Quote · The Bill Simmons Podcast
2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann
Where this was said
NBA draft reactions
At 3:37 · chapter starts 1:15
Simmons opens the conversation by noting that the first 12 picks were universally the right calls — there were no Kendrick Browns, no baffling reaches. Mann agrees the 'good old boy network' front office is nearly extinct, replaced by data-driven decision-making that makes it nearly impossible to give any team a D or F grade. The Celtics pick at 27 is revealed live — a Houston forward named Sanak who Mann tepidly endorses for his size and athleticism while noting real developmental question marks on offense. House, drunk on happiness if not alcohol, cheerfully defends the Kings staying disciplined enough to simply take who made sense for them — a Vivek-restrained miracle.
Analytics and improved scouting have essentially eliminated bad lottery picks. Bill Simmons and Kyle Mann note that the first 12 players taken were universally the right calls — no Kendrick Browns, no wild swings. The draft has become too competent to be fun.
