2026 NBA draft: Round 1 winners, surprise picks, questions - ESPN

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Covered the NBA and NBA draft for Sports Illustrated from 2015-2023

Ben Golliver ESPN Senior NBA Writer

Ben Golliver is a senior NBA writer who joined ESPN in May 2026.

Prior to joining ESPN, Golliver covered the NBA on a national level since 2010 for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports. He is the author of Bubbleball, an account of his 93-day stay at the NBA's "Bubble" in Disney World during the coronavirus pandemic. He is based in Los Angeles.

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Round 1 of the 2026 NBA draft wrapped Tuesday night, and the race for the No. 1 pick was decided with the Washington Wizards selecting AJ Dybantsa first, and then the Utah Jazz taking Darryn Peterson with the No. 2 pick.

As always, draft night is full of surprises, as there were seven trades involving NBA teams.

The night wrapped with the Phoenix Suns acquiring Koa Peat at No. 30 after the New York Knicks traded their No. 25 pick, Sergio De Larrea, to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 30 and then traded that pick to the Suns.

ESPN's Jeremy Woo, Bobby Marks and Ben Golliver break down the biggest winners, questions and their favorite picks from Round 1.

Round 2 is Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC) -- follow along on our live Draftcast.

More NBA draft coverage:

Wizards take Dybantsa | Utah picks Peterson

Round 2 mock draft | Best available prospects

Trade tracker | Top 100 rankings | Draft

Woo: Biggest winners of Round 1

The pick: Darryn Peterson, PG/SG (No. 2)

Peterson was my No. 1 player in the draft, and he was available one pick later than that slot. To me, that's simple logic. I could certainly be proved wrong by history -- AJ Dybantsa is very good -- but I think much of the perceived risk around Peterson simply won't matter in the long run. The Jazz will walk away with a franchise-changing player and didn't have to win the lottery to do it.

Peterson was arguably the best fit for Utah out of the top four prospects: the Jazz needed another shooter and more size in the backcourt, and in Peterson, they get both. They will have to figure out how he balances alongside another scoring guard in Keyonte George, but Peterson, being a taller guard and frankly, an underrated defender, also helps. The way this worked out will age very well for Utah.

The picks: Cameron Boozer, PF/C (No. 3), Karim Lopez (No. 21)

The Grizzlies had a very good night, landing the third No. 1-caliber prospect in the class at No. 3 in Boozer, while also making two deals to maneuver down the board from No. 16 to No. 17 to No. 21 and select Lopez. The Boozer pick is pretty self-explanatory: He's going to be an excellent NBA player and a long-term cornerstone.

The other part of this is more nuanced: tip of the cap to the Grizzlies and top exec Zach Kleiman, who correctly read what was a very strong class for point guards starting at their second pick and extracted value from the two deals by netting five future second-round picks. What those picks end up being is anyone's guess, but Memphis also landed a player it liked in Lopez and was able to get him a bit later than he was expected off the board.

Other teams thought the Grizzlies were dialed in on guards, and they ended up not taking one. This was a good reading of what figured to be -- and was, as many teams expected -- a busy time for trades between picks 16 and 30, and a good night for Memphis.

Woo: Biggest surprises of Round 1

The pick: Morez Johnson Jr., PF/C (No. 9)

This was an interesting pick purely due to the Dusty May factor, with the now-former Michigan coach taking over in Dallas, having his pick of three Wolverines in the lottery, and selecting Johnson. Johnson, Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg could have conceivably gone in any order -- Mara was generally expected to be first off the board -- but the Mavericks' preference here tells you something about what they value.

Johnson rose up the board during the predraft process, marrying a winning college season, strong rebounding, and versatile defense with his elite intangibles and a good process at the combine, where he measured and tested well. He's physically ready for the NBA and could be a day one starter who matches Cooper Flagg well from an intensity standpoint for the Mavericks. This can be read as more of a culture-setting pick for Dallas, rather than taking a big talent swing, but the fit makes sense overall. It was, however, the spot where my mock draft first went wrong.