Spurning the NBA Draft to return to college basketball has never been more attractive. NIL deals now rival — or even surpass — rookie-year contracts for non-lottery picks. Still, every year, a handful of players make questionable calls. This year, North Carolina‘s Henri Veesaar and Duke‘s Isaiah Evans were among them.
Both were viewed as fringe first-round prospects at the end of the season. Both turned down roughly $4 million NIL packages and starring roles for 2026-27. And both slid out of the first round, now facing non-guaranteed contracts in the second.
“Their representatives have to answer for this,” CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander said. “You have to have quality representation who can get you real actionable intel for you to base your decision on. Leaving college isn’t as simple as turning down a scholarship anymore; it’s millions of dollars.”
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Here are the biggest losers from the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, and intel on what went wrong for each player.
