’26 Summer League Rookie Watch List

Cover image by Ross Pins.

With the 2026 NBA draft in the books, all eyes turn to Summer League to see what players have been working on in their early days with new teams. Here’s one item we’ll be watching closely for each team’s top rookie. Find our full Big Board here.

Atlanta Hawks: Kingston Flemings’ rim finishing

There’s a lot to like about Flemings’ game, but his finishing at the rim is an early-career concern. As our low report noted, Kingston shot just 53% at the rim in conference play. Additionally, can he learn to draw fouls on these rim attempts? A crafty, ultra-high-feel player, Kingston might already be prepared to show new finishing tricks this summer.

Boston Celtics: Chris Cenac’s shot diet

Cenac displayed good outside touch for a player of his size at Houston. However, he had a heavy preference for taking catch-and-shoot looks from deep two rather than three. How quickly can Boston correct his shot diet to better fit their three-heavy system?

Brooklyn Nets: Mikel Brown ancillary production

Although the pitch for Mikel is easy, a high volume shooter with some passing and handling chops, can he contribute elsewhere on the court? Our low report highlighted his poor stock and rebound rates, which hopefully look better this summer, especially with more time to recover from injuries which limited him at Louisville.

Charlotte Hornets: Hannes Steinbach’s passing

While he did not have the best assist volume, our high report noted Washington’s team passing improved when Steinbach was on the court, perhaps greasing the wheels even without the assists. How will his passing look with his new team – is there untapped potential?

Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson’s defensive impact

While his stock rates were very good, Wilson’s defensive on-offs were mediocre for someone of his talents. In the Summer League setting, it will be interesting to see if Wilson locks in and contributes like his potential indicates. Our low report noted a tendency to take plays off and skip second efforts…will that be the case again in low-stakes play?

Cleveland Cavaliers: Meleek Thomas’ inside the arc scoring

Meleek does plenty of good as a perimeter player, particularly as a passer, taking calculated risks, and as a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter. However, his inside-the-arc shooting percentage of only 45% is a huge red flag – will this look better in the Cavs’ system? We might see hints of what he’s been working on to correct this imbalance in his game in the Summer League tape.

Dallas Mavericks: Morez Johnson’s scoring burden

Morez’s improved outside touch was essential for national champion Michigan, but he still took relatively few three pointers, and rarely had self-creation reps. Is there more scoring upside than meets the eye with Johnson? Will he be able to take advantage of the favorable matchups and  open looks that will be the norm when playing with Cooper Flagg?

Denver Nuggets: Trevon Brazile’s continued feel progression

Many wrote off Brazile as an NBA contributor considering his apparent poor feel for the game he displayed in his early NCAA seasons. However, he fit snugly into his role with Arkansas this past season, becoming one of the best play finishing athletes in the country. His turnover rate plummeted, despite creating more rim attempts. Will we continue to see him play within his role, or will the issues come back against better opponents?

Detroit Pistons: Ebuka Okorie’s passing role

Okorie took on an enormous scoring load for Stanford as a freshman, which likely led to a depressed assist rate. However, just what is Okorie’s ceiling as a passer? Is he someone you want initiating every time down the floor, or will he be too score-first? Does his ultra-low turnover rate in college mean capacity for more passing? Summer League might begin to answer these questions.

Golden State Warriors: Yaxel Lendeborg’s three-point volume

Swish Theory is confident in Lendeborg’s value, our number six ranked player with little dispersion of opinion among our 10 rankers. However, will his role look more like this one at UAB, where he spent more time as a driver and enforcer inside the arc, or will he keep building on the three point volume he showed at Michigan (to great success). Given the Warriors’ habits, high three point volume is the assumption, but Yaxel’s malleability makes the details of his role an open question.

Houston Rockets: Bruce Thornton’s rim pressure

Swish Theory was very high on Thornton, ranking him #23 with some placing him much higher. Our low report mentioned an inability to get into the paint without a screen, and his rim to non-rim ratio was extremely low with a predilection for deep pull-up twos. However, Thornton was highly efficient when he did get there, perhaps hinting at untapped rim volume. Summer League might begin to reveal these answers.

Indiana Pacers: Braden Smith’s physical presence

The Pacers’ 38th pick, Braden Smith has been one of the best drivers of measuring 5’10.25’’ and 167 pounds at the Combine. The relative draft capital spent by Indiana suggests they believe Smith can still be acceptable enough defensively to see spot floor time. Will he, however, prove overwhelmed by Summer League size and strength?

Los Angeles Clippers: Keaton Wagler, offensive focal point

Keaton Wagler is one of the few draft picks going to a team with a worse offensive roster than he had in college. While Wagler proved more than capable as a three point shooter and ball mover, he was surrounded by strong play finishers where many assists came off of simple passes. Will he be able to scale up to force the defense into rotation more than he did in college? This will be a big test for that question.

Los Angeles Lakers: Cameron Carr’s passing

Carr is far from an offensive conductor, and is an older rookie, but still showed some flashes of difficult reads, mainly on the move. Do the Lakers even care to utilize and develop this skill, or is he good enough of a play finisher it doesn’t matter for their system? In Summer League, role change is more important to note than volatile raw box score stats.

Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer, proven winner

Boozer has been a winner at every level of basketball he’s played, part of why he was Swish Theory’s consensus number one prospect this draft. It can be difficult for even top picks to get their bearings in Summer League, with little time to practice together and most playing in new schemes. Will Boozer continue to assert his will, regardless of this chaotic context? While many future All Stars did not in their first Summer League, Boozer’s skillset is potentially versatile enough to hit the ground sprinting.

Miami Heat: What kind of guard is Ryan Conwell?

Conwell went ten spots higher than Swish Theory’s board, but it’s always tough to bet against a player in Miami’s development system. Conwell’s weakness to some might be strengths to others. His assist volume and three-point accuracy were highly volatile this season, as he had eight <25% three point shooting games and eight games with one or zero assists. I’d assume Miami will give him all the green lights, but they might be able to find more passing upside, too.

Milwaukee Bucks: Brayden Burries showing us the special

“Show me the weakness.” Even our low report noted Burries’ versatility in college. But does he have an area of the court he can dominate and prove he has the same upside of players taken around him? As an old freshman (almost 21), the pressure is a little higher on Burries than his much younger counterparts to hit the ground running.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Isaiah Evans’ rim protection

Evans made a massive leap as a shotblocker his sophomore season at Duke, providing legitimate help-side rim prohtection, utilizing his 97th percentile standing reach as a shooting guard. Is this a trait which will carry over with a major leap in competition? Will his lithe frame limit his shotblocking?

New Orleans Pelicans: Kobe Bufkin, reclamation project

The Pelicans have zero players on their Summer League roster who were on the Swish Theory Big Board. More interesting is what former #15 pick Kobe Bufkin will look like on the court. Despite never getting his sea legs in the big league, Bufkin shot light out in the G League this past season – 56% from two (8.5 attempts per game), 42% from three (7.0 attempts per game), and 90% from the line (4.0 attempts per game under the G League’s 1-FT rule). Those splits are impressive regardless of comp – can he keep the hot shooting up?

New York Knicks: Tyler Nickel’s defense

The Knicks’ top draft pick, Jack Kayil (taken 39th), was the highest selection of anyone not on Swish’s Big Board. However, their #47 draft pick, Tyler Nickel was taken one spot later than our rank. Nickel’s deep shooting is legit, with his shot chart extending many feet behind the line. Nickel went late due to his lack of well-roundedness at Vanderbilt, a subpar athlete with only 36 rim attempts on the season 1.2 assists per game. However, he plays hard and blocks the occasional shot at 6’6’’ in socks. If he can lock in as a defender, NBA minutes might be there given the rarity of his deep spot up shooting at wing size.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz synergy

The Thunder was largely in line with the Swish Theory Board, where we had Mara #10 and Stirtz #12. Mara’s upside is tied to him being a passing hub, one of the best among all bigs in the country, and at 7’3’’. Stirtz was heavily on-ball at Iowa, but would benefit immensely from getting easier reads created for him. As bench players to start their career, Stirtz’s quick-release shotmaking could be greatly enhanced by Mara finding him in a timely manner.

Orlando Magic: Izaiyah Nelson’s physicality

Nelson was taken right around where Swish had him, and with wide agreement on him looking more like an end of bench player. The big question mark is around Nelson’s applied physicality: his free throw rate skyrocketing this year, his first in the American conference where his team, South Florida, was dominant. But he’s very skinny for a likely-power forward, and neither does his experience against mostly mid major competition inspire belief in this translation.

Philadelphia 76ers: Labaron Philon’s offense-defense usage

Philon saw a sharp increase in his offensive burden this season following his freshman year. His defensive effort was replaced by a heavy dosage of pick and roll operation, #14 in the country in PNR ballhandler volume (possessions finished, including on passes). While this surely was part of the appeal for the Sixers, on a team with players who need the ball, Philon will have to ratchet back up that effort on the defensive end. Very lightweight for an NBA player at 176, and a mediocre athlete, Philon will instead have to rely on effort and technique.

Phoenix Suns: Koa Peat’s playmaking

Peat’s fell on Swish Theory’s Board with each new iteration over the 2026 cycle, with little disagreement in putting him in the 20s by the time of the draft. However, he’s still a one-and-done freshman who is a big wing with some ball skills. Peat is another one whose college team could beat his Summer League squad, meaning he may receive some meaningful playmaking reps this Summer League. Can he flash the creation upside – particularly as a drive and kick player – that had our team first excited about his NBA prospects?

Portland Trail Blazers: Yang Hansen, post operator

With no players on the Summer League roster on Swish Theory’s Big Board, we look to last year’s top pick, Yang Hansen, for analysis. Yang had a rough year in the big league, but had little opportunity to stretch his legs as a post hub, which had to be a major factor in their decision to take him so high in the 2025 draft. Can Yang have the game slow down for him, in what should be a favorable environment for the 7’1’’ center just turned 21? With little competition for touches, expect Yang to have his moments as a distributor.

Sacramento Kings: Darius Acuff’s defense

Swish Theory had Acuff ranked low, at #17, largely due to his poor defensive outlook. Acuff is not without tools on that end, a good athlete, but struggled mightily to be positive at the college level. The Kings desperately need Acuff to hit the ground running as their potential lead guard, and him improving even a little bit defensively could go a long way. Check to see how much he’s buying in on that end early on in his career.

San Antonio Spurs: Tarris Reed’s passing

Reed took a sudden leap as a passer in UConn’s smooth-running offense this season. However, how much was due to Hurley’s ability to optimize roles? Reed was not making any majorly complex reads, but went from one of the worst distributors in college basketball as an underclassman to more than capable of keeping the gears running at UConn. Which one will be closer to the truth at the NBA level?

Toronto Raptors: The Toronto Wrecking Balls

The Raptors have been very much in sync with Swish Theory’s drafting philosophy, taking our #3 prospect Collin Murray-Boyles with the #9 pick last year and our #9 prospect Allen Graves at 19 this year (both of our ranks being far above consensus). The two have very similar profiles: big wings or small bigs with some dribble-pass-shoot ability, but mostly devastating defenders who create countless stocks. Expect Toronto to have the best defense in Summer League when both are on the court.

Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson passing

Peterson followed up his 2 assist, 8 turnover Summer League debut with a 12-assist passing clinic in game two. Despite being our consensus #2 prospect, opinions still varied across our team regarding just how good of a passer Darryn is, or can be. He showed more promise pre-NCAA, but passing with Kansas left a lot to be desired (it certainly was not the optimum context). Perhaps more time healthy has given Peterson more stability as a passer, with benefits immediately obvious the second he puts on a Jazz uniform.

Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa’s on-ball scaling

There was a high degree of disagreement over Dybantsa’s rank on the Swish Theory Board, finishing as our #4 prospect. Some of this relative pessimism revolves around AJ’s role optimization: his upside is largely tied to him being on-ball often, but shot diet of deep twos and mediocre assist-to-usage ratio leave some lingering questions around how that looks in practice. Considering he’ll be playing off of Trae Young, Dybantsa will certainly have to scale down situationally. Will the Wizards have AJ initiate every time down right off the bat in Summer League? Or are they already preparing for him to become more of a spot up shooter and/or cutter?