Who is No. 1 pick in new 2026 NBA mock draft? AI predicts first round
USA TODAY Sports asked Microsoft Copilot to create a new NBA mock draft. The AI chatbot remains bullish on the top prospects in the 2026 draft class.
The clock is ticking for potential 2026 NBA draft prospects. The early entry deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Friday, April 24 and the draft lottery to determine the exact order of picks is less than a month away. Most of the top players have already made their decisions known, although several have elected to enter college basketball's transfer portal and test the NBA draft waters to keep their options open within the NIL landscape.
But artificial intelligence, like the various mock draft experts around the country, can already predict how the first round of this loaded draft class stacks up. USA TODAY Sports once again queried the Microsoft Copilot chatbot for its version of a 2026 NBA mock draft based on information and analysis currently available on the internet, and it continued to have BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson of Kansas and Duke's Cameron Boozer as the top-three picks. But the order was slightly different than the most recent USA TODAY Sports NBA mock draft , and selections varied even more further down the draft order.
How the order settles is likely to depend on the pre-draft process if the current variety in mock drafts are to be believed. Here's Microsoft Copilot's latest 2026 NBA mock draft, as curated by USA TODAY Sports: NBA DRAFT: A top NBA prospect may return to NCAA to aim for No. 1 pick in 2027 2026 NBA mock draft by USA TODAY Sports You can compare AI's picks to the latest USA TODAY 2026 NBA mock draft by clicking here .
2026 NBA mock draft: AI picks first round USA TODAY Sports asked Microsoft Copilot AI to generate a mock draft for the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft featuring only players who could be eligible this year, with an additional prompt to include players that had either already declared for the NBA draft or not announced a return to college. Microsoft Copilot assigned the draft order based on regular-season NBA records and recent draft lottery tiebreakers, with the worst record getting the No. 1 pick and the best record getting the No.
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