The Washington Huskies men's basketball team is less than a week from having another program alumnus joining the professional ranks.

The 2026 NBA draft takes place from June 23-24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Huskies' best player from a season ago will likely be one of the players that will hear his name called.

Forward Hannes Steinbach has been one of the better performers of the offseason during the process leading up to the draft. He was one of the standout performers of the '26 NBA Draft Combine and has been projected to be drafted as high as the final lottery picks.

That spot is exactly where he landed in a recent mock draft by Sam Vecenie of the Athletic.

Vecenie had Steinbach being selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 14th overall pick in the draft, placing him right at the tail end of the lottery.

This isn't the first time that Steinbach has been mocked to go to the Hornets.

A mock draft from June from CBS Sports had the Hornets picking Steinbach several slots later with the 18th overall selection.

The majority of mock drafts have Steinbach landing in the 14-20 range in the first round of the draft. The most popular destinations Steinbach has been linked to are Charlotte and the Oklahoma City Thunder, with some publications also predicting the German forward to to the Chicago Bulls or the San Antonio Spurs.

Steinbach was a one-and-done player with Washington but made an immediate impact in his one year on Montlake.

In his lone collegiate season, Steinbach averaged 18.5 points across 30 games (all starts). He shot 57.7% from the floor (34% from 3-point range) and pulled in 11.8 rebounds, dished 1.6 assists, blocked 1.2 shots and swiped 1.1 steals per game. He led the Huskies in scoring and rebounding last season.

Steinbach's 11.8 boards per game led the country and his 22 double-doubles was tied for the most in the country along with Duke freshman Cameron Boozer.

Boozer is the near-consensus top pick in the '26 draft, per analysts.

At worst, Steinbach will likely be a productive stretch-four capable of creating space while being a legitimate weapon in the pick-and-roll at the NBA level. At best, he could be a great two-way starter and one of the most productive rookies in the league next season for a team looking to return to build a contender, like the Hornets or the Bulls.

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