Henri Veesaar, Isaiah Evans headline best 2026 NBA Draft prospects remaining after 1st round

The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft was full of trades and excitement, with multiple teams moving up and down the board. AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson kicked things off after being taken first and second overall by the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, respectively, but multiple teams made statement moves on Tuesday night.

Keaton Wagler and Mikel Brown Jr. both ended up as top-six picks, as many expected, but the Atlanta Hawks surprised some with their selection of Kingston Flemings with the eighth pick. Then it was the Dallas Mavericks’ turn to shake things up by taking Morez Johnson Jr with the ninth pick, reuniting him with Dusty May, who was just hired by the Mavs days ago.

Although this draft was filled with plenty of trade rumors and teams potentially jumping around in the lottery, we did not see our first deal until Bennett Stirtz was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 16th pick, giving Sam Presti more championship-level depth to compete right now.

In total, 15 freshmen were taken in the first round of the draft, leaving Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas as the only one-and-done player remaining on the board entering the second round. Along with Thomas being available, so are Henri Veesaar and Isaiah Evans, two players who had been drawing interest from multiple teams at the end of the first round.

Other than a handful of really talented players joining the list and being left out on Wednesday night, the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft featured quite a few surprises. Perhaps the two picks that had everyone intrigued were the two true centers taken inside the top 20: Aday Mara and Jayden Quaintance.

Biggest surprises from 2026 NBA Draft first round

Let’s start with Mara, who was selected 12th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Throughout the week leading up to the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Thunder were engaging in trade conversations with teams inside the top 10. Aside from having interest in Morez Johnson Jr., Oklahoma City was being linked to Mara and Nate Ament.

Funny enough, both players were available by the time Presti was picking at No. 12, and he went with Mara to fortify the Thunder’s front lines alongside Chet Holmgren. With Isaiah Hartenstein’s future being unknown since he has a team option and could enter free agency, Mara immediately slides into a vital role for the Thunder.

In the Western Conference Finals against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, it became clear that Holmgren needed help and another big man who could provide secondary rim protection. Now, the Thunder have a premier 7’3″ rim protector who moves really well for a center.

Not to mention, Mara can stretch the floor, he has a very high understand in passing situations, and he adds size to a team that will be in the championship mix for the next decade. The rich are simply getting richer here in Oklahoma City.

The other intriguing pick that probably drew the most noise in the first round was the Spurs beefing up their frontcourt with Jayden Quaintance.

Leading up to Tuesday’s first round, Quaintance was dropping off draft boards of multiple teams that wanted no part of his knee injury history and medical records. The Spurs didn’t seem to care, and they saw this as a potential steal IF Quaintance can remain healthy. Best of all, the Spurs sacrificed second-round assets later on to add insurance to this pick by taking Tarris Reed Jr.

This was a fantastic draft by the Spurs, who could now have two dynamic rebounders and defensive options to pair with Wembanyama.

Best prospects remaining entering second round

It is quite a surprise to see Isaiah Evans remaining as one of the first picks of the second round on Wednesday.

Evans was drawing real interest from teams in the late teens and early 20s of the first round, yet he will now enter the league with a chip on his shoulder as a second-round pick. Is there a medical red flag here with Evans or questions about his overall effort throughout the pre-draft process?

This is a major unknown at this time, but with length and 3-and-D tendencies on the perimeter, someone will get good value on the Duke wing on Wednesday night.

Perhaps the biggest loser of the draft is 19-year-old combo guard Meleek Thomas, who was one of the last to make his decision on whether to stay in the draft or return to Arkansas. Thomas is the only freshman in this draft class not to be selected in the first round, despite drawing some interest from the Knicks, Lakers, and Timberwolves at the end of the first round.

Once Cameron Carr fell and the Knicks went with Sergio De Larrea, who was ultimately traded to Dallas, it became clear that Thomas had fallen out of the first round.

And then there is the best center available in the second round on Wednesday: Henri Veesaar from North Carolina.

As a stretch big man who can command space as a rebounder, Veesaar will have multiple teams wanting to trade up for him early in the second round. He could easily become the next version of Maxime Raynaud, who slips to the second round as a stretch big man, and finds himself in a great situation.

The biggest concern surrounding Veesaar is that he’s not a great defender and isn’t known as being a help-side rim defender, which is what teams are looking for nowadays in centers on their bench.

Right now, the Knicks hold the first pick in the second round (No. 31 overall), but this pick will likely be traded to another team. New York came away from the first round of the draft with extra cash and five second-round picks, one of which is also the 47th pick in Wednesday’s second round.

Whoever ends up owning the 31st pick will have a chance to take Veesaar, Evans, or Thomas — three first-round graded prospects.

Aside from those outlined, here is a full list of the best remaining players available ahead of the second round based on rankings from ClutchPoints 2026 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0:

• Isaiah Evans – SG/SF (Duke, ranked #26)
• Meleek Thomas – PG/SG (Arkansas, #27)
• Henri Veesaar – C (UNC, #32)
• Trevon Brazile – PF (Arkansas, #33)
• Baba Miller – PF (Cincinnati, #35)
• Jack Kayil – PG (Germany, #36)
• Ryan Conwell – PG/SG (Louisville, #37)
• Richie Saunders – SG (BYU, #38)
• Ugonna Onyenso – C (Virginia, #39)
• Jaden Bradey – PG (Arizona, #40)
• Emanuel Sharp – SG (Houston, #41)
• Dillon Mitchell – SF (St. John’s, #42)
• Nick Martinelli – SG/SF (Northwestern, #43)
• Ja’Kobi Gillespie – PG (Tennessee, #44)
• Braden Smith – PG (Purdue, #45)
• Bruce Thornton – PG (Ohio State, #46)
• Felix Okpara – C (Tennessee, #47)
• Aaron Nkrumah – SG (Tennessee State, #48)
• Tobe Awaka – PF (Arizona, #49)
• Otega Oweh – SG (Kentucky, #50)
• Izaiyah Nelson – C (South Florida, #51)
• Maliq Brown – PF (Duke, #52)
• Tyler Bilodeau – PF (UCLA, #53)
• Tobi Lawal – PF (Virginia Tech, #54)
• Tyler Nickel – SG/SF (Vanderbilt, #55)
• Keyshawn Hall – SF (Auburn, #56)
• Kylan Boswell – PG/SG (Illinois, #57)
• Tamin Lipsey – PG (Iowa State, #58)
• Milos Uzan – PG (Houston, #59)
• Quadir Copeland – PG (NC State, #60)
• Graham Ike – PF (Gonzaga, #61)
• Darrion Williams – SF (NC State, #62)
• Noam Yaacov – PG (Israel, #63)
• Vsevolod Ishchenko – SF (Russia, #64)
• Bryce Hopkins – SF (St. John’s, #65)
• Nick Boyd – PG (Wisconsin, #66)
• Trye Kaufman-Renn – SF/PF (Purdue, #67)
• Jaron Pierre Jr. – SG (SMU, #68)
• Michael Ajayi – SF (Butler, #69)
• Malique Lewis – PF (Trinidad & Tobago, #70)
• Nate Bittle – C (Oregon, #71)
• Rafael Castro – C (George Washington, #72)
• Tre Donaldson – PG (Miami FL, #73)
• Jaden Henley – SG (Grand Canyon, #74)
• Peter Suder – SG (Miami OH, #75)
• Tucker DeVries – SF/PF (Indiana, #76)
• William Kyle III – C (Syracuse, #77)
• Seth Trimble – SG (UNC, #78)
• Lamar Wilkerson – SG (Indiana, #79)
• Mark Mitchell Jr. – PF (Missouri, #80)

The second round of the 2026 NBA Draft will take place at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, June 24 at Barclays Center. Deputy NBA commissioner Mark Tatum will take over for NBA commissioner Adam Silver and announce the remaining 30 picks in this year’s draft.

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