NBA announces 71 early-entry candidates for 2026 draft

The NBA draft cycle is officially underway.

In a fairly standard move this time of year, the league announced that 71 players have filed for early entry into the 2026 draft, which will be held June 23-24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

As always, not all of these guys will stick. The NCAA withdrawal deadline is May 27, with the final NBA cutoff set for June 13. So expect some movement.

NBA Draft Early-Entry Candidates

Matt Able — G/F — NC State
Darius Acuff Jr. — G — Arkansas
Amari Allen — F — Alabama
Nate Ament — F/C — Tennessee
Christian Anderson Jr. — G — Texas Tech
Alijah Arenas — G — USC
Flory Bidunga — C — Kansas
Finley Bizjack — G — Butler
John Blackwell — G — Wisconsin
Shane Blakeney — G — Drexel
Anton Bonke — C — Charlotte
Cameron Boozer — F — Duke
Mikel Brown Jr. — G — Louisville
Rowan Brumbaugh — G — Tulane
Brayden Burries — G — Arizona
Elliot Cadeau — G — Michigan
Cameron Carr — G — Baylor
Chris Cenac Jr. — C — Houston
Rueben Chinyelu — C — Florida
Jacob Cofie — C — USC
Cruz Davis — G — Hofstra
Kennard Davis Jr. — G/F — BYU
Keanu Dawes — F — Utah
AJ Dybantsa — F — BYU
Gabe Dynes — C — USC
Eian Elmer — F — Miami (OH)
Isaiah Evans — G/F — Duke
Jeremy Fears Jr. — G — Michigan State
Kingston Flemings — G — Houston
Colby Garland — G — San Jose State
Allen Graves — F — Santa Clara
Juke Harris — F — Wake Forest
Isiah Harwell — G — Houston
Lou Hutchinson — F — Alabama A&M
Morez Johnson Jr. — F — Michigan
Acaden Lewis — G — Villanova
Aday Mara — C — Michigan
Milan Momcilovic — F — Iowa State
Malachi Moreno — C — Kentucky
Paulius Murauskas — F — Saint Mary’s
Ebuka Okorie — G — Stanford
Dennis Parker Jr. — G/F — Radford
Koa Peat — F — Arizona
Darryn Peterson — G — Kansas
Labaron Philon Jr. — G — Alabama
Jayden Quaintance — F/C — Kentucky
Sebastian Rancik — C — Colorado
Billy Richmond III — G/F — Arkansas
Hannes Steinbach — C — Washington
Andrej Stojakovic — F — Illinois
Dailyn Swain — F — Texas
Tyler Tanner — G — Vanderbilt
Meleek Thomas — G — Arkansas
Aiden Tobiason — G — Temple
Bryson Tucker — F — Washington
Henri Veesaar — C — North Carolina
Keaton Wagler — G/F — Illinois
LeJuan Watts — G/F — Texas Tech
Caleb Wilson — F/C — North Carolina
Tounde Yessoufou — G/F — Baylor

International Early-Entry Candidates

Mohammad Amini — F — Nancy (France)
Pavle Backo — C — Mega (Serbia)
Bassala Bagayoko — C — Bilbao (Spain)
Francesco Ferrari — F — Virtus Bologna (Italy)
Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada — G — Nancy (France)
Vsevolod Ishchenko — G — Lokomotiv (Russia)
Jack Kayil — G — Alba Berlin (Germany)
Sergio de Larrea — G — Valencia (Spain)
Karim Lopez — F — New Zealand Breakers (Australia)
Alexandros Samodurov — F/C — Panathinaikos (Greece)
Luigi Suigo — C — Mega (Serbia)