The Athletic's 2026 NBA Mock Draft: Mullins #7 | The Boneyard

The Athletic's 2026 NBA Mock Draft: Mullins #7

ctbro1999

ctbro1999

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The Athletic came out with its first mock for the 2026 NBA draft, and Braylon Mullins clocks in at #7 (Peterson #1, Cam Boozer #2, Dybansta #3).

7. Braylon Mullins | 6-5 wing | 20 years old | Connecticut​

This is probably where I differ most from the consensus. Mullins was one of my favorite high school prospects in the 2025 recruiting class. He’s a complete wing who profiles incredibly well toward the NBA. He’s an obscenely high-level shooter, having hit 42 percent of his 3s on the AAU circuit on high volume last year, per Synergy. If you leave him in transition, you’re dead. If you struggle to chase around screens, you’re in deep trouble. Mullins was also one of the best defensive guards I saw in the class, with an incredibly aggressive and disruptive mindset on that end of the court. As a driver, he picks his spots well and is an excellent finisher on the interior with real timing as a cutter. He makes quick decisions. Mullins is this year’s Kon Knueppel: a player who many have off their preseason draft boards because of his perceived weaknesses but one who will ultimately prove worthy of being a one-and-done.

Also, Karaban listed at #27, Demary #45. Thought Solo would be listed somewhere, but nope. More material to fire him up for a great season!

www.nytimes.com

2026 NBA mock draft: Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer lead way

The 2025 NBA Draft is in the books and next year's draft already looks more talented, as Sam Vecenie explains in his 2026 mock draft.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Lafayette said:
I don't give these predictions much salt; maybe these freshmen can play a season before we predict where they will be drafted?

But if Mullins does go #7 as OAD we are in for a monster year.
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Yeah, putting together these mock drafts before lots of players have even played a single second of college ball seems a bit ridiculous, but I guess it's what readers want. I also hope Mullins being a 1 and done means he has a great year for us. If he follows the Steph Castle path, that's more than fine with me. :)

I looked at The Athletic's initial mock draft for 2024 (draft class that included Castle and Clingan) and among their top 30 mocked picks, only 8 of their top 30 got drafted in the 1st round. :eek:
 
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And with Furphy coming straight from U19 games where Australia is formidable and he's the scoring leader, I see a lot of Big East in him - mixes it up, rebounds, put backs, drives and can play 1, 2, 3 positions I can see minutes for him and Braylon.
 
Mullins #15 in this mock draft released today by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports. And Reed makes an appearance in a mock draft at #23.

15. San Antonio Spurs ​

Braylon Mullins, UConn​

UConn has a star on the way in Braylon Mullins, who might pound-for-pound be one of the best and most versatile shooters in the 2026 class. He won "Mr. Basketball" in the state of Indiana in 2025 and averaged 32.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Greenfield-Central.

23. Los Angeles Lakers​

Tarris Reed Jr., UConn​

I might be an on island here -- that's fine! -- but I'm a big believer in Reed as an NBA player despite his limitations on offense. Some of UConn's best defensive lineups last season featured Reed, and he was a monster on the glass, finishing No. 2 among all players in offensive rebounding rate and No. 12 in defensive rebounding rate while posting a 9.1% block rate (26th nationally). He was also very efficient as a scorer (which helps when you finish 23rd nationally in total dunks, but I digress.) Awesome player.

www.cbssports.com

2026 NBA Mock Draft: Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa headline full first-round projection

Projecting the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft with the son of a former NBA star leading the way
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
ctbro1999 said:
Yeah, putting together these mock drafts before lots of players have even played a single second of college ball seems a bit ridiculous, but I guess it's what readers want. I also hope Mullins being a 1 and done means he has a great year for us. If he follows the Steph Castle path, that's more than fine with me. :)

I looked at The Athletic's initial mock draft for 2024 (draft class that included Castle and Clingan) and among their top 30 mocked picks, only 8 of their top 30 got drafted in the 1st round. :eek:
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What do mean!?!? Last year some had McNeeley in the lottery and...oh never mind.
 
It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to realize how flawed all the predictive college hoops rankings, draft predictions, etc., are. Granted there are always a few uber-athletic maturely built, skilled ballers that turn out to be clear top draft pics, but the rest are a crap shoot as they develop at different rates or some very little at all. This is why we often see some solid to very good NBA players who played at mid-major programs who simply either flew under the radar or were late developers. And there's others who were ranked high early on as underclassman and never were dropped lower than they should have been since some of these so-called experts don't want to admit they were wrong.
 
HooperScooper said:
Mullins #15 in this mock draft released today by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports. And Reed makes an appearance in a mock draft at #23.

15. San Antonio Spurs ​

Braylon Mullins, UConn​

UConn has a star on the way in Braylon Mullins, who might pound-for-pound be one of the best and most versatile shooters in the 2026 class. He won "Mr. Basketball" in the state of Indiana in 2025 and averaged 32.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Greenfield-Central.

23. Los Angeles Lakers​

Tarris Reed Jr., UConn​

I might be an on island here -- that's fine! -- but I'm a big believer in Reed as an NBA player despite his limitations on offense. Some of UConn's best defensive lineups last season featured Reed, and he was a monster on the glass, finishing No. 2 among all players in offensive rebounding rate and No. 12 in defensive rebounding rate while posting a 9.1% block rate (26th nationally). He was also very efficient as a scorer (which helps when you finish 23rd nationally in total dunks, but I digress.) Awesome player.

www.cbssports.com

2026 NBA Mock Draft: Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa headline full first-round projection

Projecting the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft with the son of a former NBA star leading the way
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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First Reed draft projection I’ve seen, you love to see it.
 

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I would think Stewart is a better college player than Mullins in November—maybe not later in the season. Either one could break out and be impossible to keep off the floor.
 
jibsey said:
I don’t get Solo not drafted. He’s going to be the star of our team. Guess that doesn’t matter.
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He needs to show he can do more than shoot. He is great at that but right now he is only that. His defense got somewhat better but it's still subpar and he hasn't shown the ability to drive at all. He's also a bit short for a SG.
 
jibsey said:
I don’t get Solo not drafted. He’s going to be the star of our team. Guess that doesn’t matter.
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It's a size vs skillset thing. 6'3 spot up shooter. He needs one more elite skill to make it in the league... rebounding, passing, defense.
 
If the GOAT of shooting guards is Michael Jordan:

  • Solo might have a better 3pt shot
  • Jordan was elite defender while Solo would be NBA C+
  • Jordan rebounded way more but then their is the height issue
  • Jordan could create off the dribble like none other while Solo can barely drive

To be fair, it should be a college Jordan comparison but it's pretty much the same.
 
husky429 said:
It's a size vs skillset thing. 6'3 spot up shooter. He needs one more elite skill to make it in the league... rebounding, passing, defense.
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100% agreed. Your post made me think through current NBA physique comps and Gary Payton jr comes to mind. Undersized guard who’s not a point guard either but wins with effort and athleticism — 6’2 with a 7’1 wingspan.

Solo’s( google search) measurements are 6’3 with a 7’0 wingspan. Gary Payton doesn’t shoot it like Solo but can so ball bring the type of effort plays that don’t always show up in the box score like GPII.

Solo’s floor game has to show clear improvement. He needs to keep maturing as a leader and a basketball obsessed maniac like his coach.
 
husky429 said:
It's a size vs skillset thing. 6'3 spot up shooter. He needs one more elite skill to make it in the league... rebounding, passing, defense.
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The NBA hates age and loves size

Solo will likely make more threes than Braylon next year, and probably will shoot them more efficiently

But at the end of the day, Solo is a 6'3 junior sharpshooter and Braylon is a 6'5 freshman sharpshooter. 6'5 freshman wins every time
 
I think Solo would've been drafted if he left this year, and I think he'll be drafted whenever he decides to leave. How high will be determined by his development in his areas of weakness, but he's easy to project as a role player.

Elite shooting is still a rare and needed skill, and Solo is in the upper percentile of shooters on the planet. He'll be a good fit on a team that uses a larger point forward type to mitigate the size issue.

But also remember Solo is jacked, he's functionally bigger than Mullins right now, even if Mullins has an inch on him.
 
husky429 said:
It's a size vs skillset thing. 6'3 spot up shooter. He needs one more elite skill to make it in the league... rebounding, passing, defense.
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Yeah, if he was 6'6 he would probably be in the lottery discussion, or at least 1st rounder for sure. But as an undersized 2 that has only 1 elite skill (shooting), that reduces him to 2nd round material at best to most NBA teams. Good thing for him is that his 1 elite skill is a skill all teams are always looking more for, so like you said if he can at least bring up a couple other aspects of his game to above average, he can get himself solidly in the draft conversation more.

Take a look at Koby Brea from last year. He's basically more or less the same player as Solo with elite 3-pt shooting but has those extra 3-4". But he's even worse than Solo at all other aspects of the game, so he ended up getting drafted 41st.

If Solo can show he has enough handle and passing and passable defense to at least play as a combo guard in spurts and show he can be more than just a spot-up sharpshooter, I think he can put himself into the end of first round/early 2nd round convo.

Or if he can develop a reliable pull-up 3-pt shot, that would also do wonders to his NBA value. He has the athleticism to at least partially make up for his undersized stature.
 
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444JR said:
100% agreed. Your post made me think through current NBA physique comps and Gary Payton jr comes to mind. Undersized guard who’s not a point guard either but wins with effort and athleticism — 6’2 with a 7’1 wingspan.

Solo’s( google search) measurements are 6’3 with a 7’0 wingspan. Gary Payton doesn’t shoot it like Solo but can so ball bring the type of effort plays that don’t always show up in the box score like GPII.

Solo’s floor game has to show clear improvement. He needs to keep maturing as a leader and a basketball obsessed maniac like his coach.
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Thing is G.P. Sr was an elite on-ball defender (don't get the nickname "The Glove" for nothing) and also was a true PG with great passing skill. Solo is currently neither of those right now, so not really the best comparison. I think even in today's NBA, you can get away with not having a great 3-pt shot if you can play as a true PG in all other facets.
 
If Solo improves on D alone his draft stock will rise. Add in better ball handling to the extent of 3s or driving with success and he's first round. Him and Stewart should make the biggest skill leaps.
 
ctbro1999 said:
Thing is G.P. Sr was an elite on-ball defender (don't get the nickname "The Glove" for nothing) and also was a true PG with great passing skill. Solo is currently neither of those right now, so not really the best comparison. I think even in today's NBA, you can get away with not having a great 3-pt shot if you can play as a true PG in all other facets.
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he's referring to his son, Payton II. He was only comparing physical traits, not their games.
 
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