First-Round Shouts Are Growing for Arizona's Peat Ahead of the NBA Draft
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Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat is one of the more confusing players in the entire 2026 NBA Draft class. He’s seen his stock fluctuate throughout the year, and as the draft inches closer, the general feeling is that he’ll be a late-first-round pick.
Peat was one of several star freshmen for the Wildcats this past season, averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for an Arizona team that enjoyed one of its best seasons in program history in the 2025-26 campaign.
Arizona won 36 games — a program-best for a full season — and also started out 23-0, which ties their best start in over 100 years. The Wildcats also swept both the regular season and Big 12 Tournament titles, and reached the Final Four with Peat at the forefront of all of this success.
Peat’s Draft Stock
After a stellar rookie season with Arizona, Peat declared for the 2026 NBA Draft. Initially thought of as a possible lottery pick earlier in the season, Peat’s stock has dipped slightly due to some of his glaring weaknesses, such as a lack of outside shooting despite not being a traditional center.
While his strengths — using his size and skill to overpower opponents on the interior — along with his freakish athleticism, have made him an intriguing player for NBA scouts. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo recently ranked Peat as the 20th-best prospect ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft later this summer.
Woo’s thoughts
“Peat has been one of the more divisive players in the class, with scouts conflicted on whether his physicality, toughness and defensive smarts can overcome his midrange-heavy shot selection in the long run,” Woo said. “He shot just 7-for-20 from 3 this season and 62.3% from the foul line, creating an obvious path to improving his stock in 2027 if he opts to stay in school and focus on development.”
“His winning history and intangibles should make Peat a first-round candidate regardless, but it will take a strong predraft process to answer the overarching questions about how his offensive game translates to the NBA, where he'll have less of a physical advantage and will have to become more pronounced on the perimeter,” Woo added.
With the draft nearing, Peat will look to try and boost his stock even further so that he doesn’t fall out of first-round projections. Peat has plenty of room to grow as a player at such a young age, and there’s always a chance he opts to come back to Arizona for a second season if the feedback he receives from the NBA is not what he desires.
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Justin Backer brings a wealth of experience to his role as a college football and basketball general sports reporter On SI. Backer is a proud graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies, and has worked for such media companies as The Sporting News and the Palm Beach Post.