Trio at Top of 2026 NBA Draft Class Has Potential to be Best Ever

It’s not often that an NBA draft class has multiple players with superstar upside worthy of being the No. 1 overall pick. In some years, there’s not even one player of that caliber. 

But in the 2026 NBA Draft, there’s three prospects who fit that criteria.  

At the top of this incoming class, the expectation is that the top three prospects will be Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. The real question is more about what order they’ll be drafted in. 

What’s even more exciting about this group is that they will all be true freshman at the college level this upcoming season, so from a talent evaluation standpoint, the playing field will be level. All three are in great situations, with Boozer at Duke, Dybantsa at BYU and Peterson at Kansas. 

In theory, if all three of these prospects reach their full potential, we could have one of the best draft classes in NBA history next summer. Not only is there depth in this upcoming group, but having three players with potential franchise-altering talent at the top is unique. 

Of course, to be considered one of the best draft classes ever, it takes a special group. But these three players legitimately have the upside to each be superstars. Just based on history, there’s a decent chance that one member of this trio won’t live up to the tremendous hype as a college freshman and could slip beyond the top three. Furthermore, history would suggest that one of these three won’t end up being a star at the NBA level, even if they all end up being selected at the top of the class one after the other. 

But there’s also a real scenario in which these three players rival the 2003 NBA Draft, which featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, though they weren’t all taken in the top three. Another class this upcoming group could be compared to when it’s all said and done is the 1984 class, which saw Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley be selected. Interestingly enough, both of those historic groups from the past saw the trio be drafted first, third and fifth. 

A lot can change over the course of a year, but don’t be surprised if Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson end up being one of the best draft trios of all time.