play1:06VJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OTVJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OT
play1:14Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game HighlightsMinnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game Highlights
play0:47Shams details the impact of Anthony Davis’ hand injuryShams Charania discusses the impact of the hand injury Anthony Davis suffered, likely taking him off the trade market.
Grizzlies prepared to listen to trade offers for Ja Morant (0:40)The Memphis Grizzlies are entertaining offers to potentially move Ja Morant before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. (0:40)
VJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OTVJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OT
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game HighlightsMinnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game Highlights
Shams details the impact of Anthony Davis’ hand injuryShams Charania discusses the impact of the hand injury Anthony Davis suffered, likely taking him off the trade market.
Shams Charania discusses the impact of the hand injury Anthony Davis suffered, likely taking him off the trade market.
Bobby MarksJan 13, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseFollow on X
The draft-night trade that might create a Finals contender in Atlanta
Utah and Washington retain their first if it remains in the top 8
Could the Spurs get the 2-seed and a fourth-straight lottery pick?
A Trail Blazers playoff breakthrough would benefit the Bulls
Three more major storylines ahead of the trade deadline
The NBA draft is seven months away, but the league is already watching a handful of picks and protections.
For example: Though the Washington Wizards probably will select toward the end of the first round — a result of having the Oklahoma City Thunder’s pick — there is no guarantee the Wizards will keep their own. The New York Knicks will get Washington’s first-rounder if it falls outside of the top 8.
The Wizards aren’t alone though. In total, 13 teams have either traded or swapped their 2026 first-round pick. That fluidity, plus the fact that nearly half of the league’s franchises don’t control their pick, will also play a major role as the NBA trade season heats up.
The New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks combine for perhaps the most fascinating storyline to watch in the second half of the season. After a draft-night trade in the summer, Atlanta controls New Orleans’ first-rounder. Will the rebuilding Pelicans attempt a deadline move that improves or hinders the Hawks’ chances of selecting top-pick contenders such as Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer?
Not far behind is the drama unfolding between Oklahoma City and the LA Clippers, where LA’s spiral down the Western Conference standings could add another lottery pick to OKC’s treasure trove. Thanks to the Paul George trade of 2019, the Clippers owe the defending champions their unprotected 2026 first-round pick.
And the impact of potential Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis trades would be felt far beyond the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and the teams acquiring those stars.
To help understand what is at stake at the trade deadline and leading into June’s draft, here is a breakdown of the most important draft assets this year, the multiyear journeys to their current teams and the future of each pick.
Notes: As ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in December, the NBA is exploring a rule change that would limit pick protections to either top-4 or top-14. The change would help dissuade rebuilding teams from manipulating rosters at the end of the season to keep various protected picks. All stats and odds through Monday’s games.
What is the status? As predicted, New Orleans is at the bottom of the West standings after a 2-10 start led to the firing of coach Willie Green. The Pelicans won five straight games under interim coach James Borrego but have gone 1-10 since. BPI projects the Hawks to have a 52.1% chance at a top-4 pick and 14% odds of adding the No. 1 overall pick to a young core that just moved on from star guard Trae Young.
What is the status? There was a point last season where it seemed Oklahoma City would be making a lottery pick just days after hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Instead, the 76ers went 4-24 after the All-Star break, kept the pick and selected VJ Edgecombe at No. 3. This season, Philadelphia is six games above .500 and as a result, the Thunder are likely to receive a pick in the late teens or early 20s.
VJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OT
VJ Edgecombe splashes a big-time 3 for a 76ers winner in OT
With the first year of Donovan Mitchell’s rookie extension set to begin and Mike Conley a free agent, the 2021 offseason saw Utah trade Derrick Favors to Oklahoma City before the start of free agency. For Utah, the cost of unloading the $20 million still owed to Favors was sending a pick that has now become a 2026 top-8 protected first-rounder.
What is the status? It’s unlikely both New York and Oklahoma City will get these picks, but Utah is currently two games behind the Clippers for the league’s ninth-worst record. And after starting the season 3-20, Washington has won six of its past 11 games. The Wizards still have the fourth-worst record and last week’s Young trade sent out leading scorer CJ McCollum. Young, who has yet to debut for his new team, has also dealt with injuries this season.
We are nearing the four-year anniversary of the Spurs dealing Dejounte Murray to the Hawks. While Murray’s stay in Atlanta was short — he was eventually traded to New Orleans in the 2024 offseason — San Antonio continues to benefit. The Spurs received an unprotected first-rounder in 2025 (Carter Bryant at No. 14), the right to swap picks in 2026 and an unprotected first-rounder in 2027.
Give the Cavaliers credit for creativity ahead of last season’s trade deadline. Cleveland, faced with depleted draft assets from the Mitchell trade and in need of perimeter help, traded Georges Niang and Caris LeVert to Atlanta for De’Andre Hunter.
While their lone tradeable first-round pick (in 2031) wasn’t included, the Cavs did send three second-rounders (2027, 2029, 2031) and reswapped first-rounders in 2026 and 2028. The Jazz already had the right to swap picks with Cleveland from the Mitchell trade.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game Highlights
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game Highlights
It’s part of a convoluted pick swap scenario ahead of June’s draft. If those conditions are extinguished (For example, if Utah finishes with a worse record than Cleveland), Atlanta would have the right to swap first-rounders with Cleveland in 2026 and 2028. The Spurs would then have the right to swap with Atlanta as part of the Murray trade. Cleveland would swap with San Antonio.
What is the status? The Cavaliers were projected to finish among the Eastern Conference leaders, but injuries and inconsistent play has dropped the Cavs into seventh. If the standings remain unchanged, Atlanta will have the more favorable first of their own and Cleveland. The Spurs pick, projected to be late in the first round, will go to the Cavaliers.
When the Wizards traded Beal to the Phoenix Suns in 2023, Washington received four years of pick swaps (2024, 2026, 2028, 2030). A month later, Phoenix recouped some of the assets lost (two future second-round picks) by trading Orlando the less favorable swap between the Suns and Wizards’ first-rounders in 2026.
When Memphis traded Bane to the Magic two years later, the Grizzlies received the more favorable first-round swap between Phoenix and Washington (top-8 protected).
Those are a lot of moving parts. Here’s one more: In a salary-shedding move at the 2025 trade deadline, the Suns dealt Jusuf Nurkic and the least favorable swap of their own, Memphis, Orlando and Washington (top-8 protected) to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic.
What is the status? The Suns’ 2026 unprotected first-rounder was once considered a premier draft asset. But Phoenix has overachieved this season, leaving Memphis with the possibility of having the Magic’s first-rounder. That would leave the Hornets with Phoenix’s pick.
As part of a three-team trade in the 2021 offseason, Chicago received Derrick Jones Jr. and a future protected pick from the Portland Trail Blazers for Larry Nance Jr. After reaching an impasse in restricted free agency, Cleveland acquired Lauri Markkanen via sign-and-trade with Chicago. (Markkanen was traded a year later to Utah as part of the Mitchell deal, while the Trail Blazers added Nance to the deal that sent McCollum to New Orleans at the 2023 trade deadline.)
What is the status? The Trail Blazers won just nine of their first 25 games this season, as all signs pointed to them retaining their first-rounder. But since Dec. 28, Portland has gone 6-2 to move two games behind Golden State for the West’s 8-seed. If the standings hold, Portland would need to win two play-in games for Chicago to get their pick.
Besides the immediate impact on Dallas and Milwaukee, nearly a third of the league would be affected if Davis and Antetokounmpo are traded before the Feb. 5 deadline: Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Portland, San Antonio and Washington.
Prior deals have stripped both the Mavs and Bucks of future first-round picks. Outside of the 2026 draft, the Mavericks have no control of their first-round pick until 2031, while the Bucks have no control over their next five first-rounders.
For the Mavs a handful of 2024 trade deadline moves by former GM Nico Harrison helped the franchise reach the Finals but created a chain reaction of draft pick protection to watch. With Davis’ future in Dallas uncertain and as the roster shifts to build around star rookie Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks’ place in the standings will be worth watching over the next few seasons.
Shams details the impact of Anthony Davis’ hand injury
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers, Hawks, Pelicans and Wizards could be big winners if the Antetokounmpo saga ends with Milwaukee trading the two-time MVP and entering a rebuild. (The Bucks also traded three draft picks to acquire Damian Lillard, who was eventually waived and stretched, and are responsible for the guard’s $20.9 million salary each season through 2029-30.)