By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- The 2026 NBA Draft will be held Tuesday and Wednesday with three Razorbacks expected to hear their names called.
The first round will be held Tuesday night beginning at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn. The second round will be Wednesday night also at 7 p.m. Round 1 will be televised on ABC and ESPN. The second round can be viewed on ESPN.
Freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr. is expected to be drafted first of the trio. It appears his floor may be at No. 7 to Sacramento. Freshman guard Meleek Thomas is projected to go in the latter third of the first round (20-30) to possibly very early in the second. Senior forward Trevon Brazile should hear his name called fairly early in the second round.
Brooklyn Nets (6) and Sacramento are the two teams most linked to Acuff. Thomas has been linked to the New York Knicks (24), Los Angeles Lakers (25), Boston Celtics (27), Cleveland Cavaliers (29) and Dallas Mavericks (30) the most. Brazile is expected to go between pick's 35-45 in Round 2. Each round includes 30 picks.
ESPN has Acuff No. 6 on its final big board. They have Thomas No. 29 and Brazile No. 41. In its last mock draft, ESPN's Jeremy Woo projects Acuff to Brooklyn at 6, Thomas at 27 drafted by Boston and then Brazile coming off the board in second round to Sacramento at 45.
Woo had the following about Acuff's strengths.
"Acuff Jr. is dynamic and strong with the ball in his hands, adept at attacking his spots off the bounce and scoring at all three levels. While his 44% 3-point clip may not sustain, he showed improvement as a shooter. He took a notable step forward as a decision-maker at Arkansas, limiting turnovers, getting teammates involved, and proving he could drive winning basketball."
He also took at look at what he considers Acuff's weaknesses.
"Acuff Jr. is a lackluster defender due to a mix of suboptimal height and inconsistent effort. As good as he could be offensively, building a championship-level defense behind him will pose a challenge at the next level."
Then Woo provided an overview of Acuff.
"Acuff Jr. exceeded expectations in college and proved to be much closer to NBA-ready than most scouts initially expected. He's going to need the ball in his hands a lot, and his defensive shortcomings have made him polarizing for some evaluators. His ability to create for himself and others offers long-term star power if he continues on his current trajectory."
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie released his Top 100 players for the draft recently as well. He places Acuff No. 6, Thomas No. 31 and Brazile No. 46. In his latest mock draft, Vecenie projects Sacramento to take Acuff at No. 7, Thomas to Brooklyn at No. 33 (Round 2), and Brazile to Brooklyn at No. 43.
Vecenie admits he's a big fan of Acuff and stated the following.
"I’m about as hard an evaluator as you’ll find on smaller guards, and even I can’t find myself selling Acuff. He’s that good on offense, with remarkably high floor and ceiling outcomes on that end. But I’m skeptical of his defense improving, so you’ll need to work around him on that end."
Vecenie also spoke about Thomas and how he thinks he could end up in Round 1 not Round 2.
"I love the freedom with which Thomas plays. He’s fearless and could become one of the 30 or so best shooters in the world once he hits his prime. That has a ton of value, and if someone takes him in the 20s thinking they can moderate his game a bit, I wouldn’t be stunned."
Vecenie also had an interesting and mixed review of Brazile.
"If you put together a three-minute highlight reel of Brazile’s best plays from this season, you’d wonder why he isn’t going in the lottery. He’s an elite athlete who could be asked to participate in the dunk contest next year and he makes plays on defense. He also has potential to shoot effectively.
"Unfortunately, there has always been something missing from Brazile’s game. There isn’t a lot of glue holding it together because his motor doesn’t run hot enough. When you watch him, you want him to play with urgency. You want him to say, 'Yeah, I’m skinny and I’m going to get knocked to the ground, but I’m going to put myself right back in that position the next play down the court.'"
NBADraft.net also has Acuff, Thomas and Brazile being drafted during the two-day event. NBADraft.net projects Brooklyn to take Acuff at No. 6. Thomas drafted by NBA Champion New York at No. 24 and then Brazile the first name off the board in Round 2 at No. 31 also to the Knicks.
All three Razorbacks attended the NBA Scouting Combine. Acuff was 6-foot-2, 185.8-pounds, Thomas measured 6-3, 189.6, while Brazile was 6-9.5 and weighed 225.6. Those measurements were all without shoes.
