UNC basketball star jumps in latest NBA mock draft

[ASFN Admin]

The 2026 NBA Draft is officially under a month away as the next rookie class will enter the league.

For the North Carolina Tar Heels, they should have at least two players selected and possibly three if Seth Trimble gets drafted. But the highlight for the Tar Heels is likely going to be Caleb Wilson going in the top four of the draft.

With the consensus of the top four being A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, the former Tar Heels' star should hear his name called early. Most mocks have him landing at No. 4 with the Chicago Bulls. But the latest mock draft from USA TODAY Sports has Wilson going even higher.

Bryan Kalbrosky released the fifth version of his mock draft, and he has Wilson going No. 3 overall to the Memphis Grizzlies:

One general manager also told Jake Fischer that “every team” is going to have North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson over any one of Dybantsa, Boozer, or Darryn Peterson. Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor reported that some front office executives view Wilson with “similarly high upside” as Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson with “dramatically lower downsides” than the guard. The Memphis Grizzlies are unafraid to draft away from consensus and tend to like analytically-friendly prospects, so they're potentially one of those teams. Wilson did more than enough to earn this placement before his injury. According to Bart Torvik, before the injury, the All-ACC big man led the nation with 67 dunks recorded and was one of the best vertical athletes who tested at the combine in Chicago. He was also the only player under 20 years old to reach specific thresholds for both block, steal and defensive rebound percentage.

That's very interesting as it would mean Darryn Peterson fell to No. 4 with Chicago, as he has Boozer going No. 2 to the Utah Jazz.

The other thing to note is that he mentions a report that "every team" will have Wilson over any one of the other three, meaning it's likely he could go No. 3 overall.

Either way, the Tar Heels are in line to have a top-four pick in this draft.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Caleb Wilson goes before Darryn Peterson in mock draft

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