undrafted and is now in the Hall of Fame.
aristotle only has something to say since its from his behind. On a separate post, he was hyping up second round picks being an important factor in team building. Meanwhile here he is downplaying those same statements. Classic aristotle!
Giants74-
> These guys look like they close to NBA ready and can
> form a low cost contributing bench.
Aristotle. I don’t know what your issue is. Why don’t you think these guys can contribute?