After the top four prospects in this year’s draft (AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson), there are a slew of point guards that a lot of NBA teams are targeting high in the lottery. There could be as many as five freshman point guards taken in the top 10, followed by a handful of talented sophomore guards that elected to return for another season to help their draft stock. “Really talented lead guards are hard to come by in the draft and this class is loaded with them,” one NBA executive told Hoops HQ.
There isn’t a lock just yet for the first point guard taken off the board. Some prefer Darius Acuff Jr. with his shot creation, while other teams are intrigued by Keaton Wagler and his upside and positional size.
Here are the top 10 point guards in the 2026 NBA Draft.
- Darius Acuff Jr., 6-foot-3 freshman guard, Arkansas
Acuff was the best lead guard in college basketball this season and earned SEC Player of the Year after averaging 23.5 points and 6.4 assists per game. He shot up draft boards and mock drafts after a strong start to conference play and never looked back.
Acuff solidified himself as a top tier prospect after a strong SEC Tournament where he posted 91 points and 23 assists in just three games and led the Razorbacks to a SEC Tournament championship. He then followed that performance by averaging 29.3 points and 5.3 assists in three NCAA Tournament games.
Texas head coach Sean Miller called Acuff a “generational player,” and Arkansas head coach John Calipari said after the Sweet Sixteen loss to Arizona that teams would “regret passing on Darius (Acuff) in the same way they passed on Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) and Tyrese (Maxey).”
- Keaton Wagler, 6-foot-6 freshman guard, Illinois
No player in college basketball had a bigger rise than Wagler. The 6-foot-6 freshman went from an unranked high school prospect to a lottery lock in less than a year. His natural feel for the game offensively and the way he can manipulate the defensive in ball screens stands out immediately when watching him during his one year at Illinois.
When senior point guard Kylan Boswell was sidelined with a fractured right hand for a month, it was Wagler who really stepped up and led the Illini. Wagler averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game and shot 39.7 percent from three on six attempts per game. A lot of NBA scouts compare Wagler to a young Tyrese Haliburton with his size and shot creation, and it’s one of the reasons why he could be a top-five pick in the draft.
- Kingston Flemings, 6-foot-4 freshman guard, Houston
Flemings was a five-star prospect coming in and was snubbed as a McDonald’s All-American his senior year in high school. He entered his freshman season with a chip on his shoulder and something extra to prove.
Flemings was one of the best players on the court at the Players Era tournament in November with several NBA general managers in attendance. In a three-point loss to Tennessee on Nov. 25, Flemings scored at will and was very efficient. He finished with 25 points (10 of 15 from the field), 4 rebounds and 3 assists and outshined other star freshman Nate Ament. Flemings remained consistent throughout the year and became the No. 1 option in Houston’s offense.
- Mikel Brown Jr., 6-foot-5 freshman guard, Louisville
Brown dealt with a nagging back injury for the majority of the season, but the glimpses scouts got of him when healthy were very promising.
His best game of the year was against NC State in February where he hit 10 three-pointers and finished with 45 points. He became the fourth freshman to post 40-point games and followed up that performance with back-to-back games scoring 29 points before eventually shutting it down late in February.
Brown also won a gold medal with Team USA at the U19 FIBA World Cup and was the best guard on the court during tryouts and the first two rounds of the tournament.
- Brayden Burries, 6-foot-4 freshman guard, Arizona
Burries started the season as a projected late first-rounder and catapulted into the lottery after Big 12 conference play started. The turning point was a road game at BYU where he single-handedly charged a comeback and led all players in points with 29 and added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in the 86-83 loss.
“That BYU game changed the course of the season for Burries and really made him a priority for scouts to track moving forward,” one Western Conference scout said.
Burries is one of the oldest freshmen in the class, turning 21 in September, but has great positional size at 6-foot-4 and proved he can be impactful on and off the ball while playing alongside Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley.
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- Labaron Philon Jr., 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, Alabama
Philon had a strong pre-draft cycle last year and elected to return to Alabama for his sophomore season to improve his draft stock. Listed at 6-foot-4, the lead guard improved in almost every statline from his freshman year, most notably in points and assists. He was confident and poised with the ball in his hands all season long and played well alongside volume guard Aden Holloway.
Philon gets to his spots with ease and has a consistent floater in the lane. He shot 40 percent from three-point range and is a strong defender with his lateral quickness, making him a two-way threat at the NBA level. In a lottery filled with a ton of one-and-done talent, Philon could be the first non-freshman taken off the board.
- Bennett Stirtz, 6-foot-4 senior guard, Iowa
The first round is littered with freshman and sophomore guard talent, and there is always one senior lead guard that goes in the first round and makes an immediate impact his rookie season. Stirtz is that guy.
He averaged 18.3 points and 3.5 assists in postseason play, but the most impressive statline was playing 40 minutes and averaging 0.8 turnovers in four tough NCAA Tournament games. Stirtz is consistent and there’s nothing super flashy about his game, but he runs the offense well and has good size at 6-foot-4.
- Tyler Tanner, 6-foot sophomore guard, Vanderbilt
Tanner could surprise a lot of people on June 23. The 6-foot point guard earned First-team All-SEC and All-Defensive Team honors while improving his efficiency and usage rate from his freshman to sophomore year. He was arguably the most improved lead guard this season and averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Tanner is undersized as an NBA point guard, but the way he creates separation of the dribble and his defensive versatility makes him an intriguing first-round option for teams looking for a second lead guard to come off the bench.
- Christian Anderson, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, Texas Tech
Anderson played for Germany at the U19 FIBA World Cup in Switzerland last summer and received some high praise from Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder, who was at the tournament watching the young point guard.
“He just told me to keep working and he liked the way I play in space and can finish through contact,” Anderson told Hoops HQ.
Anderson took the momentum from the international tournament and made a strong statement early on at Texas Tech, where he scored 34 points in his first game of the season and added 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and only 1 turnover. He was fourth in the country in assists, averaging 7.4 per game, and shot 41.5 percent from behind the arc.
- Ebuka Okorie, 6-foot-2 freshman guard, Stanford
If it wasn’t for Cameron Boozer, Okorie would have been the ACC Rookie of the Year. What Okorie did during his one season at Stanford was incredible. The 6-foot-2 guard shattered the Stanford freshman scoring record (previously held by Brooklyn Nets wing Ziaire Williams) and became the first Stanford player in 24 years to score 40 points in a single game when he finished with 40 points in a win over Georgia Tech in February. He also set an ACC freshman record with eight games of at least 30 points and finished eighth in the country in scoring, averaging 23.2 points per game.
Every draft cycle, there is a prospect that agents want their clients to avoid in workouts; Okorie is the player everyone will try to duck this year. He’s tough on both sides of the ball and although he might be slightly undersized at 6-foot-2, he plays bigger than his listed height.
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