Mikel Brown Jr. is trending to snap Louisville basketball’s NBA Draft drought without a first-round pick. Cardinals fans haven’t seen a Louisville player drafted in the first round since 2017, when Donovan Mitchell was selected by the Utah Jazz, but that is about to change.
Ryan Conwell gives Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. massive praise leading up to 2026 NBA Draft
Brown played his lone year at UofL, averaging over 18 points per game and earning a spot on the All-ACC Third Team. Now, as June quickly approaches, the NBA is gearing up for its annual draft, and Brown is emerging as a player many teams are interested in.
reported earlier this week that Brown has met with multiple teams so far and is scheduled to meet with a few more leading up to the NBA Draft.
Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr.'s latest NBA Draft meetings signal top-10 potential
When looking at the draft order and the mock drafts, it appears to be very likely that the top four will be BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, in no particular order. Following those four, then four point guards are competing against one another, including Brown.
Barlowe reports that Brown has already met with the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks, as the two organizations visited the former Cardinal in Orlando to watch him work out. Brown is scheduled to visit the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Dallas Mavericks before the draft.
Sources: The Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks have recently both visited Mikel Brown Jr in Orlando to watch workouts and meet with the family.
— James Barlowe (@DraftJunkyJames) June 8, 2026
Brown Jr is scheduled to visit the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks before the draft. pic.twitter.com/ey9KYTbHtT
The Field of 68 recently predicted Brown would go No. 5 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers, which would have made him the first point guard selected in that mock draft. Right now, he is trending anywhere from a No. 5 overall pick to a No. 10 overall pick, with many experts predicting he will go to the Dallas Mavericks or the Atlanta Hawks.
Clippers own the No. 5 overall pick, followed by the Nets, Kings, Hawks, Mavs, and Bucks, which round it out at No. 10. So, to hear Brown is meeting with the majority of these teams is expected but a good sign the 5-star freshman is trending as a top 10 pick in this draft.
If Brown is selected in the top 10, he would be the first Cardinal drafted in the top ten in an NBA Draft since Samaki Walker in the 1996 draft. If The Field of 68 is correct with their latest NBA mock draft, then Brown would be the first Cardinal drafted in the top five since Pervis Ellison in the 1989 draft, which would snap a 37-year drought.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard from Orlando averaged 18.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game this past season while shooting 41.0 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from the 3-point line.
Also read: Latest NBA mock draft has Mikel Brown Jr. ending a 37-year Louisville basketball drought
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