The 2026 NBA Draft is on May 10, and once you get past the debate of who’s No. 1, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa or Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, the projections get interesting.
For UConn men’s basketball, there’s only one player considered to be a potential lottery pick, and that’s freshman standout Braylon Mullins.
Four mock drafts and one “best available” board (ESPN) have somewhere from 3-5 lottery picks in this year’s NCAA Final Four, with the website NBA Draft Room having the most with five picks.
Mullins is 11th on the NBA Draft Room board, which in a simulated lottery would send the Greenfield, Ind., product to the Golden State Warriors. Arizona guard Brayden Burries is the highest lottery pick in the Final Four at seventh and would go to the Dallas Mavericks. Illinois guard Keaton Wagler is eighth and would go to the Atlanta Hawks. After Mullins at 11th, there are back-to-back Michigan players at 13th and 14th to round out the lottery. Wolverine center Aday Mara would go to the Charlotte Hornets at 13th while forward Yaxel Lendeborg would go to the Miami Heat at 14th.
Mullins’ best position is 11th on NBA Draft Room.
“One of the best outside shooters in the class with a clear NBA level jumper Mullins can warp the defense, even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. Is a great mover off the ball and is always hunting his shot,” read the description about Mullins on NBA Draft Room.
He is also projected as a lottery pick on ESPN‘s best available board, where he is listed 14th. Wagler is listed by ESPN as the sixth-best player available while Lendeborg is 12th. Of note, ESPN lists UConn senior forward Alex Karaban as the 30th-best player available, and there are seven players from the Final Four in the sports network‘s Top 30.
Mullins is listed at 18th in the mock drafts of Bleacher Report and Tankathon. Bleacher Report has the following lottery picks from the Final Four: 7. Wagler to the Hawks; 9. Burries to the Bulls; and 14. Lendeborg to the Grizzlies. Tankathon has the following lottery picks from the Final Four: 6. Wagler to the Hawks; 9. Burries to the Bulls; and 13. Lendeborg to the Heat.
One mock draft that sticks out is CBS. Wagler is the No. 5 pick and would go to the Jazz. Arizona teammates Burries (10th, Bucks) and Koa Peat (12th, Trail Blazers) round out CBS’s lottery picks. After that, there’s Lendeborg (16th, Grizzlies); Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. (21st, 76ers); Mara (23rd, Nuggets); Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas (25th, Lakers); and Mullins (30th, Mavericks).
