Mark Pope just put five players in the NBA with two draft picks, and now, he may be gearing up for not only his first first-rounder, but potentially a top-five selection in 2026. Step on up, Jayden Quaintance. You are now a projected No. 4 overall pick, according to The Ringer.
It’s been a consensus up to this point regarding the Arizona State transfer’s lottery status, essentially every mock draft including the first-year Kentucky Wildcat in the top 14 picks. CBS Sports had been the winner until now, listing Quaintance at No. 5 overall in their latest mock draft for 2026. ESPN was right behind with the sophomore forward coming in at No. 6 overall.
Now, The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann takes the torch as the national analyst highest on Kentucky’s prized portal addition, projecting Brooklyn to take Quaintance at No. 4 this time next summer.
new @ringernba draft show!
i talk through an early 2026 NBA mock draft (functionally a meet-and-greet) to introduce some of the key names and set the stage for the upcoming cycle
maybe an anecdote here and there
— J. Kyle Mann (@jkylemann) July 3, 2025
“The Brooklyn Nets, let’s assume they’re bad next year,” he said on The Ringer’s NBA Draft Show, the outlet breaking down its way-too-early 2026 mock. “… I expect them to be down here, and a wildcard that could be here — and I’ll explain why — is Jayden Quaintance. … This is a guy who was originally committed to Kentucky under Cal, pre-divorce. He goes and plays a year at Arizona State, was one of the youngest freshmen in the country last year at 17 years old, and what he pulled off defensively, in terms of defensive metrics, was unbelievable. And he did it on an Arizona (State) team that was, fart sound, not good.
“But Quaintance is going to have some big-time fans in this draft. He has the potential to be the most dominant defensive player in this entire class, with shades of Jalen Duren and somewhere on the spectrum between a Jonathan Isaac and — I’m going to get struck by lightning — Bam Adebayo.”
Bam Adebayo, you say? The same Bam Adebayo currently playing on a three-year, $165 million maximum contract with the Miami Heat and $342,149,056 in total career earnings, counting past and future deals? Sounds good with me.
Mann highlights Quaintance’s 6’8.25″ barefoot height, 7’4.375″ wingspan and 9.5-by-11.25-inch hands on paper — then all of the other stuff he does better than anyone in the country, especially when it comes to his age.
“Very big, wide hands, very long arms. He moves really well. He’s sort of one of these scheme Swiss Army Knife type players, who’s going to be able to shuttle with wings, he can stay down, be calculated, and contest guards. And he can stifle bigs — I’ve seen him do it, as a guy who’s not super big. The Colorado game, I’d recommend you go watch that one. He was guarding their center, he was blocking threes.”
Quaintance graded out in the 93rd percentile in a catch-all defensive stat (DRAPM) and in the 99th percentile in personal foul efficiency (blocks and steals compared to fouls) — among other high-level analytics and numbers.
“This is somebody who was very, very active and very, very accurate with his hands,” Mann continued. “And I just want to say this: this is the most Jonathan Tjarks guy I’ve seen in a while. If Tjarks covered this draft, I guarantee you he would have texted me at 10 PM and been like, ‘Yeah, Quaintance is going No. 1.’ Maybe not that wild, but he’s somebody that could be a high-impact player.
“Offensively, he’s a little more raw, but the key thing to watch here is — he’s not a shooter yet, but he can kind of get downhill. But the defense is the big selling point here.”
Then — like everyone — Mann brought up the question of the hour: how will Quaintance respond from injury, undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL?
If that all goes well, look out.
“His health — you know, Jayden tore his ACL in the spring. People have been a little ambitious, I think, on his timeline for that. If he gets back and has a weird year back, you could see, maybe, people arguing him down.
“If he comes back and shows little glimmers, maybe the mystery of that pushes him up? But I think he’s definitely a wildcard here.”
Just a reminder of what’s coming to a Rupp Arena near you in 2025-26:
For The Ringer’s full Way-Too-Early 2026 NBA Mock Draft with J. Kyle Mann, you can click here or listen below:
Kentucky got a good one, folks.
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