The 2026 NBA draft was the 80th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft. This was the first draft since 2021 with 60 picks, as no teams forfeited second-round draft picks for free agency violations. The first round of the draft was held on June 23, and the second round was held on June 24. The Washington Wizards selected small forward AJ Dybantsa out of Brigham Young University first overall.
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2026 NBA draft, but have played at least one regular-season or playoff game in the NBA.
Trades involving draft picks
Pre-draft trades
Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between teams:
Post-draft trades
Post-draft trades are made after the draft begins. These trades are usually not confirmed until the next day or after free agency officially begins.
Combine
The 12th G League Elite Camp took place on May 8–10, from which certain participants were selected to join the main draft combine.
The primary portion of the 2026 NBA draft combine was held from May 10–17 in Chicago, Illinois.
Draft lottery
The NBA draft lottery was held on May 10. It also aired nationally on ESPN and ABC. This would end up being the last NBA draft lottery to utilize the 1,001 possible lottery results, with the upcoming 2027 NBA draft utilizing a new draft lottery system for not just the regular lottery teams, but also the 8th seed of the NBA playoffs for each conference as well.
Eligibility and entrants
The draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2023 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players' union.
- All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players who were eligible for the 2026 NBA draft must have been born on or before December 31, 2007.
- Since the 2016 draft, the following rules are, as implemented by the NCAA Division I council for that division:
- Declaration for the draft no longer results in automatic loss of college eligibility. As long as a player does not sign a contract with a professional team outside the NBA or sign with an agent, he retains college eligibility as long as he makes a timely withdrawal from the draft.
- NCAA players now have 10 days after the end of the NBA draft combine to withdraw from the draft. Since the combine is normally held in mid-May, the current deadline is about five weeks after the previous mid-April deadline.
- NCAA players may participate in the draft combine and are allowed to attend one tryout per year with each NBA team without losing college eligibility.
- NCAA players may now enter and withdraw from the draft up to two times without loss of eligibility. Previously, the NCAA treated a second declaration of draft eligibility as a permanent loss of college eligibility.
Early entrants
Players who were not automatically eligible had to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than at least 60 days before the event. For the 2026 draft, the date fell on April 24. Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration deadline, which usually falls 10 days before the draft at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). Under current NCAA rules, players usually have until 10 days after the draft combine to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility.
A player who has hired an agent for purposes of negotiating with professional teams retains his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted after an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. Players who declare for the NBA draft and are not selected have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year only after terminating all agreements with their agents, who must have been certified.
On April 27, 2026, the NBA announced 71 players (60 college players and 11 international prospects) who filed as early entry candidates. On May 29, 38 early entry candidates withdrew their eligibility. On June 16, three more candidates withdrew their eligibility.
College underclassmen
- Darius Acuff Jr. – G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Nate Ament – F, Tennessee (freshman)
- / Christian Anderson Jr. – G, Texas Tech (sophomore)
- Cameron Boozer – F, Duke (freshman)
- Mikel Brown Jr. – G, Louisville (freshman)
- Brayden Burries – G, Arizona (freshman)
- Cameron Carr – G, Baylor (sophomore)
- Chris Cenac Jr. – F/C, Houston (freshman)
- AJ Dybantsa – F, BYU (freshman)
- Isaiah Evans – F, Duke (sophomore)
- Kingston Flemings – G, Houston (freshman)
- Allen Graves – F, Santa Clara (freshman)
- Morez Johnson Jr. – F, Michigan (sophomore)
- Aday Mara – C, Michigan (junior)
- Ebuka Okorie – G, Stanford (freshman)
- Koa Peat – F, Arizona (freshman)
- Darryn Peterson – G, Kansas (freshman)
- Labaron Philon Jr. – G, Alabama (sophomore)
- Jayden Quaintance – F/C, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Hannes Steinbach – F, Washington (freshman)
- Dailyn Swain – G/F, Texas (junior)
- Meleek Thomas – G, Arkansas (freshman)
- Bryson Tucker – F, Washington (sophomore)
- Henri Veesaar – C, North Carolina (junior)
- Keaton Wagler – G, Illinois (freshman)
- Caleb Wilson – F, North Carolina (freshman)
International players
Automatically eligible entrants
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
- They have no remaining college eligibility.
- If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
- They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under the contract.
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
- They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates players born on or before December 31, 2004, are automatically eligible for the 2026 draft.
- They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.
Invited attendees
The NBA annually invites players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. Ever since the NBA transitioned itself to a two-day draft as of the previous year's draft, the NBA sends out its invitations in waves. The first wave was reported on June 9, with fourteen players confirmed to have received invitations.
A second group of invitees was announced on June 15.
A third group of invitees was announced on June 17.
A fourth and final group of invitees was announced on June 24. This time consisting of prospects for the second round, bringing the final total overall number to 34.