The Orlando Magic selected Tennessee center Felix Okpara with the 18th pick in the second round (48 overall) of the 2026 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. The Magic traded Okpara’s draft rights to the Washington Wizards according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Okpara spent the first two seasons of his college career at Ohio State before transferring to Tennessee where he started in 72 games and anchored the Vols’ stout defense on consecutive trips to the Elite Eight.
The 6-foot-11 center is coming off a senior season where he averaged 8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Okpara’s block numbers were lower during his senior season but that was largely because the Vols asked him to guard on the perimeter.
Playing two bigs last season, Okpara was the only Tennessee big man who excelled guarding smaller and quicker guards and wings. With the Vols’ aggressive —often switching— ball screen defense, Okpara gave them the versatility they craved.
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But don’t let the lighter block numbers make take away from Okpara’s ability to defend the rim. When allowed to play in the paint and protect the basket, Okpara was elite. That was evident in the NCAA Tournament when Okpara blocked four shots against Virginia and three shots against Iowa State.
“If you watch his last seven or eight games this season, he’s an all-conference player,” Tennessee assistant Lucas Campbell told RTI following the Iowa State game. “Today, his chase down block was unreal.”
Okpara played the best basketball of his Tennessee career down the stretch of his senior season, helping the Vols get back to the Elite Eight. The Lagos, Nigeria native averaged 9.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2 blocks in four NCAA Tournament games.
Okpara is the third Vol off the board in the 2026 NBA Draft joining wing Nate Ament and point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Ament with the 13th overall pick on Tuesday before the San Antonio Spurts selected Gillespie with the 42 pick on Wednesday night.
It’s the first time that three Vols have been selected in the NBA Draft since 2019 when Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone were all drafted.
