The awkward situation where no one wants to be the CBA draft's top pick this year

In the context of traditional Chinese culture, the phrase "top scholar and first place" has always been the ultimate honor in life, the supreme symbol of years of hard study finally bearing fruit, and the highest glory of passing the imperial exams.

The term "zhuangyuan" has always been tied to the beautiful meanings of glorifying one's ancestors and achieving a smooth career advancement.

Before the college entrance exams, when Brother Di says "Wishing you become the top scholar," it is met with gratitude.

However, if I say these words to this year's hot CBA draft prospects, the reply would likely be: "Are you cursing me?"

The 2026 CBA draft completely overturned this thousand-year-old perception of honor, presenting an unprecedented embarrassing scene in draft history:

The top pick has become a "hot potato" that all top talents avoid at all costs—no one wants it.

Shi Kui, a nationally renowned youth guard who rose to fame early and a star player from Tsinghua University, was supposed to be the most likely candidate for the top pick. Instead, he simply didn't register, and the latest news is that he signed with the NBL's Hong Kong Bulls.

Liu Rui, the core player of Hunan University of Technology, also announced his withdrawal from the draft yesterday, citing injury issues.

Song Xinhao, a promising point guard from Taiwan, and his team explicitly stated that if he cannot go to a suitable team, he would prioritize playing in Japanese or Korean leagues.

This year was supposed to be a "big year for guards," but a collective exodus of top-tier rookies has occurred...

Why? The reason is straightforward: they don't want to be selected by the Sichuan team holding the top pick.

Those familiar with the CBA know that Sichuan set a humiliating league record last season, going 0-42 in the regular season—the worst winless record in a single season in league history.

If they join the Sichuan men's basketball team, rookies would have to grow with failure from the very first day of their professional career.

But that's not the main factor.

What truly scares off rookies is the long-standing financial crisis and salary arrears chaos within the Sichuan team.

This team has been burdened with massive debts for years, with unstable salary payments, and there have been numerous disputes over delayed wages for foreign players and local starters, along with frequent rights protection conflicts.

Put yourself in their shoes—if you were going to work, would you want to join a workplace like that?

Every talented player who registers for the draft faces the huge risk of being locked in as the top pick by Sichuan.

Stepping away from the chaos of the Sichuan team, from another perspective:

Although the CBA is China's highest-level basketball league and the dream of countless basketball boys, the appeal of entering the league through the draft is not that strong.

"Dreams come true" is a nice phrase, but poetry and distant horizons require tickets.

The CBA top pick's salary is 500,000 RMB.

For the 7th pick and beyond, it might be 150,000 RMB.

In today's basketball market, this is completely uncompetitive.

Take Liu Rui as an example: after graduation, by playing various "BA" games, streetball, and affiliating with a unit, he could easily earn a million annual salary, right?

To put it more plainly, if you are a second-round pick playing in the CBA, you might earn less than your girlfriend who works a regular job, and if the salary is delayed or even unpaid...

This is a very realistic issue.

Returning to this year's draft, what has been exposed is not just the predicament of the Sichuan men's basketball team alone. There are deeper issues: rigid league draft rules, inadequate protection of player rights, and an unreasonable salary system.

It's fine to protect the interests of the club owners, but it's too unfriendly to draft picks.

If policies are not improved, under the current environment, it's hard to guarantee that next year... Sichuan won't be an isolated case.

One last thing to add.

Looking at the list of players registered for this year's draft, the one whose name is called first will likely be Cao Zhihao, who just led Taiyuan University of Technology to the championship.

Should we congratulate him...