2026 NBA Mock Draft

Hot off the heels off the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade late last night, the NBA offseason is set to produce another round of fireworks this evening with the start of the NBA Draft. The 2026 draft class is arguably the deepest of the 2020's so far with some figures in league circles believing there's as many as 20 lottery-caliber talents available, which arguably makes up for the predicted top 3 (AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer) not being as coveted as Cooper Flagg, Victor Wembanyama or Anthony Edwards were at this stage of the process. Here's how I expect the 60 selections that will be made over the next 2 nights to shake out. 

Round 1:

1.Washington Wizards: AJ Dybantsa, small/power forward (BYU)

2.Utah Jazz: Darryn Peterson, point/shooting guard (Kansas)

3.Memphis Grizzlies: Cameron Boozer, power forward/center (Duke)

4.Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson, power forward/center (North Carolina)

5.Los Angeles Clippers: Keaton Wagler, point/shooting guard (Virginia) 

6.Brooklyn Nets: Mikel Brown Jr., point guard (Louisville) 

7.Sacramento Kings: Darius Acuff Jr., point guard (Arkansas)

8.Atlanta Hawks: Kingston Flemings, point guard (Houston)

9.Dallas Mavericks: Aday Mira, center (Michigan)

10.Milwaukee Bucks: Nate Arment, small/power forward (Tennessee) 

11.Golden State Warriors: Brayden Burries, shooting guard (Arizona)

12.Oklahoma City Thunder: Morez Johnson Jr., power forward/center (Michigan)

13.Milwaukee Bucks: Hannes Steinbach, power forward/center (Washington)

14.Charlotte Hornets: Yaxel Lendeborg, small/power forward (Michigan)

15.Chicago Bulls: Cameron Carr, shooting guard/small forward (Baylor)

16.Memphis Grizzlies: Karim Lopez, small/power forward (New Zealand Breakers)

17.Oklahoma City Thunder: Dailyn Swan, shooting guard/small forward (Texas)

18.Charlotte Hornets: Christian Anderson, point guard (Texas Tech)

19.Toronto Raptors: Bennett Stirtz, point guard (Iowa)

20.San Antoino Spurs: Chris Cenac Jr., power forward/center (Houston)

21.Detriot Pistons: Isaiah Evans, shooting guard (Duke)

22.Philadelphia 76ers: Allen Graves, power forward (Santa Clara)

23.Atlanta Hawks: Ebuka Okorie, point guard (Stanford)

24.New York Knicks: Tarris Reed Jr., center (UConn)

25.Los Angeles Lakers: Koa Peat, small/power forward (Arizona)

26.Denver Nuggets: Labaron Philon Jr., point/shooting guard (Alabama)

27.Boston Celtics: Meleek Thomas, point/shooting guard (Arkansas)

28.Brooklyn Nets: Henri Veesaar, center (North Carolina)

29.Cleveland Cavaliers: Jack Kayil, point/shooting guard (Alba Berlin)

30.Dallas Mavericks: Sergio de Larrea, point/shooting guard (Valencia) 

Round 2:

31.New York Knicks: Joshua Jefferson, small/power forward (Iowa State)

32.Memphis Grizzlies: Zuby Ejiofor, power forward/center (St. John's)

33.Minnesota Timberwolves: Jayden Quaintance, center (Kentucky)

34.Sacramento Kings: Alex Karaban, small/power forward (UConn)

35.San Antonio Spurs: Vsevolod Ishchenko, shooting guard/small forward (Lokomotiv Kuban)

36.Los Angeles Clippers: Baba Miller, power forward/center (Cincinnati) 

37.Oklahoma City Thunder: Ryan Conwell, shooting guard (Louisville)

38.Chicago Bulls: Ugonna Onyenso, center (Virginia) 

39.Houston Rockets: Emmanuel Sharp, shooting guard (Houston)

40.Boston Celtics: Felix Okpara, center (Tennessee) 

41.Miami Heat: Ja'Kobi Gillespie, point guard (Tennessee) 

42.San Antonio Spurs: Trevon Brazile, power forward (Arkansas) 

43.Brookyln Nets: Dillon Mitchell, power forward (St. John's)

44.San Antonio Spurs: Richie Saunders, shooting guard/small forward (BYU)

45.Sacramento Kings: Izaiyah Nelson, power forward/center (South Florida)

46.Orlando Magic: Bruce Thornton, point/shooting guard (Ohio State) 

47.Phoenix Suns: Braden Smith, point guard (Purdue)

48.Dallas Mavericks: Tobe Awaka, power forward (Arizona)

49.Denver Nuggets: Jaden Bradley, point/shooting guard (Arizona)

50.Toronto Raptors: Tyler Nickel, shooting guard (Vanderbilt)

51.Washington Wizards: Tre Donaldson, point guard (Miami)

52.Los Angeles Clippers: Milos Uzan, point guard (Houston)

53.Houston Rockets: Aaron Nkrumah, shooting guard (Tennessee State) 

54.Golden State Warriors: Tyler Bilodeau, power forward (UCLA)

55.New York Knicks: Nick Boyd, point/shooting guard (Wisconsin)

56.Chicago Bulls: Tobi Lawal, power forward (Virginia Tech)

57.Atlanta Hawks: Bryce Hopkins, small/power forward (St. John's)

58.New Orleans Pelicans: Maliq Brown, power forward/center (Duke)

59.Minnesota Timberwolves: Quadir Copeland, shooting guard (NC State)

60.Washington Wizards: Rafael Castro, power forward/center (George Washington)

Movie Review: Leviticus

 

When the late Robert Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival (then known as Utah/US Film Festival) in 1978, he probably didn't envision the platform he was creating to elevate independent cinema domestically would eventually attract films from all over the globe. During the 2020's, this January film world staple has become a bit of an unlikely hotbed for Australian horror movies. 7 Australian horror movies have played at the fest so far this decade with 2021 and 2022 being the only years where no spooky flicks from The Land Down Under appeared in the lineup. The most notable of the bunch are 2023's Talk to Me and 2025's Together-which were picked up by A24 and Neon respectively after heated bidding wars. Neon went back to the Aussie horror well this year when they acquired Leviticus, the buzzy debut from Adrian Chiarella which has been positioned as a queer spin on It Follows due to its plot surrounding two gay teenage boys (Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen) who are haunted by an entity that takes the form of each other that no one else can see but them. While I don't think Chiarella is quite on the level of the Philippou Brothers and Michael Shanks yet, Leviticus is still an assured, emotionally resonant horror flick that announces the arrival of another exciting Australian voice onto the horror scene. 

The metaphor behind Leviticus also serves as the clear driving force behind its horror. These young men living in a small industrial town in the Victoria region of Southeast Australia are living in constant fear that people are going to find out their secret. The only places they even feel comfortable enough to be themselves are in abandoned mills and vacant fields that are tucked far away from the heart of their conservative suburban community.  Eventually, the deeply religious adults in their lives discover their secret and attempt to "fix" them by sending them to a deliverance healer (Nicholas Hope) who performs a ritual that conjures up the aforementioned shape-shifting monsters that will maim or kill an afflicted individual if they decide to act on their homosexual impulses. It's not exactly hard to track that this ritual is a stand-in for conversion therapy and how this barbaric practice remains prevalent in certain religions to this day.

What makes Leviticus such a deeply depressing tale is that these parents would rather have their kids die while trying to make them into something that they're not than love them for who they are. Anybody who has been around for long enough has heard a zillion sentiments about how parenting is all about delivering unconditional love to your child. Well, that isn't always the case as plenty of parents out there will instantaneously turn on their children if they discover that their sexual orientation or gender identity isn't what they had hoped it would be. Many of these parents that refuse to support their gay or trans child are governed by the fear that religion has instilled upon them the LGBTQ+ community is a scourge on the Earth that needs to be exterminated. In my eyes, these people aren't fit to be parents. There's an unspoken contract that you're signing when you decide to become a parent that states that you will love your child no matter what and failing to honor it on the grounds of being afraid or repulsed by them having the courage to embrace who they are is the epitome of cruel, cowardly behavior that would get you banished to Hell if that place proved to be real. None of the horrible shit that happens in this movie would've occurred if the adults in the room simply accepted who their children are and that will be the first thing I associate with Leviticus for the rest of time.

Underneath the shadow of cruelty, isolation and torment being placed upon them, Bird and Clausen do a great job of showing the power of resilience in the face of tremendous adversity. Leviticus would be a merely well-meaning platitude if the romance between the leading duo wasn't strong enough to risk getting your face bashed in by a demonic doppelgänger for and after the initial will they or won't they dance plays out, something beautiful blossoms between them that can't be broken by any outside forces. They are able to convey a warmth and vulnerability that many actors twice their age struggle to when they're asked to portray lovers on screen and the authenticity behind those feelings are why the emotional core of this movie is so strong. Both of these guys appear to be in the first act of long, fruitful acting careers and I'd be surprised if their phones don't start ringing more often after people see what they did here.

Ironically, most of the trouble that Chiarella runs into here is when the movie is leaning into its more traditional horror elements. He doesn't build much dread during the sequences where the entity is present, and the attack sequences quickly become very predictable and repetitive as the boys can only be attacked when they're alone. About the only time Chiarella shows some prowess on this front comes in an admittedly cheap but effective nonetheless jump scare moment in the second half of the movie that arrives out of thin air. Getting the old pulse rate up for a minute or two was a nice reprieve from the haunting psychological torment of the rest of the film and it's good to know that he already has this valuable skill stashed away in his toolbox for future use. 

As the summer 2026 horror advent calendar continues to be built, Leviticus establishes itself as a powerful romantic drama with psychological, supernatural and folk horror undertones. That's a very different flavor than anything else the genre has delivered over the past couple of months and just how far removed it is from the Obsession's, Hokum's, Passenger's and Backrooms' of the world is a key part of its appeal. With franchise titles in Evil Dead Burn and Insidious: Into the Further being the sole heavy-hitters left on the calendar, it'll be interesting see what will be waiting behind the last couple of doors in this excellent season for the genre. 

Grade: B

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 40 Inside Linebackers

 Note: In 2025, the players below were spread out between the inside and outside linebacker rankings. All of the players that were featured in the series in 2025 will have a ILB or OLB tag accompanying last year's ranking.

()=2025 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

40.(+) D'Marco Jackson (Bears)

39.(ILB-26) Nakobe Dean (Raiders)

38.(+) Justin Strnad (Broncos)

37.(ILB-27) Dre Greenlaw (49ers)

36.(ILB-31) Ernest Jones (Seahawks)

35.(ILB-10) Pete Werner (Saints)

34.(ILB-23) Tyrel Dodson (Dolphins)

33.(+) Dee Winters (Cowboys)

32.(+) Eric Wilson (Vikings)

31.(+) Henry To'oTo'o (Texans)

30.(+) Omar Speights (Rams)

29.(+) Leo Chenal (Commanders)

28.(OLB-24) Alex Anzalone (Buccaneers)

27.(ILB-16) Blake Cashman (Vikings)

26.(+) Tremaine Edmunds (Giants)

25.(ILB-25) Jamien Sherwood (Jets)

24.(+) Alex Singleton (Broncos)

23.(+) Divine Deablo (Falcons)

22.(+) Nate Landman (Rams)

21.(+) Drake Thomas (Seahawks)

20.(+) Jihaad Campbell (Eagles)

19.(+) Carson Schwesinger (Browns)

18.(+) Cedric Gray (Titans)

17.(ILB-13) T.J. Edwards (Bears)

16.(ILB-12) Kaden Elliss (Saints)

15.(ILB-33) Azeez Al-Shaair (Texans)

14.(ILB-19) Robert Spillane (Patriots)

13.(ILB-17) Foyesade Oluokun (Jaguars)

12.(+) Devin Bush (Bears)

11.(ILB-2) Bobby Wagner (Free Agent)

10.(ILB-21) Drue Tranquill (Chiefs)

9.(ILB-28) Edgerrin Cooper (Packers)

8.(ILB-5) Roquan Smith (Ravens)

7.(ILB-18) Jordyn Brooks (Dolphins)

6.(ILB-6) Nick Bolton (Chiefs)

5.(ILB-4) Demario Davis (Jets)

4.(ILB-11) Devin Lloyd (Panthers)

3.(ILB-3) Zack Baun (Eagles)

2.(ILB-24) Jack Campbell (Lions)

1.(ILB-1) Fred Warner (49ers)

Movie Review: The Furious

Words really aren't the best method to communicate my thoughts towards The Furious. A combination of gasps, guffaws, cheers, claps and winces like the ones that filled the packed theater I saw it in at AMC Boston Common 19 last night is the most effective way to articulate what it felt like to watch such a brain-breaking martial arts extravaganza on the big screen. Not only are the fight sequences absolutely relentless in their length, frequency and bone-crunching brutality, but the precision and intricacy of the choreography are just jaw-dropping. It would take at least three or four slow motion viewings of each fight scene for me to even start to comprehend all of the moving parts in play. Human beings aren't supposed to be able to fly through the air like birds, slide on solid ground like it's a sheet of ice or stack on top of each other like fucking Jenga blocks and yet, the company of virtuoso martial artists led by the five gentlemen on the above poster (Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Brian Le, Joey Iwanga, Yayan Ruhian) are able to make all these things looks as routine as someone tying their shoe. Seeing such remarkable feats of athleticism and pervasive disrespect for the laws of physics in a martial arts movie is a treat of the most special variety and precisely the kind of alien shit that moves the genre forward. Legendary Japanese fight choreographer Kenji Tanigaki deserves all of the credit in the world for assembling a team full of the best screen fighters from all over the globe for his third directorial effort. He'll undoubtedly have plenty of offers to make whatever the hell he wants to make for his next movie and if it's even half as strong as The Furious, his stock in the martial arts movie community is going to extend beyond the heights of the known universe.  

Grade: A
 

Hugh Jackman Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Hugh Jackman-whose latest project "The Death of Robin Hood" releases in theaters on Thursday.

Hugh Jackman's Filmography Ranked:

25.Movie 43 (D)

24.The Fountain (C-)

23.The Greatest Showman (C)

22.Chappie (C)

21.X-Men Origins: Wolverine (B-)

20.The Front Runner (B-)

19.Reminiscence (B-) 

18.Van Helsing (B-)

17.X-Men: The Last Stand (B-)

16.Deadpool & Wolverine (B-)

15.X-Men (B-)

14.Eddie the Eagle (B-)

13.The Wolverine (B)

12.Rise of the Guardians (B)

11.Butter (B)

10.Real Steel (B)

9.The Prestige (B)

8.Song Sung Blue (B)

7.Logan (B)

6.The Sheep Detectives (B)

5.Bad Education (B+)

4.X2 (B+)

3.Swordfish (B+)

2.X-Men: Days of Future Past (B+)

1.Prisoners (B+) 

Top Dog: Prisoners (2013)

While a recent rewatch did knock it down a peg or two in my eyes, Prisoners remains a captivating mystery thriller full of excellent performances, skin-crawling dread and unflinching bleakness.  

Bottom Feeder: Movie 43 (2013)

This abysmal anthology comedy will always and forever be one of the greatest misuses of talent in the history of Hollywood. It's honestly awe-inspiring that so many respected actors carved out time in their crowded schedules to appear in something that is full of some of the most brutally unfunny lowbrow humor to ever grace movie theater screens worldwide. Peter Farrelly, who served as the primary brainchild of this unholy creation, has to be thankful that he was so well-established in the industry when this released in January 2013 because who knows what kind of damage this could've done to his career if it had come out right after Dumb and Dumber or There's Something About Mary.

Most Underrated: Swordfish (2001)

I saw Swordfish when I was in high school in the late 2000's and in a development that will surely shock anyone who knows my taste in movies, I was absolutely smitten with its over-the-top action thriller hijinks. When I decided to rewatch it yesterday afternoon, I was nervous that it wasn't going to cast the same spell on me as an adult. To my delight, it hit just as hard now as it did then. Maestro Dominic Sena followed up his excellent work on Gone in 60 Seconds with this majestic trash can symphony that distills the most endearing parts of late 90's/early 2000's genre filmmaking into 99 minutes of pure, adrenaline-fueled absurdity. If Swordfish came out today, a good percentage of the CinemaSins-fueled logic police crowd that is so prevalent in film discourse spaces would probably need to go to the emergency room to recover from the damage the plot inflicted upon their precious big brains. 

Most Overrated: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

As someone who has defended and/or celebrated a number of the post-Endgame MCU movies, I have to say that I'm slightly nauseated by the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine is widely viewed as one of the few triumphs they've produced during this period. To be fair to Ryan Reynolds, the idea of bringing Deadpool into the MCU by shitting all over the powerful ending of Logan by reviving Jackman's Wolverine is a funny idea that leads to some great bits. The problem is that the movie eventually morphs from a fun spoof of the genre's nostalgia porn to a full-blown embrace of it and not even some hilarious surprises like Wesley Snipes returning as Blade is enough to save it from its own shamelessness. 

Emily Blunt Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Emily Blunt-whose latest project "Disclosure Day" releases in theaters today.

Emily Blunt's Filmography Ranked:

21.Gnomeo & Juliet (D)

20.The Wolfman (D)

19.Sunshine Cleaning (C-)

18.Pain Hustlers (C+)

17.The Smashing Machine (B-)

16.Dan in Real Life (B-)

15.Jungle Cruise (B-)

14.The Five-Year Engagement (B-)

13.The Devil Wears Prada 2 (B-)

12.The Devil Wears Prada (B-)

11.Oppenheimer (B)

10.Charlie Wilson's War (B)

9.The Adjustment Bureau (B) 

8.Looper (B)

7.IF (B+)

6.The Girl on the Train (B+)

5.Edge of Tomorrow (B+)

4.A Quiet Place (B+)

3.A Quiet Place: Part II (B+)

2.Sicario (A-)

1.The Fall Guy (A)

Top Dog: The Fall Guy (2024)

Yes, you are reading that correctly: My favorite movie that widely respected thespian Blunt has ever been in is David Leitch's The Fall Guy. Leitch's heartfelt ode to the stunt community he came up in is one of those rare blockbusters that rides the charisma of its stars and the electricity of its spectacle to glory. The wonderous popcorn entertainment magic that The Fall Guy conjures up is the high that I'm chasing every time I step into theater to watch a big summer movie, and I hope that something over the next few months will be able to rise to the level of this wonderful movie.

Bottom Feeder: Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

As much as an animated retelling of Romeo & Juliet featuring lawn gnomes and the music of Elton John sounds fake, it's very a real movie. It even made enough money to spawn a sequel eight years later! Despite respecting the sheer absurdity of its existence, I found Gnomeo & Juliet to be an obnoxious movie that was a chore to sit through and it's easily one of the worst animated movies I've ever watched.  

Most Underrated: IF (2024)

IF hive rise up! John Krasinski's foray into the world of family films really charmed me with its messages of not letting the cruelty of the world we live in rob you of your creativity and the importance of letting light into your life whenever possible. It also gets major bonus points for Michael Giacchino casually dropping an absolute banger of a score that is probably my favorite thing he's ever done outside of The Batman.

Most Overrated: Oppenheimer (2023)

Christopher Nolan's streak of making movies that I wasn't overly impressed by and/or find to be very overrated extended to 4 with the project that finally got him a boatload of Oscars. While Oppenheimer has stunning moments and a terrific lead performance from Cillain Murphy,  some clumsy creative choices (the MCU-esque deployment of the names of famous politicians and the "I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds, raging alcoholic Kitty Oppenheimer delivering a scathing monologue to the government-appointed legal team investigating her husband in 1959 where she perfectly recalls details from events that occurred over a decade earlier) and pacing woes brought on by its overly cute nonlinear structure prevent it from being the haunting epic character study it aspires to be. 

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 50 Defensive Tackles

Note: In 2025, the players below were spread out between the defensive tackle and defensive end rankings. All of the players that were featured in the series in 2025 will have a DT or DE tag accompanying last year's ranking.

()=2025 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

50.(+) Khyris Tonga (Chiefs)

49.(+) Tim Settle (Commanders)

48.(DT-25) Keeanu Benton (Steelers)

47.(DE-19) Jonathan Allen (Bengals)

46.(DT-27) Arik Armstead (Jaguars)

45.(+) Nathan Shepherd (Saints)

44.(DT-19) Jarran Reed (Seahawks)

43.(DE-13) Calias Campbell (Ravens)

42.(+) Roy Lopez (Cardinals)

41.(+) Maliek Collins (Browns)

40.(DT-20) Osa Odighizuwa (49ers)

39.(+) A'Shawn Robinson (Buccaneers)

38.(DT-13) Grover Stewart (Colts)

37.(DT-24) Gervon Dexter (Bears)

36.(DT-18) B.J. Hill (Bengals)

35.(+) Mason Graham (Browns)

34.(+) Jalen Redmond (Vikings)

33.(DT-7) Alim McNeill (Lions)

32.(DT-22) Christian Barmore (Patriots)

31.(DE-31) Javon Hargrave (Packers)

30.(DT-23) Teair Tart (Chargers)

29.(DT-31) Kenny Clark (Cowboys)

28.(+) Moro Ojomo (Eagles)

27.(+) Sheldon Rankins (Texans)

26.(DE-20) Milton Williams (Patriots)

25.(+) D.J. Jones (Broncos)

24.(DT-28) Jordan Davis (Eagles)

23.(DT-16) T'Vondre Sweat (Jets)

22.(+) Byron Murphy II (Seahawks)

21.(DT-21) D.J. Reader (Giants)

20.(DT-12) Jalen Carter (Eagles)

19.(DE-23) Zach Allen (Broncos)

18.(+) Tommy Togiai (Texans)

17.(+) Harrison Phillips (Jets)

16.(DE-11) Zach Sieler (Dolphins)

15.(DT-5) DeForest Buckner (Colts)

14.(DT-9) Nnamdi Madubike (Ravens)

13.(DE-30) David Onyemata (Jets)

12.(DT-14) Ed Oliver (Bills)

11.(DT-8) Vita Vea (Buccaneers)

10.(DE-15) Derrick Brown (Panthers)

9.(DE-8) Leonard Williams (Seahawks)

8.(DT-15) Poona Ford (Rams)

7.(DT-17) Travis Jones (Ravens)

6.(DT-11) Kobie Turner (Rams)

5.(DT-1) Chris Jones (Chiefs)

4.(DT-3) Dexter Lawrence (Bengals)

3.(DT-6) Quinnen Williams (Cowboys)

2.(DT-4) Jeffrey Simmons (Titans)

1.(DT-2) Cameron Heyward (Steelers)