Biggest Winners and Losers From the First Round of the 2026 NBA Draft

The highly anticipated 2026 NBA draft finally commenced on Tuesday night, and it was a doozy.

The top of this year’s class is as hyped as any in recent memory, with three top-tier prospects in AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cam Boozer to choose from. The rest of the prospect pool was viewed as quite deep with plenty of high-end talent scattered throughout the lottery and into the rest of the first round. Combined with an eventful evening of NBA teams frantically doing business, it made for an entertaining first round.

Monday night saw the long-awaited end to the Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee with the massive deal that sent the two-time MVP to the Heat. The Bucks received Miami’s first-round pick, No. 13, in the deal which allowed the franchise to immediately start its rebuild with two lottery picks and a bevy of young, cost-controlled players from the Heat. The entire NBA waited for the Giannis domino to fall to kickstart the offseason and, presumably, an active trade season. That didn’t come to fruition on draft night, however, with the first trade taking place in the middle of the first round and no active players changing teams—just future second-round picks and cash to facilitate swaps.

Even though it was a mostly quiet night on the trade front and a chalky start to the draft with Dybantsa to the Wizards, Peterson to the Jazz and Boozer to the Grizzlies, there were clear winners and losers from the first round once the dust settled. Let’s break down the biggest of those winners and losers.

Winner: Dusty May and the 2026 national champions from Michigan

A day after leaving Michigan behind to take over as the Mavericks’ new coach, Dusty May showed up at the 2026 draft both to support the players he won a national title with and to be part of his new team’s draft plans.

May selected one of his own with the No. 9 pick by landing versatile forward Morez Johnson Jr. Shortly after that, the Warriors took Wolverines star Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 11 and the Thunder picked center Aday Mara at No. 12. It didn’t take long for the stars of the Wolverines’ 2026 title run to come off the board.

After going 37–3 and winning a national title at Michigan, May parlayed that success into an NBA coaching gig, then watched three of his players get drafted in the top 12. What a year for that national championship squad.

Loser: Michigan

Dusty May bolted from the Wolverines after winning the national title | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This had to be a rough night for Michigan fans. They did win a national title this year, and no one can take that away from them, but it has to feel like the juggernaut being built in Ann Arbor has fallen apart.

The day after May fled town for Dallas, Wolverines fans had to watch the team’s top three players move on to the NBA, each leaving a big hole in his wake. All the while, May was in the room watching and celebrating with them. That had to hurt.

May is a phenomenal coach who moved on to a bigger job. No one should be angry that he took the next step in his career. It still stinks for fans of college basketball and, specifically, Michigan fans.

Winner: Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks kickstarted their rebuild with picking Brayden Burries and Nate Ament in the draft | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

One night after the Bucks traded franchise legend Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat, Milwaukee handled the draft perfectly. A slew of guards went after the top four picks, and the Bucks ended up with an extremely talented one in Arizona’s Brayden Burries at No. 10. He instantly becomes a key member of the backcourt alongside Kasparas Jakučionis, Miami’s first-round pick last year, who was acquired in the Giannis trade. Burries can play with or without the ball and is a high-level shotmaker, which makes him a great fit to start a rebuild.

The Bucks obtained the Heat’s first-round pick in the deal, which sat at No. 13. Tennessee’s Nate Ament got some late buzz as a potential top-10 pick with his immense upside as a premier wing. Milwaukee could’ve taken him at No. 10, but he slid right into general manager Jon Horst’s lap three picks later. Ament has plenty of growth ahead of him, which is unquestionably palatable in the Bucks’ new situation. Adding Burries and Ament to the haul of players received from the Heat is a great start. Plus, the Bucks still have two future first-rounders before the Antetokounmpo trade is fully finalized.

Loser: Blockbuster trade watchers

Giannis Antetokounmpo landed with the Heat the day before the draft with no consequential trades coming on draft night | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Those tuning into the draft in hopes of big trades in the fallout of the Giannis deal are still waiting. The first trade of draft night didn’t happen until the 16th pick when the Thunder moved up a spot and sent the Grizzlies two second-round picks for the trouble. Then, the Pistons moved up from No. 21 to No. 17 and sent Memphis three more second-rounders.

The Lakers moved up a spot from No. 25 to No. 24 by sending cash considerations to the Knicks. The Spurs then got back into the first round and moved up nine spots to No. 26 for the cost of two future second-round picks that are off to the Nuggets. Sacramento also moved up into the end of the first round for UConn’s Alex Karaban.

None of those moves involved current players and no team paid the price to move into the lottery. The only trade fireworks came 24 hours ahead of the draft when the Bucks acquired an additional lottery pick in the massive Giannis trade. There was a thought that Antetokounmpo’s breakup with Milwaukee would start a run of trades as rival teams waited for that domino to fall before making their own moves. That didn’t happen, however, with teams exchanging picks for future second-rounders as all rosters remained intact on draft day.

Winner: Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies acquired five second-round picks for moving back and ended up with Karim Lopez at No. 21 in addition to Cameron Boozer at No. 3 | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Boozer seemed like a perfect fit for the Grizzlies as an analytical monster likely viewed very highly by an analytics-forward front office and represented a much-needed injection of star power to a frontcourt that just lost Jaren Jackson Jr. All signs pointed to Boozer falling to No. 3, but Memphis was undoubtedly holding its breath given Cam’s father, Carlos, both played and currently works for the team that was selecting ahead of them: the Jazz. But things unfolded as expected; Utah went with Darryn Peterson and the Grizz got their man.

Later on in the first round, GM Zach Kleiman showed off his deal-making skills to really round out the night for his team. Memphis initially held the No. 16 pick but dropped down one spot to No. 17 for the price of two second-round picks from the Thunder. Then the Grizzlies moved down again, this time to No. 21 in exchange for three second-rounders from the Pistons. After all that movement, Memphis wound up selecting Karim López, which makes for a great swing on a wing prospect with big-time potential as the Grizzlies try to build the new core of their franchise. Even if he doesn’t pan out, moving down five spots for five second-rounders is great business.

A very successful night in Memphis.

Loser: Anyone other than college freshmen

College freshmen made up the first eight picks of the draft, highlighted by AJ Dybantsa to the Wizards at No. 1 | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The first eight picks of the draft were all college freshmen for the second straight year. Johnson, a sophomore, broke that streak as the ninth pick when he joined May and the Mavericks. He was immediately followed by Burries, another freshman, who rounded out the top 10 when he landed with the Bucks.

Lendeborg, the 11th pick, will turn 24 years old before he plays his first game with the Warriors, and we did see some more seasoned players go after the top 10. However, the way Tuesday’s draft played out is yet another sign of what NBA teams value: young players and high-upside wings.

In the past, international players have filled the top of drafts, mixed in with college freshmen. The first international player to be selected this year was López, who went 21st to the Grizzlies. Spanish forward Sergio De Larrea went a few picks later to the Knicks at No. 25 (and was later dealt to Dallas). The rise of NIL in college sports has seen programs pluck premier international talent for handsome payment packages, sometimes more lucrative than playing professionally overseas or even as a late pick in the NBA.

That’s not always the case, as the 2024 draft had three French players in the top six (Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Tidjane Salaün). A year before that, a kid from France named Victor Wembanyama was the top pick by the Spurs. The college route, however, has won out the past two years with no sign of that stopping any time soon—even for international players.

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