NBA DRAFT 2026 (ALONG WITH A BIT OF BREAKING NEWS)

Before I discuss last week’s NBA Draft, I must first address the LeBron James news that broke yesterday. In case you didn’t hear it yet, he’s leaving the Lakers! Am I the only one who’s not shocked? He’s old, and this will most likely be his final year as a player.

Everyone’s weighing in, so here are my predictions for the future of LeBron James in basketball.  Dating back to the NBA playoffs in April, I’ve been saying that he is going to leave LA and go to…the Cavs! That’s right—the Cleveland Cavaliers. Where he’s from. I feel that he wants to end his career with his hometown and original team. And he’d be playing with a younger team than the geriatric Warriors, (which is where everyone else is predicting he’ll go.) Just sayin’.

I had also been thinking that his son Bronny would be part of any deal he makes, and that would be way more important to him than the money, for sure. But it turns-out that Bronny re-signed with the Lakers the day before LeBron told them he’s leaving, so perhaps his timing was to make sure that his son was taken care of with them despite his own act of desertion.

Lastly on the topic, I think that LeBron will become a coach, possibly for the Cavs or Lakers, after the one or two years he signs to play for next year. I just wonder if his head is spinning deciding to where he will “take his talents”as much as the brains of those of us rabid basketball fans!

A bit lost in the LeBron news is the other shock that Kawhi Leonard is leaving the LA Clippers to go back to the Toronto Raptors, with whom he won the 2019 Championship. That’s a curious turn of events, for sure.

So now, this is the deal with the NBA Draft for me this year. I was, unfortunately, in the hospital that night, and they didn’t get me up to the room that day until the Draft was just about over! And then…there was no ESPN! At tony Cedars-Sinai! Even the doctors couldn’t believe it. (That dearth meant that I wound-up just watching…all the meal menus on the television! That was actually almost as good as the Draft for me. No lie.)

So I had to resort to seeing Round One on-line. Alone. In the hospital. And I actually commented out loud enough for the nurses to hear me! And then I still watched the entire proceedings once I was home for a few days, and could get my mind together.

My favorite thing about the proceedings, as always, was watching the draftees celebrating with their families when their names were called.

On the other hand, there’s one aspect that I absolutely detest, and that is that there is usually at least one last guy waiting in the “green room,” (of sorts—it’s not really that because it has everyone sitting at tables right in front of everyone, and not behind the scenes, which is what a green room really is,) who is not chosen in the first round, and he has to be embarrassed in front of his family and everyone, and then be relegated to the next day’s Round Two. (I liked it better when they did both rounds in a row on just one night. I’m sure they thought they’d have more interest if they did not have the audience fatigue factor.) This time, there was just one guy, Isaiah Evans, still sitting there, which is just heartbreaking. And he was already in all the pix of the “2026 Draft Class.” I’m sick for him. The entire attitude of the room went from upbeat to devastatingly sad in about one hour. I feel awful that he didn’t come back for the second round after his disappointment. Shame. And he got picked second in that round, so he would have been happy!

The good news is that I believe that no one was left sitting there at the end of the two days.

But on that tip, OKC stalwart Alex Caruso needs to speak to every college player in the world!!! He went undrafted, and has since won…two NBA Championships. And as an important contributor, not a benchwarmer! So the guys who were not drafted, whether or not they were invited to the proceedings, should learn from his example. Just put your head down and work as hard as you can, and do your absolute best. And I add—have fun.

Now to the newest members of the NBA: Every single one of them seems darling, which is not always the case in the Draft. I was a blubbering mess the entire time! Some got to me more than others, but they all did at least a bit. Especially when adores pix of them as kids were flashed on the screen! I wish I had the time and space to write about every single one of the draftees, and their fams, but I’m watching a dozen hours of tennis a day right now, so I’ll just give you some of the highlights for me.

I was especially happy for a few of the guys with whom I’m the most familiar. New college champion, (with Michigan,) Yaxel Lendeborg, (who has the most heartwarming personal story,) is going to the Warriors, so I guess I have to stop hating them now. And Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz is going to none other than last year’s NBA Champions, OKC!!!  And UConn’s Alex Karaban, who wasn’t even one of the twenty-four first night invitees, went #29 to the Sacramento Kings, who can really use him. I was honestly worried that he wasn’t going to be drafted because he actually graduated college, while most of the rest left after only one year! And he won not one but two NCAA Championships with them. I’m also happy for the teams that were lucky enough to get these young (and I do mean young,) men.

It was very smart of Cameron Boozer’s twin, Cayden, to stay in school, (Duke,) at least one more year, mainly so he can develop further, but also, (which most others will not mention,) so he won’t have to compete with his bro. But I love their State Farm commercial together!!! And I love that Cayden was at the Draft for him. [Note: I always wanted a twin sister. Always. Until now, that is. I just wanted to have a friend around 24/7 who’s as fun as I am. And, truth be told, I wanted to see what my face really looks like, not just in a mirror. But it never before hit me before that perhaps we would wind-up with different levels of success, which might irk me a bit. So I actually thank the Boozers for finally knocking the pain of not having a twin out of me.]

Some guys made me cry, especially Yaxel and Cameron, who both wore white suits and got the most cheers when the invited two dozen were introduced.

Now I’m going in the order that the Draft itself did:

#1 AJ Dybantsa seems sweet. And Mr. X and I loved his outfit. But his very-bitten fingernails made me queasy!

Darryn Peterson looked so goony in his pic with the commish, after his dreads just about popped his new team the cap off. Mr. X said, “He’s practically Alfred E. Newman!”

I hate the director of the ESPN show for totally depriving me of seeing Cameron Boozer embrace his twin who showed up there for him! Grrr.

Caleb Wilson’s dad told us that his son already helps out his Atlanta community, which choked me up, of course. But the dad used a triple redundancy by saying that Caleb has “genuine true authenticity.”

#5 Keaton Wagler’s parents are the most attractive! And they’re a charming family. Good for them!

How is Mikel Brown, Jr.’s father named Christopher instead of Mikel??? How is the son a “Jr.” if he does not have the same name as his dad??? I mean it. Please, someone explain that to me.

Kingston Flemings had written a letter to all the GMs that very day!!!

I absolutely adore that new Dallas Mavericks coach, Dusty May, got one of his own Michigan guys, Morez Johnson, Jr.! I predict great things for the Mavs next season.

I love all the shiny logos on  the caps that made them special ones.

I feel bad for #10 Brayden Burries, the guy who’s going to the Bucks. He’ll be one of five strangers who will be on that once-great team next year. Wait—make that six strangers because they also got pick #13. (And they have the youngest looking war room I’ve ever seen!!!)

Yaxel and his mom are the best story! It’s too long to tell her, so I suggest you look it up when you have time and want your heart warmed.

I got really into Nate Ament’s family!

There are two really interesting things about #21 Karim Lopez. He’s the first Mexican 1st round draftee, and will play his entire rookie season at age 19! (He doesn’t turn 20 next April 12th.)

Chris Cenac, Jr. went 27th, thank goodness. He was still trying not to cry when he took his pic with the commish.

Mr. X liked that #31 Bruce Thornton said, “I’m built for the moment.”

How does Spaniard Baba Miller have no accent??? At all.

They saved the absolute most charming, best personality (by far) guy, Ugonna Onysenso, for last. He seemed honestly surprised when he got chosen, and declared, “I wasn’t expecting it!”

If you want to see the list of all sixty 2026 draftees, just click here: www.nba.com/news/2026-nba-draft-order.

And a few last notes on the other aspects of the proceedings:

At least they did Round Two in the same place, Barclays Center, as Round One this year. That nonsense of moving it into a small room in a studio two years ago was just insulting.  (I missed last year’s Draft because, as usual, I was overbooked on those two nights. But at least the league obviously  listened to my complaints after the 2024 rendition.)

ESPN Draft Night host Malika Andrews is so good at this! I love that she always sneaks in little tidbits about the draftees’ lives, as I would do in that position. And once again I laud her great enunciation.

And newcomer to the analysts’ panel, Iman Shumpert, was surprisingly good. (It doesn’t hurt that he sounds like Barry White! I kept expecting him to break into Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe at any second!) I knew he could dance, because I voted for him to win Dancing With The Stars, (which he did.) I even implored all my readers to do so, as well. (You can still read that 2021 plea here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/televisiondancekarens-rants-please-vote-for-iman-shumpert-and-daniella-karagach-on-dancing-with-the-stars-tonight-and-every-monday-night.) But I did not know that he would work as well as a basketball commentator, even though he won the 2016 Championship with my Cleveland Cavaliers!

The couches on the set where the new guys and their families were interviewed looked sooooo uncomfortable! No one knew how to sit on them properly.

But Lisa Salters, the interviewer, was much better at them than many others in the past. But she left Cayden Boozer entirely out of the interviews with the rest of the fam, which made me so sad. He was even ready with the microphone.

To wrap-up, I can’t wait to see where all these guys actually land next season. And for the rest of their careers, which I hope are long and successful.

Now it’s back to wondering about LeBron, and trying to figure-out why Kawhi Leonard chose to return to his old team, the Toronto Raptors, after he left them to come home to the LA Clippers all those years ago. But I’ll do it all after Wimbledon.