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NBA draft, youth will be served

“With the first pick in the 2026 NBA draft the Washington Wizards select AJ Dybantsa from BYU,” with those words commissioner Adam Silver kicked off the start of the 2026 NBA draft night activities. This account only covers those athletes chosen as lottery picks (first 14). The second pick chosen could be a surprise, on the other hand maybe not. With the second pick the Utah Jazz selected Darryn Peterson from Kansas, there was conversation these two might be reversed however that would not be the case. At three the Memphis Grizzlies chose Cameron Boozer who played at Duke, up next was the Bulls and they selected Caleb Wilson from North Carolina.

They were selections by the Clippers, Nets, Kings and Hawks, who chose Keaton Wagler, Mikel Brown Jr. Darius Acuff Jr and Kingston Flemings. They played at Illinois, Louisville, Arkansas and Houston. With pick nine the Mavs and new head coach Dusty May selected Morez Johnson Jr. At ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen we saw Brayden Burries, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, Nate Ament and Hannes Steinbach who close out the lottery portion of the draft. A few additional notes, the first eight picks were all freshman that’s why I said youth will be served. Keaton Wagler was not a Top 100 prospect from high school and this college freshman finds himself the fifth pick in the 2026 NBA draft. Darius Acuff Jr. and the late Pete Maravich are the only two in SEC history to lead the conference in scoring and assists.

There might be an issue

LeBron James has made it known that after he retires his desire is to own an NBA team, in addition he wanted that franchise to be in Las Vegas. As you are aware earlier in spring the NBA announced plans to explore adding two franchises, one to be located in Seattle and the other in Las Vegas. On Monday came this bit of news, Bill Foley owner of the NHL Golden Knights announced he would be a bidder for a Las Vegas team.

Foley has a net worth of $2.6 billion and besides his NHL ownership also possesses several other sports franchises. According to reports the price for the Las Vegas and Seattle franchises are stated to be in the neighborhood of $7 billion to $10 billion. Foley indicates if he is the owner his plans are for the team to play in T-Mobile Arena, the building which opened in 2016 seats 18,000 spectators. The question now becomes how LeBron James and his team will manage to respond to this breaking news. Naturally, I intend to follow this story with interest.

It’s now official

Fresh off Dusty May’s NCAA win at Michigan another move has occurred for him. This move is a slight bit different because it leaves a number of players in its wake. May has been hired as the Mavs new coach replacing Jason Kidd, as most are aware besides the NCAA championship won at Michigan he was also successful at Florida Atlantic. Despite the accolades there is a downside to this hire, sorry I am forced to mention it but a small number of college coaches have managed to attain success in the NBA. There is that issue than the other….the players remaining at Michigan May recruited. Without checking I am sure May began recruiting portal players and high school talent to aid the school’s effort in the 2026-27 Big 10 schedule. This is a two-fold approach, what occurs for those athletes May added to the roster?

Shouldn’t the school release them immediately if they desire to play elsewhere, the same would apply to portal transfers. There is part I of this breaking news story, part II is slightly more difficult to determine. As mentioned when this account was first begun how about college coaches and their NBA resumes? The chief reason the NBA fails to look at colleges is the low success rate. We could use Billy Donovan as an example, outstanding college coach at Florida, average NBA coach. Brad Stevens appeared successful however the Celtics “kicked” him upstairs to a front office role before we could determine how good he might have become. Those are the most recent examples I can think of from memory but I hope this is not considered a doom and gloom report. On the surface May appears to have all the tools for success, the question can he translate that success to an NBA team? The question will require time in order to provide an answer.

I agree with him

Over and over I have attempted to reinforce the opinions expressed in this blog are mine alone. They are influenced at times by what I read or hear on radio/television. My hope is to never spread false or misleading information regarding anything or anyone. Recently I watched a portion of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s podcast, in it he (imagine this) was critical of some of the podcasters that have come about many on social media. This is one of those rare instances I agree with him. Anyone paying attention to the recently concluded playoffs are aware Dylan Harper should probably be starting for the Spurs. Mitch Johnson chose a different path for this combo guard.

This podcasters headline read: “Dylan Harper is fed up with the San Antonio Spurs.” He goes into detail indicating “Dylan Harper’s growth is being stunted sitting behind DeAaron Fox.” Despite my disagreement with the tone  the podcaster had nothing but praise for the Spurs guard, most of what he stated in his video I agree with. The portion that causes me concern, who is this podcaster and what are his credentials? You might ask the same question about me and that’s okay, my bio is included on the front page. Off the Dribble is written from a fan’s perspective….not an expert. I realize you find a portion of this amusing me agreeing with Stephen A. Smith. There is an old saying “A broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.”