Sung Hsin-hao Photo: VCG

Chinese basketball club the Guangzhou Loong Lions has selected Sung Hsin-hao of Chinese Taipei with the No.1 overall pick during the 2026 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Draft on Tuesday, making the guard from Chengchi University the first player chosen in this year's draft.

Guangzhou acquired the top selection from the Sichuan Blue Whales in a pre-draft trade before using it to take the 23-year-old, 1.85-meter combo guard, who emerged as the consensus favorite to go first after highly rated Tsinghua University guard Shi Kui opted not to enter the draft.

Sung becomes Guangzhou's third No.1 overall selection in franchise history and follows a familiar path. In 2017, the club also used the first overall pick to select Chinese Taipei guard Chen Ying-chun, who went on to establish himself as one of the team's cornerstone players.

Sung arrives in the CBA after helping Chengchi University capture the inaugural Asian University Basketball League title in 2025, after which he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Speaking after being drafted, Sung thanked Guangzhou for the opportunity and said he hoped to establish himself in the league as quickly as possible.

"I'd like to thank the Loong Lions for choosing me. I'm very happy to have been selected," he told reporters. "My goal is to establish myself in the CBA."

Sung revealed that Chen had spoken positively about Guangzhou's environment and support system before the draft.

"Chen told me about the club and how well they take care of the players," Sung said. "I hope I can help the team more as a point guard, score more points, control the tempo of the game, and hopefully win Rookie of the Year."

He added that he relishes the physical nature of China's top professional league.

"The CBA is fast paced and physical, and I really enjoy that style of basketball," he said.

The Jiangsu Dragons retained the second overall pick to select Cao Zhihao, a standout from Taiyuan University of Technology, while the Ningbo Rockets used the third pick on Zheng Bowen, a forward from Xiamen University, after acquiring the selection via trade.

Meanwhile, reigning CBA champions the Shanghai Sharks did not make any picks in the draft.

A total of 69 players were eligible for this year's draft, including five players from the island of Taiwan. Eighteen players were eventually selected, with 13 taken in the first round and five in the second, down from 21 selections in 2025's draft. Several clubs, including Shenzhen, passed on first-round picks despite holding selections.

Basketball commentator Fu Zhenghao said the draft continued to demonstrate its value for clubs without established youth development systems.

"Draft picks offer excellent value and are especially suitable for clubs with limited investment and weaker youth academies," Fu told the Global Times. 

He noted that while traditional powers such as Liaoning, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing and Qingdao rely primarily on their own development pipelines, teams with less developed academies increasingly view the draft as an important source of talent.

Fu also suggested China's basketball development model is evolving as more young players choose to combine education with elite competition through university basketball or overseas pathways before turning professional.

According to the CBA schedule, the 2026-27 regular season will begin on October 16 and conclude in early June 2027. 

The upcoming campaign is also expected to mark the return of promotion and relegation between the CBA and the National Basketball League, a move designed to increase competition across China's professional basketball pyramid.