The NBA Draft class for 2026 is widely expected to be one of the most talented in years, with Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, and Darryn Peterson as the three co-favorites for the number one overall pick. Behind them, there is still plenty of talent to go around, headlined by Arkansas standout guard Darius Acuff Jr.
However, there are some concerns about Acuff Jr.'s ability to translate his game to the next level.
“I think there's never been a worse time to build around bad defensive guards,” a Western Conference league executive said, per Jeremy Woo and Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “We see this time and time again — the flashiest offensive impact in the draft doesn't necessarily end up winning the most.
“It ends up being, you know, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday and Alex Caruso, go down the list. And we kind of have proof of concept of this right now on the trade market. Trae Young was traded for basically nothing. … People fall in love with guards, and I know of a bunch of teams who are falling in love with Acuff right now.”
Indeed, some have compared Acuff Jr. to Trae Young, who was recently traded by the Atlanta Hawks in what essentially amounted to a salary dump. While Young led Atlanta on a deep playoff run in his third year in the league, the NBA has since drastically shifted to a much more positionless style of basketball.
However, that doesn't mean that all of the wind has been taken out of Acuff Jr.'s sails.
“Just the shotmaking, killer instinct he's shown, his ability to score at all three levels,” an East executive said. “His defense does worry me some, but he has had to carry a pretty large load.”
The draft is slated for late June.
