First-round pick results, analysis, trades, No.1 pick, Joe Lacob and Ryan Dunleavy argument

Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels have new teammates, the Golden State Warriors powerbrokers may have questions to answer and new faces of franchises have been crowned.

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Read on for a full wrap of the first round and analysis of the biggest talking points!

GIDDEY’S ‘PERFECT’ NEW TEAMMATE IN STANDOUT TOP FOUR

The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft has come and gone, and unlike previous years where Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg were locked in as the first overall picks, the intrigue started at first overall.

In the end, it was AJ Dybantsa who was the pick for the Wizards.

The BYU wing will provide Washington with a physical and athletic presence at the rim and is a perfect complement for a team that already has plenty of options at small forward in Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly and Will Riley.

He won’t need to be the top option immediately either, with Trae Young recently extending on a lucrative new contract while Anthony Davis also landing in Washington before last season’s trade deadline.

But Dybantsa has already proved he is capable of being that guy at the college level, having led the nation in scoring at BYU with 25.5 points per game.

The question is how much Dybantsa can develop his game without the ball in his hands given both Young and Davis will dominate as the primary options early on.

While it was a toss-up to some extent at the top of the draft, there was little doubting Kansas guard Darryn Peterson would be the next draft prospect to have his name called when the Jazz picked at second overall.

TALKING POINTS: The biggest surprises, winners and losers from the first round

Peterson is the highest-upside player in this year’s draft and is a seamless fit for a Utah team that doesn’t have a clear, top-tier shooting guard on the roster.

Add in Lauri Markannen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt along with Keyonte George and the Jazz are a sleeping giant ready to rise in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

The draft continued to go as expected from there, with the Memphis Grizzlies selecting Duke forward Cameron Boozer – who is widely viewed as the safest, high-floor prospect in this year’s class.

He will fill out an already young and talented frontcourt with Zach Edey and Cedric Coward and while questions still surround superstar guard Ja Morant’s future at the franchise, there is little doubt surrounding Boozer’s ability to contribute from the jump as a rookie.

Elsewhere, Josh Giddey has new teammates after the Chicago Bulls selected North Carolina standout forward Caleb Wilson and Texas wing Dailyn Swain.

The Australian is an ideal transition playmaker for Wilson, who also has a shaky jump shot, which isn’t ideal in a Bulls team which had its spacing issues last season, but he has the upside to develop that side of his game and certainly already has the explosive athleticism to make an immediate impact in Chicago on both ends of the floor.

As for Swain, he also knows how to get downhill and will be another target for Giddey on outlet passes but like the Australian, the confidence in his jump shot is his major swing skill.

THE RUN OF GUARDS BEGINS AS DYSON GETS HELP AT ATLANTA

From that point, the run of guards started and the biggest mystery was where the Los Angeles Clippers would land having traded for a lead guard in Darius Garland last season.

In the end, they opted for Keaton Wagler, who through hard work was able to go from an unranked prospect last year to a top-five pick after taking Illinois to the Final Four this year.

It means Wagler won’t be expected to be the primary scoring option right away on a team that includes both Garland and Kawhi Leonard.

Up next, the Brooklyn Nets desperately need an injection of top-level talent and despite having a crowded depth chart at the position after last year’s draft, they took Mikel Brown Jr. as their potential lead guard of the future.

That left Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., one of the most dynamic scorers in the class, as the clear pick for the Sacramento Kings at seventh overall despite the question marks on the defensive end.

Acuff Jr. already has connections to Sacramento, with his father playing for Kings GM Scott Perry at Eastern Kentucky University, and now he will be the face of a franchise that has been searching for a long-term option at point guard after trading De’Aaron Fox.

The run of guards continued at eighth overall at the Atlanta Hawks took Houston guard Kingston Flemings, whose explosive athleticism stands out when playing downhill and he should have plenty of opportunities doing that for a Hawks team that creates transition points through its defence.

Flemings is a willing defender who should be able to defend on that side of the floor right away, and will also ease the pressure on Australian Dyson Daniels to take on more playmaking responsibility following Trae Young’s departure.

The jump shot is a major question mark, but Flemings at least showed both a desire and ability to improve that aspect of his game in college.

The Hawks later selected combo big Zuby Ejiofor with the 23rd overall pick.

THE FIRST BIG SURPRISE… AND A TENSE WARRIORS MOMENT

After a relatively predictable start to the draft, the Dallas Mavericks pulled the first surprise of the night when they selected Michigan big Morez Johnson, who was a late riser in the process.

The Mavericks had been widely linked to Tennessee forward Nate Ament, but instead he reunited with former Wolverines mentor and new Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May.

One of the more intriguing teams to watch in Wednesday’s draft was the Milwaukee Bucks, who had two first-round picks after trading franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami.

First, they took a top scoring guard in Arizona’s Brayden Burries in a signal that they could trade Tyler Herro, who the Bucks acquired as part of the Antetokounmpo trade.

They then took the highest upside player left on the board in Tennessee forward Nate Ament at 13th overall.

Elsewhere, the Warriors took NBA-ready Yaxel Lendeborg, who will be 24 years old when the season tips off.

The Warriors had been strongly connected to Burries, who went one pick earlier, and had also been considering trading according to Jake Fischer so while Lendeborg was a logical selection tensions seemed to be high in the Golden State war room.

In fact, at one point Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy were caught on camera appearing to argue in the lead-up to Golden State’s 11th overall pick.

Lacob was pictured shrugging towards Dunleavy when ESPN cut to the live feed of the Warriors’ war room.

Meanwhile, the Thunder added a strong rim protector and interior finisher in Aday Mara.

Oklahoma City already has both Isiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren but in a Western Conference that will be dominated by the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama in the years to come, you can’t have enough size in the frontcourt.

THE TRADES BEGIN

The Thunder then made the first trade of the draft as they moved up one spot, sending two second-round picks to the Grizzlies to select a true point guard in Bennett Stirtz.

The trades kept coming, and Memphis kept collecting more draft capital, as Detroit moved up from 21st overall to 17th and selected Stanford point guard Ebuka Okorie, giving up three second-round picks in the process.

The Los Angeles Lakers then moved up one spot to grab Baylor wing Cameron Carr, one of the best 3-point shooters in the class.

There were two more trades to close out the night as Denver moved back from 26th overall to 35th, picking up two future second-round picks in the process.

San Antonio was the team moving up and took UConn centre Tarris Reed.

Sacramento then traded with Cleveland, moving up from 34th overall to 29th and taking Reed’s teammate Alex Karaban. The Kings sent a future second-rounder to the Cavs.

To round out the night, the Phoenix Suns traded with Dallas to move up and take Arizona’s Koa Peat. They received two future second-round picks as part of the move.

HISTORY FOR NBL STAR

In other news, NBL Next Star Karim Lopez made history on Wednesday as he became the first Mexican-born player to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Lopez was selected at 21st overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in what Yahoo Sports draft expert Kevin O’Connor called a “potential major steal”.

Lopez will definitely need time to develop his skills at the NBA level after impressing for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL, but at least he will have the runway to do that at a Memphis team that is rebuilding after trading away Jaren Jackson Jr.

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