The 2026 NBA Draft took place on June 23-24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and, despite the abundance of talent, saw numerous teams move down the draft in an attempt to strengthen their rosters through trades, duck the infamous luxury tax and pocket more cash for their teams. Here’s how it all went down on draft night.
Pre-draft:
The biggest moves happened before the draft after a blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo trade was reported by NBA insider Shams Charania on ESPN. The trade included a glut of players and picks sent to the Milwaukee Bucks from the Miami Heat, but most importantly featured the 13th pick in the draft which the Bucks reportedly used to draft forward Nate Ament. But that wasn’t the only trade involving draft night; the Minnesota Timberwolves also moved on from the Julius Randle experiment only two years after acquiring him from the New York Knicks by salary dumping him to the Brooklyn Nets. In order to compensate the salary the Nets had to take on, they also moved down in the draft, swapping its 28th selection with Brooklyn 33rd’s.
1st Round:
The 1st round of the draft didn’t feature too many surprises. Although there was some chatter about the Washington Wizards taking Darryn Peterson with the first pick, they decided to pick 6-foot-9 forward AJ Dybansta (coming out of BYU) instead. The rest of the lottery followed mostly according to plan, although you could argue that the Atlanta Hawks choosing Kingston Flemings over Aday Mara or the Dallas Mavericks drafting Morez Johnson Jr. rather than Brayden Burries was a bit surprising, especially considering how heavily both teams were linked to those players in the weeks leading up to the draft.
2nd Round:
The 2nd round action started before the second day of the draft after it was reported that the Bulls had traded the 56th pick for “cash considerations”, a fancy way of saying they basically bought the pick for money. There were definitely some unexpected picks, like the San Antonio Spurs picking up center Mailiq Brown when they already have the league’s best defensive player Victor Wembanyama and had drafted defensive powerhouses Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr. earlier in the 1st round. Yet, considering teams’ little historical success in the 2nd round, no decision was seen as truly “make or break” for a franchise’s future.
What’s next for the NBA?
Well, the question is hard to answer. Obviously the “big 3” of the draft are expected to prosper on their respective teams, but the offseason (and the movement of more draft picks) is far from over. Lamelo Ball was just traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves from the Charlotte Hornets for Naz Reid, Minnesota’s 2033 pick and three pick swaps. No one knows where superstar Jaylen Brown might end up, the Memphis Grizzlies most likely will try to trade Ja Morant and Milwaukee is already trying to get something for Tyler Herro, who was included in the trade package for Giannis. While most front offices might be quiet for at least a couple weeks, expect some major trades (and signings) to shake up the landscape of the NBA once again.
