Hannes Steinbach is coming off his best performance of his life, and there's no doubt NBA executives took notice. It's hard to miss a 20-20 game in college basketball, especially against another high major. Steinbach had 24 rebounds and 22 points to help the Huskies beat USC in a 91-72 game. The following morning, Jeff Goodman posted his NBA Big Board "after talking to nearly a dozen NBA execs."
According to Goodman, he used those conversations to rank where each player would fall in the NBA Draft; the number he came up with for Steinbach was No. 12.
UPDATED MOCK DRAFT:
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 5, 2026
After talking to nearly a dozen NBA execs, here’s a mock first-round board.
Many NBA execs are torn right now on the No. 1 pick. pic.twitter.com/kGW3fVwhIU
Hannes Steinbach is considered a lottery NBA Draft pick by Field of 68
Related: Hannes Steinbach just had one of the best games in Washington basketball history
Any pick inside the top 14 is considered a lottery NBA Draft pick. It's the prestigious picks, and the best players are supposed to come out of the lottery picks. Since the 2026 NBA Draft lottery has yet to happen, it's unknown who will have the No. 12 pick.
In ESPN's January mock draft, it's the Oklahoma City Thunder that holds the pick via the Los Angeles Clippers. Yet, the Thunder don't go for Steinbach in that spot; instead, Oklahoma City picks up shooting guard Braylon Mullins from UCONN. Steinbach is mocked later at No. 19 when Oklahoma City actually picks again (this time with Philadelphia's pick). The No. 19 pick is not a lottery pick, but it's still a first-round pick, which is great.
However, that mock draft is now a couple of months old. Steinbach has since elevated his draft stock and is beginning to be considered a lottery pick. Could he sneak into the top-10? Maybe, but he's yet to be projected that high. It will also depend on a team's need for who's in the top-10 picks.
To see Steinbach this high is encouraging,Relate but also a tad discouraging. For it's great to have another Washington Husky drafted as a high NBA Draft pick, it's a reminder of one of Washington's biggest problems in the last couple of decades: Wasting NBA talent on a bad season.