Sam Vecenie’s latest 2026 NBA mock draft for The Athletic featured several Arizona Wildcats players, including three going in the first round.
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Vecenie projected Brayden Burries to be selected by the Chicago Bulls with the No. 10 pick. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound freshman guard has been the leading scorer for the No. 2 Wildcats this season, averaging 15.5 points (on 49.4% shooting), 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Vecenie said while teams might worry about his ability to create separation as a guard, his pacing and rebounding ability make him a worthy candidate to be taken with the No. 10 pick.
Teams think he’s a good power guard but worry about him separating from his man consistently in the NBA. He relies on his pace and balance for the most part and might not be able to play as often on the ball. If that’s the case, is Burries good enough at other parts of the game where he’s worth having on the court? I think the answer is yes because of his rebounding and quick hands.
Koa Peat mocked to the Spurs
Vecenie mocked Koa Peat to the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 11 pick, one spot after Burries.
He adds the Chandler native possesses great rebounding abilities and excels at making plays on the court, whether it’s making shots or creating plays to further the Wildcats’ offense.
Peat is a fascinating player who prompts a wide range of opinions from NBA scouts. He’s averaging 13.7 points while shooting 54 percent from the field and is a tough, physical rebounder on a team that features guys like Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka, both of whom are elite rebounders. He passes well and makes excellent decisions to keep his team in the flow of the offense, be it in short rolls out of ball screens or on the wing.
Peat is the third-leading scorer for the Wildcats this season, averaging 13.3 points (on 53.4% shooting) while grabbing 5.4 rebounds and registering 2.7 assists per game.
Vecenie noted that while Peat brings plenty of size and length as a winger, his lack of 3-point shooting and question marks on defense prevent him from being much higher on NBA teams’ draft boards.
He’s not really a shooter, as he’s only taken 18 3-point attempts and made six of them while hitting just 61.9 percent of his attempts at the foul line — basically in line with his averages at lower levels. Defensively, he’s not overly fast, and there are possessions when you see him get beaten laterally by quicker players. I don’t see him falling outside of the top 20 on draft night — he does too many things too well — but he’s more polarizing than you’d expect for a player who has had a largely successful year on a great team.
Motiejus Krivas mocked to Cavaliers
Vecenie mocked junior center Motiejus Krivas as a late first-round pick, going to the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 28 pick.
Vecenie said Krivas’ size and shot-blocking ability make him a tough matchup for opposing players.
No player in the country is better at using his size and verticality at the rim without blocking shots than the big Lithuanian, and the numbers back that up. When he’s on the court, opponents’ true-shooting percentage drops all the way to 45.1 percent, versus 55.1 percent when he’s off the court. Largely, that’s because they take three fewer shots at the rim per 40 minutes and shoot 10.6 percent worse at the rim when he’s on the court.
Krivas leads the Wildcats in rebounds and shot-blocking this season, averaging 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. The 7-foot-2, 260-pound center has also been effective on the offensive side of the ball, averaging 10.8 points (on 59.6% shooting) with 1.1 assists per game.
Vecenie noted his offensive abilities make him one of the more underrated players for the Wildcats this season and that his abilities on both sides of the court could be a factor in his rising up draft boards.
Throw in that Krivas is also a terrific finisher on the interior, he’s mobile and he also makes his free throws. I personally think he’s been far too unsung a hero on this Arizona team. Scouts see him as a potential option in the 20s, but I’ll be interested to see if that changes as they dig deeper into Arizona’s bevy of prospects.
Jaden Bradley rounds out Arizona players on mock draft
The final Arizona player on Vecenie’s mock draft was Jaden Bradley, who was projected to go to the Washington Wizards in the second round at No. 51. Bradley has been the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer this season, averaging 13.8 points (on 46.8% shooting), 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
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