Jayden Quaintance projected 6th overall in 2026 NBA Draft

The 2025 NBA Draft is in the books, but that isn’t stopping Draft Express’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo from stopping their grind. Not to be outdone by Joe Lunardi posting a 2026 Bracketology immediately after the 2025 Final Four, Givony and Woo published their top players in next year’s draft cycle on ESPN. There are some familiar names to Kentucky fans on this list of 60, but none more prominent than Jayden Quaintance, who landed in the 6th overall spot.

Goodbye 2025 NBA draft, and hello to the 2026 draft cycle!

Debuting our full 60-pick mock, with an overview of the class, themes to monitor and more.

STORY: https://t.co/142fdF7mYV pic.twitter.com/0NEYZYp4aM

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 27, 2025

Jayden Quaintance appearing in the top 10 of a 2026 NBA mock draft isn’t exactly news. Analysts have long projected Commissioner Adam Silver to call the Kentucky big man’s name next June. However, considering this is the first list from Draft Express since the last draft ended, it feels somewhat more official.

Woo went on to call out Quaintance as one of the top returning college players to watch this year:

Quaintance was 17 years old for all of his freshman season at Arizona State and was ineligible to enter this year’s draft. NBA teams were paying close attention throughout, drawn to his excellent physical profile and flashes of talent as a dunker and interior finisher. Considering he could have been a junior in high school, his huge shot-blocking numbers (2.6 per game) were particularly eye-popping.

While Quaintance is quite raw from a skill perspective, particularly his jump shot, and has a lot to learn with his overall technique and ability to process the floor, his extreme youth for the college level earns him benefit of the doubt, and NBA scouts will be eager to see whether he can take another step forward after transferring to Kentucky. He’ll have a major platform there to try to solidify himself as a lottery talent, but there’s a lot of refinement that has to happen before he’s NBA-ready.

How quickly he returns after his ACL surgery in March will be a factor to watch. 

Jeremy Woo | Draft Express and ESPN

Quaintance: “5 more spots to go”

Quaintance, himself, is taking notice, too. JQ posted a snapshot of Givony’s graphic on his Instagram story with the caption, “5 more spots to go,” indicating he is striving to become the No. 1 overall pick. According to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, this is not just social media propaganda. He has a real desire to become the top overall selection, so you shouldn’t worry about any Shaedon Sharpe-like tomfoolery when it comes to suiting up in a Kentucky uniform.

To get there, he will have to jump over the likes of star freshmen Darryn Peterson of Kansas, AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Cam Boozer of Duke, and Nate Ament, who picked Tennessee over Kentucky.

Kam Williams is the only other Kentucky player on Draft Express’s way-too-soon top 60 list, coming in at No. 46. Williams has been an under-the-radar Wildcat signee this offseason, but if he is as good as NBA scounts anticipate, and if Quaintance were to become the No. 1 overall pick, it could mean a deep, deep run for Kentucky in March.