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.
Draft Decisions: Johnson, Daniels, Atamna, Ruzic, Faye, More
Michigan big man Morez Johnson has declared for the 2026 NBA draft while retaining his college eligibility, as Friday’s deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2026 NBA draft fast approaches, CBS’s Jon Rothstein reports (via Twitter).
The 6’9″ sophomore averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game across 40 outings with the Wolverines after transferring from Illinois. He made 62.3% of his shots from the floor and 78.2% of his free throws.
Johnson started every game for Michigan and was a big part of the team’s success, as exemplified by his 12-point, 10-rebound, 2-block performance in the national title victory over Connecticut.
The defensive big man is 27th on Jeremy Woo’s big board for ESPN and is slotted 24th overall in Jonathan Wasserman’s most recent mock draft for Bleacher Report, with Wasserman citing Johnson’s combination of strength, versatile athleticism, and motor as reasons to be excited about him.
We have more draft notes:
- Dash Daniels, Adam Atamna, Michael Ruzic, and Mouhamed Faye have decided against entering the 2026 draft, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reports (via Twitter). Of the four, Daniels and Atamna were the highest-ranked prospects, with Daniels coming in at No. 49 on Woo’s board and No. 42 in Wasserman’s mock draft, while Atamna sits at No. 58 for Woo and No. 40 for Wasserman. The younger brother of Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, Dash is a good defender but struggled with his offense this season in the NBL, averaging 4.2 PPG and hitting just 37.9% of his free throws. Atamna is a 6’4″ guard out of ASVEL in France who showed potential as a shooter and a play-maker, averaging 8.1 points and 2.1 assists in 15.6 minutes per game. Ruzic, a 6’8″ power forward with Joventut in Spain, is 63rd on ESPN’s big board after showing an improved three-point touch. Faye, a 6’9″ center for Paris, averaged 5.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 14.9 minutes per game. Woo had him 82nd overall, while Wasserman had him at No. 48 in his mock.
- Bassala Bagayoko, a Malian big man out of Bilbao in Spain, has declared for the draft, his agents at Klutch Sports tell Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 6’9″ 19-year-old played 13.4 minutes per game this season in Liga ACB, averaging 4.3 points and 3.6 rebounds. He’s unranked by both Wasserman and Woo, but Chepkevich notes (via Twitter) that he holds a wingspan of at least 7’1″ and has a strong motor.
- Russian forward Vsevolod Ishchenko has declared for the draft, per Givony (Twitter link). Ishchenko averaged 8.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 22.8 minutes per game this season for Lokomotiv Kuban. While unranked by ESPN and Bleacher Report, Ishchenko, at 6’8″ with a 7’0″ wingspan, offers an interesting combination of size and versatility at the wing, says Givony.