NBA Draft Lottery Player Comps: The High and Low End of a Deep Class's Ratings

We're on the precipice of an NBA draft that could be remembered as one of the 21st century's best collection of lottery picks. There's plenty of star power at the top of the 2026 class, players who could reshape the power dynamics in the league for a long time. What might those stars' careers end up looking like? To best lay that out, Sports Illustrated has comparisons for every projected lottery pick ranging from future Hall of Famers to steady role players.

AJ Dybantsa

High End: Tracy McGrady

Low End: RJ Barrett

Finding the perfect comparison for Dybantsa, who has been regularly compared to many of the top big wings in the NBA for years, is difficult. The one that I keep coming back to for a realistic ceiling outcome is McGrady, another jumbo ballhandler with incredible length and athleticism. Dybantsa's playmaking ability has continued to improve, averaging nearly four assists per game at BYU last season. Dybantsa has a real path to being a top-10 player in the NBA if he hits his ceiling as a scorer and playmaker. The floor may look similar to the career RJ Barrett has had, another former high draft pick whose intensity, physicality and ability to get to the rim allowed him to blossom into a consistent 20 ppg scorer but hasn't quite reached the All-NBA ceiling many hoped for him at one point in his development.

Darryn Peterson

High End: Devin Booker

Low End: Bradley Beal

In his best moments, Peterson has been compared to many of the best scoring guards in NBA history, everyone from Kobe Bryant to many of the star guards shaping the league today. While his ceiling may resemble that of Bryant, a more realistic comparison might be someone like Booker, an All-NBA scorer whose fluidity as a shooter and shotmaker is similar to the best moments for Peterson. His incredible productivity as a scorer almost guarantees a path to making All-Star teams as Beal did, though inefficiency and injury woes capping his long-term career impact the way they impacted Beal's career show the potential floor for Peterson's career.

Cameron Boozer

High End: Kevin Love

Low End: Al Horford

A consummate winner and the most consistently productive player in this draft class, Boozer is a fascinating case study for teams who weigh his lacking traditional athletic gifts against his elite consistency and IQ. He's more skilled than his father, Carlos, was, and if his shooting continues to develop could have a career arc comparable to Love, a player who was best cast as a second or third option on championship teams in Cleveland. Another popular comparison will undoubtedly be Horford, who never quite hit Love's offensive ceiling but has consistently won in his career and found ways to reinvent himself to add value even as the NBA has changed drastically around him.

Caleb Wilson

High End: Kevin Garnett

Low End: Moussa Diabaté

One attribute of Wilson's that pops most obviously when watching him is his nonstop motor. The ultra-athletic forward flies around for dunks, blocks and highlight-reel plays above the rim in transition and raises the competitiveness level on the floor when he enters the game. His best moments conjure images of a modern Garnett, a two-way force around the rim throughout his Hall of Fame career. If he's unable to add some of the polish to his game, Wilson seems likely to still add tons of value thanks to his effort level and toughness, perhaps in a role similar to the one Diabaté seems to be carving out in Charlotte, where he was an essential part of their late-season surge.

Keaton Wagler

High End: Tyrese Haliburton

Low End: Ty Jerome

The comparisons to Haliburton have been frequent for Wagler, who has charted a similar path as the Pacers' star rising from underrated slender three-star recruit to lottery pick. Wagler doesn't have quite the same pedigree as a passer that Haliburton did coming out of Iowa State, but is an outstanding decision-maker who seems to always make the right play. And like Haliburton, Wagler is an outstanding shooter off the dribble, a skill that has unlocked so much of the rest of his arsenal.

That said, even if Wagler can't blossom into a Haliburton-like offensive engine, he should still have a safe floor as a role player like Jerome, a terrific shooter and savvy decision-maker who has overperformed his lacking physical tools.

Darius Acuff Jr.

High End: Trae Young

Low End: Collin Sexton

There's no question that Acuff can score at an elite level, having averaged 23.5 points per game in an electric freshman season at Arkansas. He may not be the easiest player to build around though, given his poor track record defensively and lack of size. That inspires comparisons to Young, who was one of the most prolific offensive players in the NBA for years in Atlanta before things eventually turned sour due to his style of play and massive contract. The lower-end outcome for a player in Acuff's mold might look something like Sexton, a former top-10 pick who has scored buckets in bunches at times in the NBA as a starter or sixth man.

Kingston Flemings

High End: De'Aaron Fox

Low End: Jeff Teague

Flemings's blazing speed in the open floor and unselfish style has won him plenty of fans around the NBA. It's a similar archetype to Fox, who starred in Sacramento and has settled in as a key piece of the Spurs' nucleus around Victor Wembanyama after being traded during the 2024–25 season. That Flemings looks like a realistic option for the Kings will only further fuel the Fox comparisons, though Fox had a bit more natural scoring talent and length coming out of college than Flemings. If the scoring flashes don't totally click, Flemings could have a Teague-like career, emerging as a steady starter on winning teams who made good decisions, touched the paint effectively and could make open threes.

Mikel Brown Jr.

High End: Jamal Murray

Low End: Anfernee Simons

Brown has comparable measurements and production throughout his career to date to Murray, and Brown certainly has an All-NBA ceiling. Like Murray, he's an electric shotmaker when at his best, taking over games as an off-dribble shooter while still being unselfish enough to make others better in the process. An explosive scorer in the backcourt with athletic burst like Simons is another potential career arc, though Simons hasn't been able to translate his talents into high-level winning the way an NBA champion like Murray has.

Brayden Burries

High End: Desmond Bane

Low End: Grayson Allen

Burries is fresh off a strong season at Arizona that has earned him plenty of looks in the back half of the lottery. He has a stockier build at 215 pounds while standing just under 6'4" without shoes, but has real scoring and shotmaking pedigree. That may remind some fans of Bane, another thickly built off-ball player without elite length who has blossomed into an outstanding secondary weapon first in Memphis and now in Orlando. Like Bane, Burries's potential upside lies in proving his on-ball talent as a secondary playmaker and not just an off-ball weapon. If that doesn't come together, his career arc might look something like Allen's, who is fresh off a career year in Phoenix but has established himself as a starting-caliber option over the last several years with the ability to make shots and attack closeouts.

Aday Mara

High End: Brook Lopez

Low End: Jakob Poeltl

Mara is the biggest player in this draft class at 7'3" barefoot and possesses an intriguing potential combination of rim protection and skill on the offensive end. It's hard to find direct comparisons for Mara's unique skill set: Lopez comes to mind as a slower-footed 7-footer who protected the rim and blossomed into a lethal pick-and-pop weapon late in his career. Mara may not ever be quite that level of shooter but is a more gifted passer than Lopez was. Poeltl, a 10-year veteran out of Utah, might be a more realistic goal if the shot doesn't come around, settling in as a low-end starter for the last several years most recently with the Raptors.

Yaxel Lendeborg

High End: Aaron Gordon

Low End: Taurean Prince

Lendeborg's profile is unique given he'll enter the NBA as a 24-year-old rookie. For reference, our high-end comp in Gordon was entering his sixth NBA season at 24. Even as someone who was later to the game and played little organized basketball before college, that draws into question what Lendeborg's ceiling really is. The best outcome probably looks something like the role Gordon has settled into in Denver: defending up and down the lineup, making outside shots and slashing to the rim in the open floor on winning teams. He should have some early role player utility if nothing else though, perhaps in the mold of someone like Prince, who has carved out a nice journeyman career in the bigger three-and-D mold.

Nate Ament

High End: Tobias Harris

Low End: Keegan Murray

Ament is one of the most polarizing players in this class, a player with excellent positional size, scoring pedigree and shooting upside but athletic limitations that may cap his ceiling. While he has been comped regularly to more traditional stretch fours like Jabari Smith Jr., Ament's career might end up looking more like Harris, who at his ceiling was a fairly prolific scorer with good feel for the game. Ament doesn't have quite the offensive arsenal that Harris had, but is more of a three-level option than he gets credit for. The size and shooting gives him a path to being a steady role player à la Murray should the scoring not quite come together, though Murray showed more athletic pop at Iowa than Ament did at Tennessee.

Labaron Philon Jr.

High End: Immanuel Quickley

Low End: Bones Hyland

Philon is perceived to be a tier below some of the elite point guard options in this draft despite putting up numbers as good or better than the other point guards in the top 10. A career path similar to Quickley's would be a strong outcome, making an immediate impact as one of the best sixth men in the league before emerging as a starting point guard by his mid-20s. The two are both gifted creators off the dribble but lack elite size or explosiveness. The risk with Philon is he becomes more of a second-unit gunner whose shotmaking prowess gets him on the floor in spurts but without all-around game to blossom into a starter.

Morez Johnson Jr.

High End: Onyeka Okongwu

Low End: Precious Achiuwa

Johnson measured well at the combine, standing 6'9" barefoot with a monster 7'3" wingspan. That has boosted the belief from some NBA teams that Johnson can spend significant time at center at the next level, perhaps blossoming into a weapon comparable to Okongwu who can catch lobs, make pick-and-pop threes and play with a high motor on the glass in addition to his defensive exploits. Another undersized energy big whose career path Johnson could end up following is Achiuwa, whose three-point shot never came along as hoped but has emerged as a valuable reserve in time with four different franchises.

More NBA From Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI's NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI's YouTube channel.

• Chris Mannix: Victor Wembanyama Refused to Let the Spurs Fold in NBA Finals
• How the Spurs Used Hostile Madison Square Garden Crowd to Take NBA Finals Game 3 From Knicks
• Knicks' Mike Brown Blasts Officials After Game 3 Loss: ‘Never Thought I'd See That in NBA Finals'
• ‘Worth Every Penny': Knicks Fans Have Zero Regrets Over Exorbitant NBA Finals Game 3 Ticket Prices
• Every Celebrity Spotted at Game 3 of Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals

This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Draft Lottery Player Comps: The High and Low End of a Deep Class's Ratings.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM.