The NBA’s Pressing Revolution and Its Impact on the 2026 Draft

NBA teams are pressing more than ever, and it could lead to a change in team building. How rising defensive pressure could revalue guards, ball security, and playmaking for the 2026 NBA Draft.

The constant ebbs and flows of team construction and strategy in the NBA are always fascinating as teams are perpetually trying to find ways to counter the Goliaths of the league. For decades, size ruled all until the shooting and pace revolution started to run those players off the court. Small ball was quickly countered as players with plus positional size caught up with their shooting and handling capabilities. Now, we’re seeing more and more jumbo/wing creators on the court because of their rapid skill development and implementation of positionless basketball. No matter how good a player’s handle is, it’s just always going to be a little looser the bigger they are. So now that teams have these freak athletes with plus positional size across the court, we’re seeing the new counter to the jumbo creators being a massive leap in pressing defenses. This evolution in defensive schemes has impacted play styles, but we could also see it really start to alter team-building philosophies in the 2026 NBA Draft.

For a long time, pressing in the NBA was viewed as a gimmick or something you didn’t do until the very end of the game. Teams were too cautious and desperate not to give up anything easy, rather than recognizing the benefits that could come from it. Basketball is a possession game, and one way to generate more possessions is by turning the opponent over through created chaos.

We saw this evolution in soccer over the last 10-15 years as teams started their defending much higher up the pitch, and it became more of their identity rather than an act of desperation. It put pressure on players who were historically considered less skilled than their attacking counterparts and put them in prime positions to immediately create scoring chances off mistakes, rather than inviting pressure and having to build up from the back every time. The teams at the start of this revolution found a ton of success and forced a major skill development arc for defenders. Now, we’re seeing some of the best passers on teams come from the defense because teams are constantly having to play out from the back.

The NBA is starting to follow a similar formula stemming from the Indiana Pacers in the 2023-24 season. The few years before that season, the most frequently pressing team was somewhere in the 3.5-5% range in frequency, per Synergy. In 2022-23, the Pacers led the league with a defensive press frequency of 3.9%. The next season, they jumped to 8.9%. It was a massive change that we’ve continued to see across the league. This season, the league average rate is 3.8%, led by the Portland Trail Blazers at 12.4%. That average may not seem crazy at first glance, but the leap over the years is pretty drastic. Just last season, the average was 3.2%. In the 2020-21 season, it was 1.7%, and in the 2015-16 season, it was 1.1%. Just like we saw in soccer years ago, we’re now seeing NBA teams shift their defensive line significantly up the court to create chaos, take full advantage of their size and athleticism, and generate highly efficient scoring opportunities off opposition mistakes.

The continued increase in pressing doesn’t feel like it’s going away, as it’s a great way for the more athletic teams to gain an advantage and generate extra possessions. What’ll be fascinating to monitor, though, is the fallout from it. First, how sustainable is it really? It puts more stress on players, requires more energy, and will surely have a strong correlation with injuries. Second, how or will it affect the playoffs? The game historically slows down in the playoffs, so will this just be a regular-season gimmick or a legitimate and executable defensive scheme from start to finish? We saw the Pacers achieve tremendous success with it last season. Can it be replicated, though? Finally, and I think more interestingly, what will the counter to it be? For every stylistic evolution, there’s always a counter eventually. When we look at the teams that have the most trouble against the press (high turnover rate), we see a lot of teams that don’t, or haven’t had for most of the year, an actual point guard playing major minutes—like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trail Blazers. Drafting for need or ball security or a presumed dying role isn’t always sexy, but it wouldn’t shock me if we start to see teams revalue the more traditional point guard role to try to counter the ever-increasing defensive pressure. We could see this shift as quickly as the 2026 NBA Draft, which is loaded with guard talent.

At the top of the draft, some of the biggest names are Darius Acuff Jr. from Arkansas, Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville, and Kingston Flemings from Houston. One of the common links between all three of these guys is the quality of their decision-making. All three have an assist rate over 30, a turnover rate below 20, and a usage rate over 23. They are the primary decision-makers, passers, and creators on their teams, and they’re doing it at an insanely efficient level. They aren’t simply passing to open teammates, though. They are drivers of shot creation with their playmaking vision, creativity, paint touches, and manipulation of defenders. They take care of the ball while also making courageous and highly advanced reads. Translating up in competition as a point guard is historically difficult, but none of these guys have skipped a beat with their ability to efficiently and effectively make decisions.

Something that this trio has also proven is their ability to flow between roles on offense. They can be the primary creator and operate as the traditional point guard, but they can also be effective at getting their own buckets or playing in more of an off-ball role. We know that wing and jumbo creators aren’t going anywhere in the NBA, so guards have to have more versatility in their game than ever before. Being able to handle defensive pressure and initiate the offense is a crucial skill, but having the malleability to then hand over the reins in the halfcourt to another creator and still be effective without the ball is huge. All three of Acuff, Brown, and Flemings continue to prove that they can execute whatever role is needed from them in the backcourt.

While those are the top three options right now, there’s still a ton of talent later in the first round range with guys like Labaron Philon from Alabama, Bennett Stirtz from Iowa, and Christian Anderson from Texas Tech. All three of these guys have about as impressive mix of playmaking, ball security, and usage numbers as the first trio, along with the ability to shift to an off-ball role. What sets them a little apart, though, and I’m talking like Top 10 vs Top 20 to 25, are just a few nitpicks. Anderson and Philon are at their best as passers and decision makers in the pick-and-roll. It’s a great place to thrive, but they don’t consistently manipulate defenders or pass teammates open as often. They’re great at finding the open man or running a two-man game, but they aren’t quite as developed at reading those extra levels of the defense. Stirtz is a little more advanced with those reads, but we’ve seen how he can struggle to get downhill against aggressive defenders. There are a lot of contextual limitations there, but it’s still a limitation nonetheless.

Even as we get into more of the second-round range, the accumulation of point guards who can make sound decisions and be malleable within an offense continues to grow. Guys like Milos Uzan from Houston, Braden Smith from Purdue, Cayden Boozer from Duke, Kylan Boswell from Illinois, and Jeremy Fears Jr. from Michigan State could all return a ton of value as late round or UDFA additions. And that’s just a batch of guys who fit a little more into that traditional point guard role. There are a ton more names who trend more towards the scoring end of the spectrum or have a little more creativity and chaos in their game.

The 2026 NBA Draft class could be absolutely loaded with guard talent. A few years ago, some of these guys may have fallen a little because of their perceived dying role. The NBA is cyclical, though, and it feels like we’re on the verge of the “true” point guard role making a resurgence. Teams are ramping up defensive pressure higher up the court in a way we’ve never really seen before. Most of the teams that are struggling with this change are those that don’t have an actual point guard. With the absurd amount of guard talent who can all create for others, create for themselves, take care of the ball, and pivot into an off-ball role when needed, the 2026 NBA Draft could be a turning point in team-building philosophies and the resuscitation of the traditional point guard.