2027 NBA Draft Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bruce Branch III Reclassifies, Making Him A Top 2027 NBA Draft Prospect

November 22nd, 2025 at 7:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bruce Branch III, who was considered one of the top college basketball prospects in the 2027 graduating class, has decided to reclassify to 2026, according to Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

The move puts Branch, a standout at Prolific Prep in Florida, in contention to be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NBA draft, the authors add, noting that the draft class has been viewed as lackluster compared to its 2026 counterparts.

“I believe in my ability. I am confident that I can do this,” Branch said. “I have been playing up my whole life. I am not going to let anyone outwork me. I remember when I was in the first grade playing against third graders. I got pushed down, and I got back up.”

Branch, who turned 17 in October, hasn’t made any official college visits yet, saying he plans to “take things one step at a time.” He’s expected to announce his choice of schools in the spring, and the authors note that Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, USC, BYU, Arizona, Houston and Miami are considered to be among the top contenders.

Branch is 6’7″ with a 7’2″ wingspan, and Borzello and Biancardi describe him as possessing “NBA-level athleticism with his speed and explosiveness.” They state that he’ll be one of the top three-point shooters in his class and that he has a high release on his mid-range shot that makes it difficult for opposing defenders to contest.

“I want to expand my opportunities,” Branch said in explaining why he opted to reclassify. “I know there are challenges with this decision. The mental side is as hard as the physical side.”

Branch displayed his skills during the summer at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, per Tobias Bass of The Athletic. Branch earned a spot on the All-Camp Team and received the Rising Star award while competing against some of the world’s best young talent, many of whom were two years older than him.

Bass talked to a couple of NBA scouts, who seem to support his decision to reclassify.

“This obviously was a strategic move in the planning for a while now,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “It’s straight out of the Cooper Flagg playbook. He’ll be super young, 19 years old for his entire rookie season. By moving up a year he’s legitimately a top-three prospect, and you can make the case for him being No. 1 overall. He’s a great kid off the court, a hybrid athlete with IQ, play-making skills and will be a switchable defender.”

Draft Notes: 2026 Mock, Big Board, Yessoufou, More

November 10th, 2025 at 5:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson goes No. 1 overall in the first 2026 mock draft conducted by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa (No. 2 in the mock) and Duke power forward Cameron Boozer (No. 3) are widely viewed as the top three prospects in the 2026 class, and Vecenie views each player as having star-level upside on the same level as 2025’s top pick, Cooper Flagg.

While NBA teams are eager to land Peterson, Dybantsa or Boozer, the overall depth of the class is somewhat shaky, according to Vecenie, who says prospects currently in the Nos. 4-16 range all have at least one question mark scouts want answered during the season.

There’s also a significant amount of variability beginning at No. 17 (Florida’s Thomas Haugh), Vecenie writes, and it’s possible players currently mocked outside of the lottery could move up — or they may not even be drafted next June.

As Vecenie details, the 2027 draft class is viewed as being considerably weaker than 2026, which could lead to more NBA teams tanking down the stretch of 2025/26 to try and acquire one of the top prospects, particularly if a few players rise up draft boards in the spring, which seems to happen every year.

It’s only November, but four Houston Cougars — Chris Cenac Jr. at No. 6, Isiah Harwell at No. 18, Joseph Tugler at No. 21, and Milos Uzan at No. 27 — go in the first round of Vecenie’s mock.

Here are some more notes on the 2026 draft class:

Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com has released his first big board for 2026, ranking the top 100 prospects. The first four players (Tennessee forward Nate Ament is No. 4) are in the same order as Vecenie’s mock, but there’s a major difference in evaluation starting at No. 5 — Woo has North Carolina big man Caleb Wilson at that spot, while Vecenie has the freshman forward going No. 16. Duke forward Dame Sarr (No. 10 on Woo’s board, No. 25 in Vecenie’s mock), New Zealand Breakers forward Karim Lopez (No. 11 at ESPN, No. 24 at The Athletic), Alabama guard Labaron Philon (No. 18 for Woo, No. 10 for Vecenie), Arkansas wing Karter Knox (No. 38 for ESPN, No. 19 for The Athletic), Harwell (No. 45 on Woo’s board) and Uzan (No. 55 on ESPN) are among the other players rated quite differently between ESPN’s big board and The Athletic’s mock.
Baylor guard/forward Tounde Yessoufou, who goes ninth overall in Vecenie’s mock and is ranked 13th on Woo’s board, is expected to become the first player born in the West African country of Benin to make the NBA, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “What makes him a little different than some of the other freshmen we’ve had here is he’s very similar to [San Antonio Spurs forward] Jeremy Sochan, a great defender who could guard multiple positions,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said of Tounde, who is 6’5″ and 215 pounds. “Tounde is somebody physically that can guard multiple positions and wants to be an elite defender and is a tremendous rebounder for his size. That makes him a little different from the other people in his draft class. He has a little more physicality to him than some of the guys we’ve had in recent years because he’s bigger, stronger.”
Jeff Borezllo and Woo of ESPN list the 10 college teams with the most NBA prospects, with Duke (five players in the top 34 of Woo’s board) at No. 1 and Houston No. 2.

Miikka Muurinen Signs Three-Year Deal With Partizan Belgrade

September 26th, 2025 at 1:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Consensus five-star recruit and potential 2027 first-round pick Miikka Muurinen has officially signed with Partizan Belgrade, per a team press release (Twitter link).

According to BasketNews, the Serbian EuroLeague club specified that it has signed Muurinen to a three-year contract.

Muurinen helped Finland achieve its best-ever result (fourth place) at EuroBasket 2025 earlier this month, receiving the tournament’s Rising Star award in the process. In eight games with the Finnish national team, he averaged 6.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 11.1 minutes per contest, shooting 14-of-16 on two-pointers (87.5%), 6-of-17 from long distance (35.3%), and 7-of-15 on free throws (46.7%).

Muurinen, who was the youngest player (he’s 18) competing at the tournament, has spent the past two years in the United States playing high school basketball and had originally been expected to return to AZ Compass for his senior season before a recent change of plans, as agent Teddy Archer told Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (Twitter link).

A 6’10” forward, Muurinen displayed an intriguing combination of length, agility and athleticism at EuroBasket, including several highlight reel dunks. He’s expected to be one of the top college recruits in 2026 if he elects to go that route, though it’s unclear if his new contract has an out clause.

Finnish outlet Salon Seudun Sanomat first reported that Muurinen had reached an agreement with Partizan. Muurinen’s mother, Jenni Laaksonen, recently told Ilta-Santomat her son grew up admiring the play style of Serbian teams as well as Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.

Partizan Belgrade, also known as KK Partizan, features several former NBA players, including Jabari Parker, Sterling Brown, and German wing Isaac Bonga, among others.

Top Prospect Babatunde Oladotun Reclassifying To 2026

August 7th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Babatunde Oladotun is reclassifying to the high school class of 2026, making him draft-eligible in 2027, according to Paul Biancardi of ESPN.com. The 16-year-old wing intends to graduate from high school in Maryland next spring.

Oladotun had been ESPN’s No. 1 prospect in the 2027 high school class. He was ranked No. 6 by Rivals, per Joe Tipton of On3.com.

“First and foremost, I am ahead of schedule academically and will graduate next year,” Oladotun told ESPN. “Most of my life, I have played up in age and after playing in the 17U division for Team Durant, I felt comfortable. I have gained 20 pounds over the last year and it never felt like I was playing up. Lastly, I am staying and graduating from Blake High School. It is a great environment, and I have a lot of support.”

Unlike the 2026 draft class, 2027 is generally viewed as lacking in high-end talent. Oladotun could help change that, tweets Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68.

According to Biancardi, Oladotun is a “legitimate three-level scorer” who stands 6’9″ with a 6’11” wingspan. Virtually every top college program is trying to secure the commitment of the young wing — Oladotun is viewed as having considerable long-term upside and could be a top-10 pick in 2027.

“We are looking for a coach that has a long history of teaching and winning,” Oladotun’s father, Ibrahim, told ESPN. “Someone who knows how to use a big guard and has a history of coaching big guards. A coach that also plays an NBA-style offense with quick actions.”

And-Ones: All-In Teams, 2027 Draft, Extensions, Thanasis

August 6th, 2025 at 10:08pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A trio of ambitious NBA teams have leveraged many of their future assets to go “all-in” on winning now, write Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.

Bontemps and Pelton note that the Nuggets, Bucks and Timberwolves are looking to make the most of what they see as their current title windows.

Denver has given up most of its draft equity to restructure its depth around three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic. Its 2025/26 roster does, on paper, represent an improvement over former president Calvin Booth‘s 2024/25 vintage.

Milwaukee, too, has taken some bold swings to build around two-time MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, but questions abound about just how much this team can win without a second All-Star on the team — as well as $22.5MM in dead money being paid out to ex-Bucks guard Damian Lillard for each of the next five years.

Minnesota sacrificed many of its future draft assets to build its roster around 23-year-old All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

With buzz building about what could be a loaded 2026 draft class led by AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes stock of the next summer’s cohort. U19 World Cup gold medalist forward Tyran Stokes leads the way among 2027 prospects, followed closely by Eurocamp MVP guard Caleb Holt.
NBA rookie scale contract extensions, much like restricted free agent deals, have become more difficult to navigate of late. John Hollinger of The Athletic opines that a lack of incentives has thrown a wrench in players and teams reaching a consensus on deals. Contracts heavy on incentives used to be a way to bridge the gap between team and player, but not a single free agent deal or extension this offseason has featured incentives, which teams have avoided because they count toward the tax aprons.
Former Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo made his first in-game appearance since May 2024 during an exhibition match for Team Greece ahead of this year’s EuroBasket competition, according to Eurohoops. The 6’7″ forward, now a free agent, tore his Achilles tendon last spring. Across 12:34, Antetokounmpo scored six points while helping the Greek team fend off Belgium, 74-60, in Athens. Little brother Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out, but is traveling with the team and will play when the games start to count.

And-Ones: Jokic, DiVincenzo, 2027 Draft, Sheehey

July 17th, 2025 at 12:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Superstar Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is expected to confirm that he’ll play for the Serbian national team at this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, according to Dorde Matic of Meridian Sport. In fact, the same group that led Serbia to a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris is expected to be available when EuroBasket 2025 tips off in late August, Matic writes.

Jokic also won a silver medal with Serbia at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, notes Kevin Martorano of Sportando.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, who spoke in April about his desire to suit up for Italy at EuroBasket 2025, has been granted Italian citizenship, clearing the way for him to play at the tournament, per BasketNews.com. The 28-year-old will formally be sworn in as an Italian citizen in Chicago after Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, approved the proposal to make DiVicenzo a citizen on Thursday, reports Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.
While the top of the 2026 NBA draft class is viewed very favorably, executives are not enthusiastic about the prospects who could be selected in 2027, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “This is one of the weakest high school classes I’ve seen in a long time,” one grizzled talent evaluator with extensive experience in the amateur youth space told ESPN. “There might not be a single All-Star in this group, and after the first few prospects, I’m not sure how many NBA starters I see either from the other five-star recruits. New players always emerge, but by now we usually have a pretty good idea of who the most elite prospects are, and it’s looking like slim pickings, even more so than the weak 2024 NBA draft, which at least had several high-end international prospects we could point to.”
Will Sheehey, who has spent the past four years in various coaching-related roles with the Warriors, has officially signed a one-year deal with the Bakken Bears to become an assistant coach and head of the Danish club’s player development program, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Sheehey’s most recent title with Golden State was assistant director of player development and innovation, Askounis adds.