With this year’s NBA Draft in the books, analysts are already making predictions for the 2026 draft. That is good news for one of the newest Longhorns. ESPN draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released their 2026 NBA mock draft and ranked Dailyn Swain as one of the top 50 prospects who will be on the board.
They currently have Swain ranked as the 36th prospect, which would make him a second-round pick. Following a solid career with Xavier, Swain followed head coach Sean Miller to Austin after playing under him for two years. If Swain can build on his success, then he could hear his name called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver next summer.
During the 2024-2025 campaign, Swain averaged 11.0 points and 5.5 points per game while making 33 starts. His best game came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when he dropped 27 points against Illinois in an 86-73 loss. He did everything he could to extend Xavier’s season with a 58.8 shooting percentage.
In his final year as a Musketeer, Swain continued to improve his game. The Ohio native shot 25 percent from three-point range. That was a big jump from Swain’s freshman year when he only shot 15.4 percent from beyond the arc. As he entered the portal, it was an encouraging sign for many teams in need of a scorer.
If Swain were to enter the draft and be picked, he would be making history in a way. The Longhorns have not had NBA draft picks in back-to-back years since 2018-19. He could also stay at Texas and continue to improve his game before the 2027 draft.
Luckily for Swain, he has over a year to make a decision. His focus at the moment is making a good first impression with the Longhorns. They open their season on Nov. 4 against Duke in the Dike Vitale Invitational. That will be his first chance to show fans why Texas made getting him a priority in the portal.
