Brayden Burries Rises to No. 7 in 2026 NBA Draft Projection
brayden burries has climbed from mid-to-late first-round range to the edge of the lottery, with some mock drafts now slotting the Arizona freshman guard as high as No. 7 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. His rise follows a freshman season that ended with a declaration for the draft and a steady push upward through the offseason.
Arizona’s Burries on the rise
Burries averaged a team-high 16.1 points per game at Arizona and led the Wildcats in total three-pointers. Those numbers helped him move from the start-of-season view of a mid-to-late first-round pick into a prospect now discussed among the top seven.
He did it on a team that won 36 games, swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, and reached the Final Four for the first time since 2001. That backdrop gave his production more weight than a simple stat line would on its own.
Kevin O’Connor’s Hawks projection
The latest jump came in a mock draft that sent Burries to the Atlanta Hawks at No. 7. Kevin O’Connor wrote that the Hawks “have to be pumped and jacked for Sunday. With a 9.8% chance of moving up to the top pick, thanks to the Pelicans/Bucks picks swap, they have the sixth-best odds of winning the lottery” and added, “But if they stay put, it would make sense to find someone who can fill in for CJ McCollum and someday take over for the 34-year-old guard.”
That projection puts Burries in the lottery rather than the back half of the opening round, where he was first viewed when the season began. For a freshman guard who has already declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, the difference is a meaningful change in expected draft value.
What Burries changed
The shift in his stock tracks directly with what he produced at Arizona. He did not just score; he led the team in points and three-pointers while playing on a roster that ran through the Big 12 and made a deep March run.
That combination is why the top-seven talk has gained traction. Burries is no longer being treated as a developmental pick at the end of the first round. He is now showing up in mock drafts as a player who could go in the first seven selections, and that puts him among the most closely watched prospects in the 2026 class.
