Is Brayden Burries the Biggest Steal of the Draft?

Every year, we see young and talented basketball players enter the NBA Draft who’s already been on the radar of hundreds of scouts before even playing a game in college or overseas.

A lot of the time, it’s a college freshman who was just in high school a few months ago who gets all of the attention and this year, it was no different.

AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson were the cream of the crop coming out of high school and were all ranked in the top five for the class of 2025. From the moment the college season started in early November, all eyes were on the quartet of players as they dominated and made headlines all year long.

Fast forward to June 23 on the night of the draft, and those same players were the first four players selected in what has been described as one of the most talented draft classes.

While those four get the rightfully earned attention, they tend to overshadow the other talented players in the same class. Like every draft class, players fall and slip through the cracks of the draft leaving teams to select players who are considered steals or gems.

In a draft class with a lot of depth and talent, there was bound to be a few steals in the draft, and it seems that the Milwaukee Bucks may have drafted one of their own.

ESPN and some of its NBA Insiders released an article about the 2026 draft class, which they answered and voted on questions regarding the projection of their careers.

Of course at the top of these votes were Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer and Wilson to questions like “Which top pick has the fastest path to becoming an NBA superstar?” or “Which top pick has the fastest path to becoming an NBA superstar?” But for who was going to be the biggest steal of the draft, ESPN’s Insiders chose Brayden Burries to the answer to the question and it wasn’t exactly close.

Six of the 13 votes went Burries, followed by Yaxel Lendeborg of the Golden State Warriors with three, Darius Acuff Jr. of the Sacramento Kings with two, and Caleb Wilson and Kingston Flemings both earning one vote each.

“Burries got the most votes by a big margin here after the Bucks snatched him up at No. 10,” ESPN wrote. “It was not surprising that he was the last of the talented freshman guards picked in the lottery: Burries (who turns 21 in September) was significantly older than his peers by draft standards and is viewed as more of a true combo guard at 6-foot-4. He should have a good opportunity to spread his wings in Milwaukee, with the Bucks entering a full rebuild post-Giannis and sorely needing the injection of backcourt talent.”

Ever since the draft, Burries has found his name in headlines regarding his performances throughout the summer.

In the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Burries averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game while also being selected to the All-Summer League First Team. He didn’t stop just at the summer league, but also brought his talents to the pro-am circuit in the Drew League.

In his four recorded games with team Problems, he averaged 26.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 47% from the field. One of those four games also included a 40-point and 12-assist performance against the Undisputed Legends.

Everyone knew how talented Burries was coming out of Arizona, and luckily for the Bucks, they were able to get a player who’s doing nothing but impress so far this summer with the No. 10 pick.