26. New York Knicks - Koa Peat
Arizona - 6'7" - Forward
I think that this late in the draft, a prospect with the type of talent that Koa Peat has, you just take him. Peat is a guy who has been considered a top 5 prospect in the 2025 high school class throughout his entire high school career. For much of Peat's high school career, he was considered to be right up there with Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer.
So why is he down at 26th in this mock? Well, it's partly the shooting. Peat very rarely takes jump shots - especially threes. In the most recent 11 game sample that Cerebro Sports has data for, he shot just 20% from deep, on less than 1 3PA per game and 60% from the free throw line. If we expand the sample to the most recent 38 games in Cerebro, he's still just at 30% from three on just 1.3 3PA per game and 68% from the charity stripe. The ball ball doesn't come out of his hands smoothly either - sometimes it kind of looks like a knuckleball (in baseball) as he shoots it.
There's also some lapses on defense at times. And on offense, a lot of what he does is based on being bigger, stronger and more athletic than his opponents. But as he moves up to college and then to the NBA, he won't have nearly that same type of physical advantage.
With that being said, the combination of size, strength, athleticism, coordination and ability to handle the ball, drive to the basket and finish at the rim is very impressive. Peat has been one of the best players on any court he's played in for years and years now. He can rebound, he can pass, he can defend. It's hard to justify putting him much lower than this in a mock.
Also, the Knicks don't really have a true power forward - especially not one that is part of their core. So Peat fills a need as well. And he could pair nicely at the four with Karl-Anthony Towns at the five - since Peat is limited as a shooter but Towns is an excellent shooter.
27. Oklahoma City Thunder - Cayden Boozer
Duke - 6'4" - PG
The rich get richer. Again, OKC is loaded at every position. No matter who I take for them here, it would creater some positional redundancy / overlap. I went with Cayden Boozer for a couple of reasons.
First, he's a winner and as I discussed earlier, OKC is coming off a championship so they're a winning team that wants to keep winning. They have a chance to maybe even build a dynasty. Cayden (like his twin brother Cam) is coming off four state titles in high school, three Peach Jam titles and one high school national championship. Can't go wrong with someone with that type of winning pedigree - especially this late in the draft.
At this point (especially after I drafted Khamenia and Condon for them earlier in this mock) if there's any position they are perhaps less deep at, it's guys who are true point guards who can run an offense, see the floor and find the open man. Cayden excels at all of that, he plays with good pace, makes smart decisions with the ball and has a knack for creating high quality looks for his teammates.
28. Cleveland Cavaliers - Jaden Toombs
SMU - 6'9" - C/PF
I feel like one area Cleveland could use some depth is up front. Someone to come off the bench and rotate in there when Evan Mobley and/or Jarrett Allen is getting a breather. Dean Wade is good but he's had some injury issues in recent years. He's also more of a four than a true five.
Allen is in trade rumors so we don't know how much longer he'll be on the Cavs. Allen and Mobley have injuries here and there as well. It can't hurt to have another big in the pipeline being developed.
There's a few different options for available bigs here but I like Toombs. One reason is you have Mobley there who's obviously been a great fit on that team. The Cavs also drafted Mobley's brother Isaiah Mobley in the 2nd round of the 2022 draft. It didn't work out in the long run for Isaiah in Cleveland, but I think part of that is because he was a bit older for a prospect and really old big man prospects often don't work out in the NBA.
Toombs is much younger, though. He's 18 years old and won't turn 19 until right before the 2026 draft. Toombs also plays this season at SMU, where Eric Mobley (Evan and Isaiah's father) is an assistant coach, where he coached with SMU head coach Andy Enfield. That duo (Enfield as the head coach and Eric Mobley as the assistant) previously coached together at USC - when both Mobley brothers played for the Trojans.
Not only that, but Toombs plays fairly similar to the Mobley brothers. They're all bigs who can pass, have high feel and process the game at a high level on both ends. Toombs is not as tall or as explosive/athletic as Evan. But he is quicker than Isaiah and a few years younger. He's kind of a mix between both Mobley brothers.
Toombs has also been learning and being mentored by his high school coach, former NBA all-star Jermaine O'Neal.
Toombs is somewhat limited as a shooter. But so was Evan Mobley when he was in college - and even early on in his NBA career. But Evan worked at it and has continbued to get better as a shooter which has helped him take a leap as a player. It wouldn't surprise me if Toombs shows a similar improvement trajectory with his jumper.
I'm not fully sure that Toombs will be a One and Done player. But if he is, I like this fit and think that he could turn out to be really solid value this late in the draft.
29. Denver Nuggets - Boogie Fland
Florida - 6'2" - PG
I feel like the biggest need for Denver right now is at backup point guard. They really don't have anybody there. They have Bruce Brown playing some point guard this season but that's playing him out of position.
Fland might be a little bit of a reach here but I think he is going to have a strong season for Florida. He's probably the best point guard available here. And if he reaches his ceiling, he'd be a similar player to Denver's starting point guard Jamal Murray (mixed with Kemba Walker and Jason Terry). Murray played college ball for Coach John Calipari at Kentucky, who was Fland's coach last season at Arkansas.
Now this season Fland is at Florida, and will try to play a similar role to what Walter Clayton Jr. played last season. Clayton Jr. is a guy who some folks compared to Murray. So I think that between Fland's situation as a freshman and this season as a sophomore, he's in a good spot to develop into a similar player as Murray - plus if he gets drafted by Denver, he'll be able to learn from Murray.
I think it's a good fit. Guys usually succeed in Denver playing with Nikola Jokic if they can move without the ball and can shoot the ball. Fland checks those boxes.
30. Washington Wizards - Kayden Mingo
Penn State - 6'3" - PG
This pick might surprise some people. I think that the Wizards roster is pretty crowded with wings. There's a definite logjam of wings, with Tre Johnson, Kyshawhn George, Cam Whitmore, Bilal Coulibaly, etc. They've got Cam Boozer and Alex Sarr up front. Their main need at this point is a point guard.
All they really have there is Bub Carrington, who may be more of a two than a one. Best point guard available here is Mingo, in my opinion. Mingo was the primary point guard on one of the top high school teams in the country (LUHI) and he's slated to be the primary point guard for his college team - Penn State.
Mingo is young (will only be 19 on draft night) so he's getting better, has room to develop. He's unselfish, can find the open man. But can also score the basketball himself - especially from deep - he's a good shooter.
Mingo really impressed me in the game last season when he helped lead LUHI to a win over Columbus (led by the Boozer twins) who went on to win the high school national championship. LUHI played an amazing game in the upset win (when LUHI won, despite not having one of the better players, Kiyan Anthony). Mingo had a big game and was a big reason they won it.
Mingo comes in to a young, rebuilding Wizards team. He can earn a backup point guard spot and could maybe even end up being their starting point guard if he develops well enough.