2026 NBA Redraft, Opening Week: Caleb Wilson and Yaxel Lendeborg Fire First Shots
The first live 2026 NBA redraft after opening week. The board is still mostly draft slot, but Caleb Wilson, Yaxel Lendeborg and Cameron Boozer are already making noise.
A quick note before anything else: the live 2026 NBA redraft is barely a week old, and it shows. Rookies have played about 2.8 games each, so on-court production is only about 19% of each player's score. The other 81% is still the draft-slot prior. Nine of the top 10 picks are in their original slot or within one spot of it. This post is about the early signals, not a verdict.
The signals are still worth a look.
The top 10 tonight
| Slot | Player | Orig. | GP | Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AJ Dybantsa | 1 | 0 | No NBA minutes yet |
| 2 | Darryn Peterson | 2 | 3 | 10.7 pts, 3.3 reb, 2.0 ast |
| 3 | Cameron Boozer | 3 | 2 | 16.0 pts, 12.0 reb, 5.5 ast |
| 4 | Caleb Wilson | 4 | 3 | 22.3 pts, 8.0 reb, 1.3 ast |
| 5 | Keaton Wagler | 5 | 3 | 13.0 pts, 4.3 reb, 4.0 ast |
| 6 | Mikel Brown Jr. | 6 | 2 | 7.0 pts, 2.5 reb, 4.0 ast |
| 7 | Darius Acuff Jr. | 7 | 2 | 22.5 pts, 2.5 reb, 3.5 ast |
| 8 | Yaxel Lendeborg | 11 | 3 | 18.7 pts, 8.3 reb, 4.3 ast |
| 9 | Kingston Flemings | 8 | 3 | 2.3 pts, 3.7 reb, 4.3 ast |
| 10 | Morez Johnson Jr. | 9 | 3 | 6.7 pts, 3.3 reb, 1.0 ast |
AJ Dybantsa is still No. 1 even though he hasn't logged a minute in our data. That's the prior doing its job: the top pick carries a 100 prior, and three games of production from anyone else isn't enough to move him yet. If he keeps sitting, he'll start to slide, the same way Fernando Mendoza has on the NFL board.
Caleb Wilson has been the best rookie so far
Of the rookies with real minutes, Chicago's Caleb Wilson has the best case. He's started all three games, averaging 22.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks in 34.3 minutes. He leads the class in steals and is second in blocks. The efficiency isn't there yet (40.7% from the field, 4 of 23 from three), but his performance score of 71.6 is the highest among the original top 10. He's sitting at his draft slot, No. 4, and he's a real candidate to move up once the production weight grows.
Darius Acuff Jr. leads all rookies in scoring at 22.5 points per game, and his 36 minutes a night are the most in the class. The shooting is rough so far: 30% from the field and 2 of 18 from three, for a 39.1 TS%. That holds his performance score to 44.4 and keeps him at No. 7.
The one early mover: Yaxel Lendeborg
Golden State's Yaxel Lendeborg is the only player to break into the top 10 from outside it. He went 11th and now goes 8th. His performance score of 79.5 is the best in the top 30, built on 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 34 minutes, with a 57.2 TS% and 8 of 18 from three. He's the only rookie in the top three in points, rebounds and assists per game.
Cameron Boozer, at No. 3, has the best all-around line in a small sample. He's averaging 16.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists over two starts, and he leads all rookies in rebounds and assists. Memphis is +44 with him on the floor. His 28.6% shooting is the reason his performance score (57.2) isn't higher.
Risers and fallers vs. draft slot
The biggest early climbs come from second-round picks who are getting minutes:
- Trevon Brazile (DEN, pick 35) is up 9 spots to No. 26. He's averaging 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, and he's second among rookies in rebounding.
- Emanuel Sharp (SAC, pick 45) is up 7 to No. 38 on 6.5 points in 15.5 minutes, with 3 of 6 from three.
- Sergio de Larrea (DAL, pick 25) is up 5 to No. 20 on 7.0 points with a 61.8 TS%.
- Allen Graves (TOR, pick 19) is up 4 to No. 15. He leads all rookies with 1.7 blocks per game and gained a spot after Sunday's games.
The fallers are all players who haven't seen the floor yet. Otega Oweh (pick 41) is down 7. Dillon Mitchell (40) and Tyler Bilodeau (43) are down 6 each. Chris Cenac Jr. (27) is down 5, and Dailyn Swain (15) is down 4. None of that is a judgment on their play. On this board, availability is the first thing that counts.
What to watch next
Over the next two weeks, the production weight will roughly double. Expect the first real shake-up then. Wilson and Lendeborg are the most likely to climb, and Dybantsa's slot depends on when he debuts. Brazile is the second-rounder to watch.
Want a longer view? Last year's class is already being re-drafted live too. On the 2025 NBA redraft, Kon Knueppel holds the No. 1 spot over Cooper Flagg, and Ryan Kalkbrenner (pick 34) sits third. How the board is built is on the methodology page.
The 2026 NBA redraft re-sorts every morning with the latest games.