Community Shootaround: Lottery Team Most Likely To Trade Pick?

From 2017 to 2019, at least one top-five pick was traded in three consecutive NBA drafts.

The Sixers and Celtics swapped the first and third overall picks (used on Markelle Fultz and Jayson Tatum, respectively) in 2017; the Mavericks and Hawks made a deal involving the No. 3 and No. 5 picks (Luka Doncic and Trae Young) in 2018; and the Lakers included the No. 4 pick (which became De’Andre Hunter) in their package for then-Pelicans star Anthony Davis in 2019.

We haven’t seen a top-five pick on the move since 2019, but trades involving lottery selections have remained relatively common. At least one lottery pick has been moved on or around draft night in each of the past four years, often by teams moving down a little in the first round.

In other words, while we can’t count on a high draft pick being included in a blockbuster trade every year, there’s clearly a precedent for top-14 selections changing hands in June. And this year’s draft features plenty of teams who could be prime candidates to deal.

The Mavericks, at No. 1, proved in February when they traded Doncic to Los Angeles that nothing’s off the table for them. But it sounds pretty safe to assume they won’t be moving the first overall pick, which they’ll use on Cooper Flagg.

That means the list of legitimate trade candidates in the lottery starts with the Spurs, who hold the No. 2 and No. 14 picks. Dylan Harper is widely considered the frontrunner to be the first player drafted after Flagg, but San Antonio already has De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle in its backcourt. Could that open the door for another team to trade up for that No. 2 pick, with the Spurs acquiring some extra assets while moving down in the draft and selecting a prospect who would be a better fit alongside their current core?

At No. 3, the top prospect on the Sixers‘ board might be Ace Bailey, but he’s widely viewed as a long-term play who might not be ready to contribute to a veteran team with title aspirations right away. The 76ers are reportedly eager to add some more youth and athleticism to a roster that was plagued by injuries in 2024/25, but perhaps they could trade down a few spots and still accomplish that feat.

There are no obvious reasons why the Hornets (No. 4), Jazz (No. 5), Wizards (No. 6), Pelicans (No. 7), and Nets (No. 8) would need to make a deal, but several of those clubs are loaded with future draft assets, which could put them in a good position to move up for a player they like.

The Raptors at No. 9 appear ready to transition to win-now mode as they prepare to incorporate deadline addition Brandon Ingram, while the Rockets at No. 10 are already very much in win-now mode, having struggled to find playing time for third overall pick Reed Sheppard last season. Will Toronto and Houston be looking to bring in another rookie or would they prefer to include their lottery picks in trades for more veteran help?

The Trail Blazers (No. 11), Bulls (No. 12), and Hawks (No. 13) round out the lottery, along with the aforementioned Spurs. And it’s worth noting that many of the deals in lottery-pick trades in recent years have involved these back-end selections — the 11th and 13 picks were included in trades in 2022, the 10th and 12th picks were moved in 2023, and the 14th pick was dealt in 2024.

We want to know what you think. Which lottery team is most likely to trade its pick? What sort of deal will that team be looking to make? How many selections in this year’s top 14 do you expect to change hands?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 6/3/2025

Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included whether the Hawks should trade Trae Young, the Thunder’s dynasty potential, the Suns’ options for moving Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, Durant’s fit on the Rockets and more!

Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included whether the Hawks should trade Trae Young, the Thunder's dynasty potential, the Suns' options for moving Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, Durant's fit on the Rockets and more!

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NBA Finals Notes: Thunder, Pacers, MVPs, Market Size, More

A blockbuster 2017 trade between the Thunder and Pacers helped set the stage for the 2025 NBA Finals, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. On June 30 of that year, Oklahoma City agreed to send Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo to Indiana in exchange for Paul George.

None of those players will be playing in these NBA Finals, but George and Sabonis were later used to acquire several of this series’ stars. Sending George to the Clippers in 2019 netted the Thunder a trade package that included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the future draft pick that eventually became Jalen Williams. As for the Pacers, they dealt Sabonis to Sacramento at the 2022 trade deadline as part of the six-player trade that landed Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana.

As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, you can go back even further to find the key trade that instigated the series of roster moves that saw Oklahoma City acquire George.

Back in 2008, then-SuperSonics general manager Sam Presti was able to extract two first-round picks from Phoenix to take on Kurt Thomas‘ unwanted salary and get the Suns out of the tax. Presti used the first of those picks to draft Serge Ibaka, who was traded in 2016 to Orlando for Oladipo and Sabonis — the exact package that the Thunder used a year later to land George.

Here’s more on the upcoming NBA Finals:

  • Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton rank first and second, in that order, in two lists published today by ESPN.com. In the first, Tim Bontemps ranks the 2025 postseason MVPs, with the Thunder and Pacers point guards leap-frogging Jalen Brunson for the top spots following the conference finals. In the second, Bontemps and Kevin Pelton rank the top 20 players in the NBA Finals, with Pascal Siakam, Williams, and Chet Holmgren rounding out the top five.
  • Indianapolis is the 25th-largest media market in the United States, while Oklahoma City comes in at No. 47. Will a spring showdown between two small-market franchises affect the NBA’s bottom line? According to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, while the revenue generated by merchandise and ticket sales may fell well short of a New York-vs.-Los Angeles-type Finals, the league won’t really have to worry about a one-year ratings dip after having finalized a new long-term media rights deal in 2024. “There’s really no direct impact between ratings and financial success, certainly in the near term,” a former senior NBA executive told The Athletic. “If you have bad ratings for the next decade then that limits your TV rights. But I don’t think anyone in the NBA is worried about that right now because the revenues for TV are guaranteed.”
  • Law Murray of The Athletic takes a closer look at how the Thunder and Pacers compare to one another in terms of the possession battle. As Murray details, neither team turns the ball over much, but Indiana has been the worst offensive rebounding team of the 16 clubs in the playoffs and doesn’t force opponent turnovers at nearly the same rate as Oklahoma City. Neutralizing the Thunder’s usual advantage in possessions and shot attempts will give the Pacers their best chance at pulling off the upset.

Rockets Rumors: Adams, Lopez, VanVleet, Holiday, Durant, More

A handful of Rockets veterans, including Steven Adams, Jeff Green, and Jae’Sean Tate, are headed for unrestricted free agency this summer. Of those UFAs, Adams is viewed as the team’s “clear priority,” sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Green and/or Tate won’t be back, but they may be minimum-salary options for Houston, whereas it will almost certainly take more than that to re-sign Adams, who became an important part of the club’s rotation late in the season. The Rockets are operating under the assumption that the veteran center wants to return, Iko writes, and are expected to continue talking to him about a new contract.

Adams is extension-eligible now and could be signed to a new deal prior to free agency, but if the two sides can’t work something out, Houston may circle back to Brook Lopez, team sources tell Iko. Lopez was a top Rockets target during the 2023 free agent period and came close to making the move to Houston at that time before deciding to remain in Milwaukee.

The Rockets also hold team options for 2025/26 on a pair of guards: Fred VanVleet ($44.9MM) and Aaron Holiday ($4.9MM). The expectation is that VanVleet will return to Houston, either on his team option or on a new contract, Iko writes. The Rockets are also interested in retaining Holiday, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his option will be picked up — the club may wait to get a better sense of how its offseason and the league-wide market are playing out before making a decision on the reserve guard, Iko explains.

Here’s more from Iko on the Rockets:

  • While Houston would like to keep its young core together, the team is willing to consider the possibility of a significant trade. Giannis Antetokounmpo is considered a top target, though it remains to be seen whether the Bucks will actually make him available, Iko writes. The Suns, conversely, have made multiple calls to the Rockets since the end of the season about the possibility of a deal that sends Kevin Durant to Houston and sends some of the Suns’ draft assets back to Phoenix, team sources tell The Athletic. The asking price for Durant has been “gradually lowered” over the course of those calls, according to Iko, who says the Rockets would be interested if the price is modest enough, despite their desire to keep their core intact.
  • The Rockets also anticipate having trade conversations with the Celtics‘ front office this summer, given Boston’s reported desire to reduce its payroll, says Iko.
  • The expectation is that Reed Sheppard will have a “vastly expanded role” in 2025/26 after playing sparingly as a rookie, Iko reports. The Rockets remain very high on last year’s No. 3 overall pick, viewing him as a player whose floor-spacing abilities can help in the short term and whose long-term ceiling is high.
  • Houston has received inquiries from rivals about former first-rounder Cam Whitmore, as well as this year’s No. 10 overall pick, per Iko. The Rockets remain optimistic about Whitmore’s outlook and potential rotation role, and neither he nor his representatives have asked for a change of scenery, so nothing is imminent on that front, Iko reports. As for this year’s lottery pick, Houston is open to discussing a variety of scenarios, including trading down, trading out of the first round, or packaging that pick with a player to upgrade the roster.
  • Although the Rockets’ front office is expected to engage in rookie scale extension negotiations with Jabari Smith and Tari Eason this offseason, team sources tell Iko that the club would be comfortable with the idea of matching an offer sheet for either player in 2026 if no agreements are reached this year.

Knicks Notes: Offseason, Horford, Brunson, Bridges

There’s a good argument to be made that the Knicks should run it back with their current core in 2025/26 while just making some tweaks around the edges of their roster, Chris Mannix writes in a column for SI.com. Mannix notes that continuity is “a key to success in today’s NBA” and suggests the Knicks could benefit from the current group getting a second year under its belts after undergoing some major changes ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Still, the Knicks’ front office is expected to consider all its options and explore the possibility of taking a bigger swing if the right opportunity arises, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during a Monday appearance on SportsCenter (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM).

“I’m told the Knicks have internal meetings (scheduled) this week to evaluate everything from the roster (to) different changes they could make around everything, but especially the roster,” Charania said. “… Knicks president Leon Rose has gone out and gotten OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns. I expect him to be just as aggressive this offseason, whether it’s a landmark player that you could bring in there or definitely depth on that bench.

“(Head coach) Tom Thibodeau called it a very important offseason coming up, and this is a team that has won 50-plus games in consecutive seasons for the first time since the early ’90s. Four of his five seasons as head coach, they’ve made it to the playoffs, so it’s been a successful run. Jalen Brunson (is) fully supportive. That front office is fully supportive of Tom Thibodeau as well. But I do expect them to be very active and aggressive on the roster.”

After acquiring Bridges and Towns last offseason, the Knicks no longer have many draft assets to offer up in trades, so if the club makes another major deal this summer, the outgoing package would likely have to be heavy on player value.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • Discussing New York’s potential offseason options during the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Tim Bontemps pointed to Al Horford as an example of the kind of free agent who might be attainable and would improve the club’s depth. “I don’t think at this point it makes a lot of sense for Al Horford to be back in Boston,” Bontemps said (hat tip to MassLive.com). “Maybe he will be, but given where things are with the Celtics, I think he’s now much more in play than he might have been a month ago. Al Horford is a longtime friend of Karl-Anthony Towns and has played with him with the Dominican national team for a long time. If they go get Al Horford this summer – who I think would be an unbelievable fit on this Knicks roster – and they go get another perimeter player to deepen their rotation…that’s a much better team. That’s a team that could beat the Pacers next year. That’s a team that’ll be in the mix in the East.”
  • Brunson’s decision to accept a more team-friendly extension last summer instead of waiting until this offseason to sign a new, more lucrative free agent contract should begin to pay dividends for the Knicks in July, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, who observes that the team can operate under the second tax apron due to Brunson’s lower 2025/26 salary. That means New York will be able to aggregate salaries in trades and should have the taxpayer mid-level exception available to work with in free agency.
  • After an up-and-down first season in New York, Bridges will be extension-eligible this offseason, which raises a couple of key questions, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. First, is Bridges still enthusiastic about a long-term future with the Knicks after facing so much criticism and scrutiny in year one? And if so, are the Knicks comfortable with the idea of offering him an extension that could be worth up to $156MM over four years?

And-Ones: Cook, Sirvydis, 2022 Redraft, Gasol

Former NBA forward Tyler Cook is signing with a Japanese team, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports. He’ll be joining the Ibaraki Robots.

Cook averaged 15.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 63.6% shooting in the Turkish league with Merkezefendi this past season. He played 65 games in the NBA, most recently with Chicago in 2021/22.

Here’s more from the international basketball world:

  • Another former NBA forward, Deividas Sirvydis, is re-signing with Lithuania’s Zalgiris Kaunas on a contract that runs through the 2027/28 season, according to a team press release. In his debut EuroLeague season, Sirvydis averaged 8.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, shooting 51.5% from two-point range and 38.8% from three-point range. Sirvydis, a 2019 second-round pick, made 23 appearances with Detroit.
  • If they had to do it all over again, Paolo Banchero would still be the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft. HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina conducted a 2022 re-draft and there was one big move up the draft ladder — Urbina suggests Jalen Williams would be the No. 2 pick instead of the No. 12 selection, while Dyson Daniels would also move into the top five.
  • Speaking to Eurohoops, former NBA All-Star Pau Gasol wouldn’t go as far as saying the current group of European stars are better than his era’s top imports. Rather, he looks at it as each generation grows the legacy of European players before them.

Jazz Owner: Austin Ainge Will Run ‘Show’

Jazz owner Ryan Smith declared during a Monday press conference that his new president of basketball operations, Austin Ainge, will have final say on personnel decisions.

“This is Austin’s show,” Smith said, per Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.

After spending 17 years with the Celtics, Ainge was chosen to head the Utah front office. His father, Danny Ainge,  has been the franchise’s CEO and alternate governor since 2021.

The younger Ainge served as the Celtics’ director of player personnel and scouting until 2019 and had been their assistant GM for the past six years. Smith wanted to clear up any confusion regarding his team’s front office hierarchy.

“I’m sure there’s probably a lot of questions around organizational structure and design, and I’ve learned in business and also in the NBA, that every organization is set up a little different,” Smith said. “For us, Austin will be running the program. He’s got final recommendation to myself on any decisions that need to be made. I think it’s the job of both Justin (Zanik), Danny and myself to kind of plug into him. So hopefully that alleviates quite a few questions as to who has the final decision on roster and management and personnel.”

As for Zanik, the team’s general manager, Smith claimed his role hasn’t changed.

“If you think about the skill set that Austin has, and JZ’s skill set, they actually work really well,” Smith said, per Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

The hiring of the younger Ainge came together very quickly. Smith spoke with Ainge and told him that he wanted him to be president of basketball operations, according to Todd. Ainge called Smith back the next day and said that if he was going to hire him he wanted it to happen right away, noting that big offseason decisions were upcoming regarding the franchise’s rebuild.

“The biggest challenge for me was I had to call Danny, who was not in town, and say, ‘I hired your son,’” Smith said. “Danny and I built a lot of trust over the last 15 years, and I didn’t know at that point whether I completely lost all trust or he was going to say that it was the right move. Well, here we are, and so I couldn’t be more excited.”

Utah owns two first-rounders (fifth and 21st) and two second-rounders in this year’s draft, plus numerous extra first-rounders in future drafts acquired in trades.

“We have a ton of optionality, a lot of future picks, a lot of things we can do,” Austin Ainge said. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but I can’t wait to get started.”

2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have had just one winning season since 2016, and even that season - 2021/22 - was really all about an outstanding first half. The team opened the year by winning 27 of its first 38 games with Lonzo Ball leading the charge as a two-way dynamo at the point, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic providing the scoring, and Alex Caruso wreaking havoc on the defensive end.

Management in Chicago spent two-and-a-half years dreaming on that version of the Bulls, which never looked quite the same without Ball on the court. The former No. 2 overall pick spent those same two-and-a-half years trying to work his way back from knee problems that ended his '21/22 season early and threatened to halt his playing career for good.

Ball ultimately made his return to the court in the fall of 2024, but the Bulls had thrown in the towel on the previous iteration of their roster a few months earlier, having traded away key veterans like DeRozan and Caruso while acquiring a new point guard of the future in Josh Giddey.

The Bulls continued to tear down the 2021-24 version of their roster prior to February's trade deadline by sending LaVine to Sacramento in a three-team blockbuster, signaling that they finally appeared ready to launch a full-fledged rebuild. The club reacquired complete control of its 2025 first-round pick in the LaVine deal and took back Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and Zach Collins, three veterans who had been having disappointing years with their previous teams and looked poised to lead a second-half tank job.

That's not how the final couple months of the season played out, though. The Bulls improbably went 15-5 to close out the year, earning a spot in the play-in tournament for a third straight spring. It was a cause for grumbling among many fans in Chicago, who had watched their team win 40 games in 2022/23 and 39 in '23/24 while ostensibly trying to contend. Those fans were excited about the possibility of leaning into the rebuild and securing a high draft pick in '24/25. Instead, the end result - a 39-43 record, a quick play-in exit, and a draft pick outside the top 10 - felt like more of the same.

But it wasn't quite the same. There were several promising developments during that unexpected hot streak late in the season.

Coby White looked like one of the NBA's best scorers, averaging 26.0 points per game on .505/.383/.902 shooting in March and April. Giddey showed why the Bulls were willing to give up Caruso for him, nearly averaging a triple-double (21.2 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 9.3 APG) while making 45.7% of his three-pointers after the All-Star break. Lottery pick Matas Buzelis earned a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team by putting up 13.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG on .491/.367/.806 shooting from February 1 onward.

Although the Bulls spent another year stuck in the middle, the fact that the front office has been willing to make major roster changes in the past year - and seems primed to continue making more - is a positive development for a team that was going nowhere fast at this time last spring. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the organization now appears focused on building a roster capable of contending in the future, rather than stubbornly sticking with one not equipped to contend in the present.


The Bulls' Offseason Plan

The No. 1 item on Chicago's offseason to-do list is figuring out what a new contract for Giddey looks like. The two sides reportedly engaged in rookie scale extension talks last fall, with the former Thunder guard said to be looking for a deal salary in the range of $30MM per year. Jalen Johnson and Jalen Suggs were seeking similar commitments at the same time and received five-year, $150MM extensions, but the Bulls weren't willing to put that offer on the table for Giddey, opting to postpone negotiations until this summer.

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Knicks Notes: Brunson, Adjustments, Bridges, Offseason Priorities, Contracts

The Knicks fell two wins shy of the Finals. Their top player has no doubts they can make up that deficit next season. Jalen Brunson believes the core group will do whatever it takes to get over the hump, Zach Braziller of the New York Post writes.

“The most confident. Overconfident. Seriously,” Brunson said of the team’s future. “There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident with this group. We have a lot of guys who are on this team, and I feel like you guys always ask, ‘what do you work on whenever you come back?’ and stuff like that,. And from what I’ve seen, no one’s really out there posting themselves about the things that they do. We have a lot of guys that just genuinely want to work hard to be better, and I like that, and I appreciate my teammates and everything they do and everything they believe in.”

Brunson was appreciative of the character his teammates showed.

“I think the way this team progressed this year, for me it was fun,” he said. “There were a lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things. A lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we put blinders on and went to work, that’s something I was proud of with this team. I’m proud of how we stayed the course.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • What steps should they take to achieve that Finals goal? Chris Herring of ESPN makes three suggestions — going with Mitchell Robinson as a starter on a regular basis with Josh Hart coming off the bench; improving the second unit and going with a deeper bench rotation; and finding ways to better utilize the partnership between Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
  • Given the draft pick haul they received, the Nets are thus far the clear winners in last summer’s Mikal Bridges blockbuster trade, Brian Lewis of the New York Post opines. The early payoff will begin this month when the Nets utilize some of those draft picks but there’s plenty more to come. Meanwhile, Bridges flopped in the Eastern Conference Finals trying to guard Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, according to Lewis, who says the Knicks could still make the deal a win-win if they reach the Finals next year with Bridges — or in the future, if he signs an extension.
  • Speaking of Bridges, potential extension talks between the two parties this summer are at or near the top of the team’s priority list, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Bridges could get more money if he waits until free agency next summer but he also looms as a tradable asset if he has an expiring contract. Extending Tom Thibodeau and deciding whether to sign any of their four unrestricted free agents are also on the offseason agenda, Bondy writes.
  • In a related story, Braziller breaks down the contract status of each player heading into the offseason. New York’s top seven rotation players are under contract through at least next season.

Eastern Notes: Scariolo, Heat, Celtics, Ainge, Fontecchio

According to a Eurohoops.net report, the Heat have expressed interest in adding Sergio Scariolo to their coaching staff. Scariolo is currently the head coach of Spain’s national team and served as an assistant coach with the Raptors for three seasons from 2018-21. However, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang hears from a source close to the organization that Scariolo is not a candidate for a Heat coaching position.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Heat might have to take a step back to move forward, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith writes in his offseason preview. Their cap sheet for next season is messy but they could reach the summer of 2026 with ample cap space, perhaps $30-40MM or even more, unless they make a major trade for a star player this summer. If they don’t make that sort of deal, it might be another down year for the franchise but the Heat will own their own first-round pick without restrictions in next year’s draft along with having salary flexibility.
  • The departure of Celtics assistant GM Austin Ainge transpired quickly in recent days, and the hiring of a replacement for him is not imminent, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reports. Ainge has joined the Jazz‘s front office as their president of basketball operations. “Ownership is awesome and it’s just kind of the next progression of my career,” Ainge said. “Kind of done a lot in Boston and we’ve had a lot of success over the years, and the chance to run my own team is a big part of it. And the Jazz have a lot of potential, man. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of potential.”
  • Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio didn’t shoot as well from beyond the arc as he had the previous season but he maintained a rotation spot due to other factors, Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois writes. Fontecchio drew praise from coach J.B. Bickerstaff due to his defensive tenacity, versatility, energy, selflessness and basketball IQ. If Fontecchio can regain his three-point form, he’ll be a very valuable rotation piece heading into his walk year, Langlois adds — he has $8.3MM remaining on his contract.