Arizona’s Brayden Burries selected 10th overall by Bucks in NBA Draft

Former Arizona guard Brayden Burries is headed to the NBA after being taken 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday night.

Burries’ selection is the highest a Wildcat has been picked in the draft since Bennedict Mathurin went sixth overall to the Indiana Pacers in 2022. 

Burries is also the second one-and-done lottery pick out of Arizona to enter the league under head coach Tommy Lloyd. Carter Bryant went 14th overall to the San Antonio Spurs last year.

In Milwaukee, Burries joins a rebuilding Bucks team which traded away superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat on Monday. Burries will be part of the young core Milwaukee just assembled overnight, which includes the haul they acquired in the Antetokounmpo trade: Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis. The Bucks also selected Tennessee forward Nate Ament with the 13th overall pick, a pick they received after sending Antetokounmpo to Miami.

Burries enters the league on the heels of a highly productive freshman campaign in which he helped guide the Wildcats to their first trip to the Final Four in 25 years.

The 6-foot-4 combo guard out of San Bernardino, California, started all 39 games for Arizona, averaging 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. His ability as a three-level scorer and efficient shooting splits (49.1% overall, 39.1% from 3 and 80.5% from the free-throw line) caught the attention of NBA front offices after a bit of a slump to start the season.

Burries scored just 39 points over the first five games of the season (7.8 points per game), while shooting 14 of 42 (33.3%) from the field.

But he told Arizona Sports an early-season meeting with Lloyd changed the trajectory of his season.

Burries scored 143 points over the next eight games (17.9 points per game) to help the Wildcats finish non-conference play undefeated (13-0) in what eventually became the best start in school history (23-0).

Burries’ lone collegiate season would later be filled with even more accolades. He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors, was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team and was one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award (nation’s top shooting guard). Burries’ 626 points scored were the second most by an Arizona freshman ever (Deandre Ayton, 704).

His standout performances included a season-high 32 points in the regular-season finale against Colorado and a 23-point effort in Arizona’s Sweet 16 victory over Arkansas.

Scouting reports leading up to the draft frequently compared Burries to the likes of reliable two-way NBA guards such as Jrue Holiday and Derrick White due to Burries’ ability and willingness as a rebounder and defender.

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