NBA Announces 73 Invitees For 2026 Draft Combine
The NBA announced today (via Twitter) that 73 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s draft combine, which will take place in Chicago from May 10-17.
In addition to those 73 players, a handful of standout players from the G League combine, which is also held in Chicago just before the combine begins, are expected to receive invites to stick around for the main event.
Not all of the prospects invited to the combine will end up remaining in the 2026 draft pool, since many are early entrants who are testing the waters while retaining their NCAA eligibility.
College players must withdraw from the draft by the end of the day on May 27 if they wish to preserve that eligibility, while non-college players face a decision deadline of June 13. The feedback they receive from NBA teams at the combine may be a deciding factor for players who are on the fence.
Here’s the list of players who have been invited to the 2026 draft combine:
(Note: For players in international leagues, the country listed is where they had been playing, not necessarily where they’re from.)
- Matt Able, G, North Carolina State (freshman)
- Darius Acuff, G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Amari Allen, F, Alabama (freshman)
- Nate Ament, F, Tennessee (freshman)
- Christian Anderson, G, Texas Tech (sophomore)
- Tobe Awaka, F, Arizona (senior)
- Flory Bidunga, F/C, Kansas (sophomore)
- Tyler Bilodeau, F, UCLA (senior)
- John Blackwell, G, Wisconsin (junior)
- Cameron Boozer, F, Duke (freshman)
- Kylan Boswell, G, Illinois (senior)
- Nick Boyd, G, Wisconsin (senior)
- Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona (senior)
- Trevon Brazile, F, Arkansas (senior)
- Maliq Brown, F, Duke (senior)
- Mikel Brown Jr., G, Louisville (freshman)
- Brayden Burries, G, Arizona (freshman)
- Cameron Carr, G, Baylor (junior)
- Chris Cenac, F/C, Houston (freshman)
- Rueben Chinyelu, C, Florida (junior)
- Ryan Conwell, G, Louisville (senior)
- Sergio De Larrea, G, Spain (born 2005)
- AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU (freshman)
- Zuby Ejiofor, F, St. John’s (senior)
- Isaiah Evans, G/F, Duke (sophomore)
- Jeremy Fears, G, Michigan State (junior)
- Kingston Flemings, G, Houston (freshman)
- Ja’Kobi Gillespie, G, Tennessee (senior)
- Allen Graves, F, Santa Clara (freshman)
- Keyshawn Hall, G/F, Auburn (senior)
- Juke Harris, G, Wake Forest (sophomore)
- Joshua Jefferson, F, Iowa State (senior)
- Morez Johnson, F/C, Michigan (sophomore)
- Alex Karaban, F, UConn (senior)
- Jack Kayil, G, Germany (born 2006)
- Toibu Lawal, F, Virginia Tech (senior)
- Yaxel Lendeborg, F, Michigan (senior)
- Karim Lopez, F, Australia (born 2007)
- Aday Mara, C, Michigan (junior)
- Nick Martinelli, F, Northwestern (senior)
- Baba Miller, F/C, Cincinnati (senior)
- Dillon Mitchell, F, St. John’s (senior)
- Milan Momcilovic, F, Iowa State (junior)
- Malachi Moreno, C, Kentucky (freshman)
- Izaiyah Nelson, F, South Florida (senior)
- Tyler Nickel, F, Vanderbilt (senior)
- Ebuka Okorie, G, Stanford (freshman)
- Felix Okpara, C, Tennessee (senior)
- Ugonna Onyenso, C, Virginia (senior)
- Otega Oweh, G, Kentucky (senior)
- Koa Peat, F, Arizona (freshman)
- Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas (freshman)
- Labaron Philon, G, Alabama (sophomore)
- Jayden Quaintance, F/C, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Tarris Reed, C, UConn (senior)
- Billy Richmond, G/F, Arkansas (sophomore)
- Richie Saunders, G, BYU (senior)
- Emanuel Sharp, G, Houston (senior)
- Braden Smith, G, Purdue (senior)
- Hannes Steinbach, F, Washington (freshman)
- Bennett Stirtz, G, Iowa (senior)
- Andrej Stojakovic, G/F, Illinois (junior)
- Peter Suder, G, Miami (OH) (senior)
- Luigi Suigo, C, Serbia (born 2007)
- Dailyn Swain, G/F, Texas (junior)
- Tyler Tanner, G, Vanderbilt (sophomore)
- Meleek Thomas, G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Bruce Thornton, G, Ohio State (senior)
- Milos Uzan, G, Houston (senior)
- Henri Veesaar, C, North Carolina (junior)
- Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois (freshman)
- Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina (freshman)
- Tounde Yessoufou, G/F, Baylor (freshman)
It’s worth noting that the NBA and the NBPA agreed to several combine-related changes in their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here are a few of those changes:
- A player who is invited to the draft combine and declines to attend without an excused absence will be ineligible to be drafted. He would become eligible the following year by attending the combine. There will be exceptions made for a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child). That player would be required to complete combine activities at a later date.
- Players who attend the draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, share medical history, participate in strength, agility, and performance testing, take part in shooting drills, receive anthropometric measurements, and conduct interviews with teams and the media. Scrimmages won’t be mandatory.
- Medical results from the combine will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.
Steinbach, Quaintance, Carr, Thomas Enter NBA Draft
Potential lottery pick Hannes Steinbach is placing his name in the 2026 NBA draft, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets.
The German-born forward put up stellar stats in his lone season with the University of Washington, posting averages of 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game in 30 starts. The standout freshman shot 57.7 percent from the field and 34 percent on three-point attempts.
Givony projects the 6’11” Steinbach as a top-20 pick; ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has him as the No. 15 overall prospect on his current big board.
Here’s more draft news:
- Kentucky sophomore big man Jayden Quaintance announced on Tuesday in a social media post that he’s declaring for the 2026 draft (Instagram link). Quaintance is a projected first-rounder despite knee issues that have marred his two college seasons. He averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game as a freshman at Arizona State before suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee. Persistent knee issues limited him to four games with the Wildcats this past season. The 6’10” forward/center is listed as ESPN’s No. 20 prospect.
- Another projected first-rounder, Baylor’s Cameron Carr, is declaring for the draft, Givony tweets. Carr averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 38% from three as a junior this past season. The 6’5” Carr, who played just 18 games at Tennessee in his first two college seasons, will not enter the transfer portal and intends to go pro, Givony adds. Carr is rated 24th overall by ESPN.
- Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas will declare for the draft but maintain his college eligibility, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Thomas averaged 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per contest in his freshman season with the Razorbacks, knocking down 41.6% of his three-point attempts. He’s currently rated No. 28 by ESPN.
And-Ones: Luwawu-Cabarrot, 2024 FAs, M. Thomas, ESPN
Former NBA forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has reached an agreement on a two-year contract with Baskonia, the Spanish club announced today in a press release.
Luwawu-Cabarrot played in the NBA from 2016-22 after being selected 24th overall in the 2016 draft. He saw rotation minutes for several seasons but never developed into a high-level contributor in the NBA, averaging 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 16.0 minutes per game across 328 regular season appearances (60 starts) for the Sixers, Thunder, Bulls, Nets, and Hawks.
The French forward has played a more significant role in Europe over the past two seasons for Olimpia Milano in 2022/23 and ASVEL in 2023/24. As he makes the move to Spain, Luwawu-Cabarrot will be looking to help boost a Baskonia team that missed the Spanish League (ACB) postseason in 2024 and was swept out of the first round of the EuroLeague playoffs by Real Madrid.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Keith Smith of Spotrac has concluded his deep dive into the NBA’s 2024 free agent class by taking a closer look at the power forwards and centers on the market this summer. Smith also ranked the overall top 50 free agents, with LeBron James, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Pascal Siakam leading the way.
- As first reported by Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Meleek Thomas, one of the top prospects in the recruiting class of 2025, has signed a deal to play with Overtime Elite for the 2024/25 season. A 6’4″ combo guard, Thomas is preserving his college eligibility and will take visits to UConn and Arkansas later this month, according to Givony.
- With ESPN poised to renew its broadcast rights deal with the NBA, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic argues that the network should pursue bigger-name broadcasters to elevate its coverage, including perhaps pitching LeBron James on a Tom Brady-esque deal once the Lakers star retires as a player.
