Draft Notes: Top Prospects, Bidunga, Mobley, Bizjack

Ahead of the 2026 NBA draft, Jeremy Woo and Tim Bontemps and ESPN interviewed over a dozen NBA scouts and executives to get their thoughts on the top prospects in this year’s class. There’s no consensus No. 1 overall pick, but most of the league personnel who spoke to ESPN viewed BYU forward AJ Dybantsa as the frontrunner.

“I guess you’d rather fail with [AJ] and his upside, than not,” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN. “And I know [Darryn] Peterson has upside, maybe [Cameron] Boozer‘s upside is a little bit less. … I just think that [AJ], because he’s 6-9 and he could be like 6-10, 230 [pounds] by the time he’s 25 years old, he could just be a monster. I think you’ve just got to go down swinging with him if you go down.”

Another Western executive said the impressive depth of talent, combined with no clear-cut No. 1 player, has created a challenging situation for NBA evaluators.

“I think this draft is, in some ways, similar to the [2024 Zaccharie] Risacher year, but on a higher level,” they said. “That year it was like, ‘Is anyone going to be really good?’ This year, it’s like, ‘Well, s–t, there’s a lot of guys.’ You have high confidence that at least some of them are going to be really, really good. You’re not really sure which ones.

“You don’t want to be drafting at one and end up with the fifth-best player.”

ESPN’s article touches on several other players projected to go in the top 10, including Caleb Wilson, Darius Acuff Jr., Kingston Flemings and Keaton Wagler.

Here are a few players who are entering their names in the 2026 draft:

• Kansas’ Flory Bidunga plans to declare for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, reports Pete Thamel of ESPN (via Twitter). The sophomore big man is also entering the transfer portal, Thamel adds. Bidunga is viewed as a potential second-round pick after averaging 13.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 35 games this season for the Jayhawks. The Congolese forward/center was named the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year on top of being selected to the conference’s first team.
• Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. is testing the draft waters, he announced on social media (Twitter link). As a sophomore for the Buckeyes in 2025/26, Mobley averaged 15.7 PPG, 2.8 and 2.4 APG in 31 appearances while shooting 41.1% from three-point range on high volume (7.6 attempts per game). The Ohio native, who is from a Columbus suburb, clarified that he’ll return to Ohio State if he ends up withdrawing from the draft.
• Butler guard Finley Bizjack is entering the draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, agent George S. Langberg tells Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Bizjack, a junior, is also entering the transfer portal. The third-team All-Big East selection averaged 17.1 PPG, 2.5 APG and 2.1 RPG on .426/.351/.850 shooting splits across 31 appearances for the Bulldogs in ’25/26.