The 2026 NBA Draft may be one of the most highly-anticipated in years given the starpower at the top of the class. And ESPN is pulling out all the stops in coverage by adding a prominent Inside the NBA teammate to the coverage.
As noted by Sports Media Watch, ESPN is retooling the ABC portion of their coverage this year. Out are former NBA Countdown personalities Bob Myers and Stephen A. Smith, who joined Kevin Negandhi last year. In are ESPN analysts Jay Williams and Richard Jefferson as well as Kenny Smith.
Smith signed a unique contract with ESPN when Inside the NBA made the move at the beginning of the year in their licensing deal with TNT Sports. While Smith would continue with the famed studio show with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal, he would also make his own individual appearances on ESPN airwaves as one of their analysts throughout the season. And the draft appears to be one of those dates. Incredibly, it will be his first NBA Draft since 2002 when it last aired on TNT.
Like their coverage of the NFL Draft, ESPN is offering two different feeds for the NBA Draft. While the ABC crew of Negandhi, Jefferson, Williams, and Smith will have their own focus, the ESPN feed will be the “main” set featuring traditional draft coverage. But there’s also a change there this year. Tim Legler will replace Kendrick Perkins on set with Jay Bilas, Andraya Carter, and Bobby Marks with Malika Andrews as host.
This year’s NBA Draft may not seem like it as a ton of hype with the World Cup taking up a lot of oxygen on the national sports scene, but the top picks like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson are all highly-touted players and perhaps franchise cornerstones. And when you add in the overnight trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat, there will be plenty of storylines to follow over the next couple nights.
About Matt Yoder