From Lottery Buzz to Green Room Snubs: The Cases of Jayden Quaintance and Koa Peat

A closer look at why injuries, projection, and fit have pushed two former lottery hopefuls outside the green room.

Ahead of Tuesday night's NBA Draft, the league has expanded its green room list to 24 invited prospects, with the possibility that one final invitation could still be extended. A seat in the green room is one of the biggest honors for a draft prospect, typically reserved for players viewed as first round locks who are expected to hear their names called early on draft night.

The invitation process is based on feedback from teams across the league. NBA officials gather input from team presidents and general managers, asking them to identify the 25 players they expect to be selected first. The goal is to avoid having prospects spend an extended period waiting in front of a national television audience.

With 24 invitations handed out so far, there’s still a chance one more prospect could receive a last-minute invite before the draft begins.

First Wave of Green Room Invites

(Previously announced on June 10)

• Darius Acuff Jr. - Arkansas

• Nate Ament - Tennessee

• Christian Anderson Jr. - Texas Tech

• Cameron Boozer - Duke

• Brayden Burries - Arizona

• AJ Dybantsa - BYU

• Kingston Flemings - Houston

• Aday Mara - Michigan

• Mikel Brown Jr. - Louisville

• Karim Lopez - New Zealand Breakers

• Labaron Philon - Alabama

• Darryn Peterson - Kansas

• Keaton Wagler - Illinois

• Caleb Wilson - North Carolina

Second Wave of Green Room Invites

• Cameron Carr - Baylor

• Chris Cenac Jr. - Houston

• Yaxel Lendeborg - Michigan

• Morez Johnson Jr. - Michigan

• Hannes Steinbach - Washington

• Bennett Stirtz - Iowa

Third Wave of Green Room Invites

• Isaiah Evans - Duke

• Allen Graves - Santa Clara

• Ebuka Okorie - Stanford

• Dailyn Swain - Texas

While green room invitations are generally a strong indicator of first round expectations, draft night surprises do happen.

In 2025, every green room invitee was selected in the first round, with Liam McNeeley and Danny Wolf being the only attendees to slip outside the top 25.

The most notable recent misses came in 2024, when Johnny Furphy and Kyle Filipowski received green room invitations but slid into the second round, serving as a reminder that draft night projections can still shift significantly in the final hours before selections are made.

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The Biggest Names Missing From the Green Room

While the 24 invitees represent the players teams currently expect to come off the board early, a few notable prospects remain on the outside looking in, making their absence one of the more intriguing storylines heading into draft night.

Among them are Jayden Quaintance and Koa Peat, two players who entered the season carrying legitimate lottery buzz but have seen their draft stock trend in different directions over the past year.