The 2026/27 NBA season is still far from beginning, but one of the moments that can define the immediate future of the franchises is already here. This Tuesday and Wednesday, the Barclays Center in New York will host a new edition of the Draft, the event in which the 30 teams in the league will choose some of the main promises of international basketball.

Among the names that generate expectations is that of the Mexican Karim López, who arrives with real options of becoming the first player born in Mexico selected in the first round of the draft.

The event will take place in the usual setting of the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty, with a first round scheduled for Tuesday night the 23rd and a second day on Wednesday the 24th. The Washington Wizards will have the privilege of opening the elections for the third time since the modern era of the draft began in 1966.

Behind them appear the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks as the first ten franchises in the initial order.

Although the final selection order always leaves room for surprises, analysts and specialists agree that this generation presents unusual depth.

"This is the draft in which there are more players who can be number one. There is a high level and a lot of depth," explained Jay Bilas, college basketball analyst for ESPN, during a session prior to the event.

Among the best positioned candidates is AJ Dybantsa, a 2.06 meter forward born in Boston and from Brigham Young University (BYU), where he registered 25.5 points per game. Darryn Peterson, a guard from Kansas with an average of 20.2 points, also appears as notable names, as well as Cameron Boozer, from Duke, and Caleb Wilson, from North Carolina.

Karim López and the dream of making history for Mexico

One of the focuses of the draft will be on Karim López, projected between positions 10 and 20.

The Mexican player acknowledged that in the previous days he began to take on the dimension of the moment he is experiencing.

"There is only one day left. The emotions are greater. A few days ago when I was training with the teams I was full of anxiety. But now that I have nothing else to do, I am realizing the experience. I am happy and excited," he expressed during a media event organized by the NBA at the Lotte New York Palace hotel.

López assured that he carried out between six and seven training sessions with franchises and especially valued one of them.

"The best training was with Dallas. It was the one where I played three against three, because I'm better at that style. All the teams I played for live didn't know I could pass so well and they are impressed," he commented.

The Mexican also talked about the journey that led him to this point. At the age of 14 he left his country to join Joventut de Badalona, ​​an experience that he later continued in different Catalan teams before joining the New Zealand Breakers.

"My time in Badalona was very special, very beautiful for me. I think it was an experience that marked me, both as a person and as a player. I left home at the age of 14, to live in another country, on another continent very far from home. And without my family, I was alone. It was a cultural shock, but I think I always knew that it was going to be something that was going to help me along the way and that it was going to be something that was necessary," he stated.

In addition to the Mexican, the event will have a prominent international presence such as the Spanish Aday Mara – NCAA champion with the Michigan Wolverines and projected for the first round – along with Sergio De Larrea, Baba Miller and the Malian Bassala Bagayoko.

The countdown is over and the draft is ready to begin with a generation that promises to alter the map of the NBA.