For the next month before the 2026 NBA Draft, we’ll take an in-depth look at different prospects here at Liberty Ballers and try to figure out which players would be the best fit for the Sixers at No. 22. Next up in this series is Texas’ Dailyn Swain.
Swain blossomed in his junior campaign at Texas after spending his first two seasons at Xavier University. Swain parlayed an All-SEC season and a Texas Wweet 16 birth into being a sure-fire first-round selection in this year’s draft. What makes the Texas wing
such an enticing prospect? Let’s dive in.
Profile
Team: Texas
Year: Junior
Position: Wing
Born: July 15, 2005 (20 years old)
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Stats (PER 40):
21.1 PPG
9.2 REB
4.4 AST
2.0 STL
63.6 TS%
81.5 % FT (7 attempts per game)
Measurements:
Height: 6’7.5
Wingspan: 6’10
Weight: 211 lbs
Strengths
Scoring
Swain averaged 17.3 points, 7. 5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game on an uber efficient 63.6 TS% in the 2025-2026 season. He’s a dynamic offensive threat in the open floor where he glides across the court with long strides and a smoothness that is a staple of his game. Swain is a freight train in transition and attacking closeouts and extremely adept with the ball in his hands where he is an elite driver. He showed tremendous growth as an off-the-dribble shooter in his junior season where he displayed a much more fluid motion and confidence than he does at times off the catch. Swain is an outstanding free throw shooter and gets to the line at a good rate as evidenced by his 52% free throw rate. This provides a source of easy offense that lends to his overall scoring upside.
Ball handling and Playmaking
Don’t let his 6-foot-7 frame fool you. Swain is one of the best pure ball handlers in this draft class regardless of position. Swain is extremely fluid and creative as a ball handler and uses his handle to break down defenders off the dribble for blow-bys. Swain is more than capable of stringing together multiple dribble combinations at a time. His ball-handling ability is more than just the flash and razzle dazzle that the casual watcher will notice right away when watching him. Swain is adept at using his handle to manipulate in pick-and-roll, where he also displays his playmaking ability as a live dribble passer and making guard-like reads. Swain projects to have real point forward capabilities, something that will help him blend into a lot of lineups as well as be featured if called upon.
Defense
Swain is a good on-ball defender with very quick feet to stay in front of guards and enough physicality to guard up against forwards. On top of his on-ball defensive capabilities, Swain is excellent at reading and jumping passing lanes to create opportunities for steals and deflections. Swain put up 2.2 stocks a game as a sophomore at Xavier and 2.0 in his junior season at Texas.
Isolation Scoring/Go-to ability
Swain had one of the greatest isolation scoring seasons that you will ever see at the college level. He was simply a dominant and efficient isolation scoring machine throughout the entire 2025-2026 regular season. Swain ranked first in all of college basketball posting 1.64 points per possession in isolation, per Synergy. He finished 72.7% of his shots from two in isolation situations and 57.1% from three — a truly special level of scoring efficiency in isolation situations. Swain showed the ability at times to flat out take over games as a scorer with his lightning quick first step, advantage creation off the bounce, touch, and foul-drawing ability. Swain, who will still just be 20 years old at the time of the draft, has plenty of upside and appeal as a primary offensive option for an NBA team.
Areas of Concern
Shooting
Swain is a poor shooter off the catch where his mechanics often fail him. His mechanics look different from shot to shot when shooting off the catch and Swain oftentimes seems hesitant and reluctant to fire off the catch and would much rather swing the ball or attack off the bounce. His vast improvements as an off-the-dribble shooter from both two and three along with his elite free throw shooting do lend to optimism that he will eventually figure it out as a shooter off the catch.
Assertiveness
As evidenced by his statistical profile, Swain was a consistently impactful player, however at times Swain did seem to fade into the background in some key moments and his focus at times waned on the defensive end as well. A lot of this can likely be attributed to the massive role and burden that Swain carried on a Texas team that did not have much in terms of useful self-creation or playmaking outside of Swain. In a scaled-down offensive role at Xavier — in which he was Big East All-Freshman Team and followed that up with a stellar sophomore campaign — Swain showed more of his complementary skillset as a connector, second-side creator, and defensive stopper and playmaker.
Overview
Swain’s elite and creative ball-handling ability at his size as well as his efficient scoring profile give him a star ceiling at the NBA level. His defensive capabilities, athleticism, play-finishing, and transition scoring give him a safe floor as a complementary player if he never does reach his upside as a creator and his shot doesn’t develop off the catch. He’d fit nicely on the perimeter alongside the Sixers’ young backcourt tandem and would be showtime playing in transition alongside Maxey and Edgecombe. Swain’s Swiss Army Knife skillset would help connect the Sixers lineup alongside the Sixers aging stars in Embiid and George as well. Dailyn Swain is comfortably a lottery-level talent in this class whose draft projections range anywhere from late lottery to the mid 20’s across the various mock drafts. If available at 22nd overall, the Sixers would be wise to pounce at the opportunity to add the Texas star.
Draft projection
SB Nation mock draft: No. 23, Atlanta Hawks
