2026 brings an ELITE class. The top is super heavy, with three guys who would be the #1 a lot of other years. There's a run of productive guards who currently project as lottery picks. This leads to an interesting dilemma for my analysis this year, as small guards are being fazed out of the league trends right now. As someone who has been an enjoyer of small guards in the past, I've had to challenge myself to be critical of them this year. Mainly, a guy who can put up buckets, but is an absolute liability on the other end (Pritchard, Garland, Brunson, Trae, Simons, etc..). There's certainly a place for these guys, but they either have to generate all NBA offense, or come off the bench as a 6th man spark plug. When analyzing lottery talent, I tend to favor a rangy wing who shows more paths to making a closing lineup in the playoffs, than an undersized guard who HAS to hit his ceiling to make those lineups.