R2 of the 2026 Draft....

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https://nbadraftroom.com/2026-2nd-round/ shows us with our own high R2 pick, but it's almost entirely certain that it will go the Knicks. That same page shows us with no other R2 picks.

OTOH, https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/2026-nba-mock-draft-v2 shows us with the #41 pick (from Chicago), the #46 pick (from Phoenix), the #53 pick (from Minny), & the #60 pick (from OKC).

Is noceilings have it right? Do we really have numbers 41, 46, 53, & 60?

(Btw, if we really do have 4 (or even 3) R2 picks in this deep draft, there's plenty to discuss! )

[closg00]

You didn’t name it as such, but I am going to include our 30th pick in this thread, still researching….

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1. Could we, should we, would we use one or more of those 4 picks to move up from #30?
2. OTOH, whom would/should we pick at those spots?

Your thoughts, please....

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Now, given that we also have 2 R1 picks, I can't imagine we'll add 6 rookies(!).

Bur, if we pick 1 or more, how about...

Cayden Boozer at 41 or 46? &/or Michael Ruzic? &/or Bogoljub Marković?

Alex Condon at 41 or 46? & &/or Joshua Jefferson?

Alex Karaban at 53?
Otega Oweh at 53 or 60?
Quadir Copeland at 60?

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OTOH, if we use 1 or more of these picks to trade up from 30 to a higher pick in R1, who do you think would be a likely trade partner?

Edit: suppose we could get Tounde Yessoufou or Karim Lopez for #30 plus 3 of the R2 picks? Somehow....

[nate33]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline aftern we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

[payitforward]

In which case, it might be Peterson or Dybantsa plus Yessoufou plus Cayden Boozer plus Oweh with the remaining R2 pick. & Quadir Copeland undrafted

That'd be a productive draft!

[payitforward]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline after we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

To be sure, but "...turn... SRPs into FRPs" was more or less what interested me about our 4-pick R2 plethora. Especially since it seems impractical to add 6 rookies!

(never thought you'd read that remark from me!)

[nate33]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline after we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

To be sure, but "...turn... SRPs into FRPs" was more or less what interested me about our 4-pick R2 plethora. Especially since it seems impractical to add 6 rookies!

(never thought you'd read that remark from me!)

Yeah. They have to be thinking about consolidation trades.

We have 6 recent FRPs: Bilal, Sarr, Carrington, George, Tre, Riley.
We have 2 other FRPs by others who are under contract next year: Whitmore and AJ.
We'll have at least 2 2026 FRPs
We have two good cheap vets under contract in: Champagnie and Kispert
We will probably try and retain Bagley

That's already 13 guys before we even talk about other young players like Watkins and Vukcevic. And there is likely to be at least one if not two or three big contract vets to get us up to the cap floor.

There isn't much room for even 1 SRP much less 3 or 4.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline after we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

To be sure, but "...turn... SRPs into FRPs" was more or less what interested me about our 4-pick R2 plethora. Especially since it seems impractical to add 6 rookies!

(never thought you'd read that remark from me!)

Good idea PIF!

According to Bleacher Report we have 4 picks in the 2nd round, 42, 44, 53, 60.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Who knows how many of these picks we'll keep or use. Here are just a handful of players I like that are projected in that 42-60 range, focusing on players who are seniors and will remain in the draft, and players that address roles and areas of need for this team, add depth, toughness, IQ, and leadership...


Joshua Jefferson 6-9 PF/C

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Zuby Ejiofor 6-9 PF/C

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Milos Uzan 6-4 PG

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Jaden Bradley 6-3 PG

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Quadir Copeland 6-6 PG

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So just to show an example, a pretty ideal draft IMO that's realistic would look something like this...

Top pick Caleb Wilson 6-10 PF
#30 Amari Allen 6-8 G/F
#44 Zuby Ejiofor 6-9 PF/C
#53 Jaden Bradley 6-3 PG
#60 Quadir Copeland 6-6 PG

Current roster spots I'd be looking to move on from include Gil, Vukcevic, AJ Johnson, Cooper, McCollum, Middleton, Whitmore, Branham

Leaving a roster:

Sarr
Bagley
Ejiofor (2-way)
Wilson
Champagnie
Coulibaly
Watkins
Riley
Allen
Kyshawn
Kispert
Tre
Bub
Copeland (2-way)
Bradley (2-way)

Leaves 3 roster spots for free agents or bring back Middleton/McCollum.

[dckingsfan]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline after we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

To be sure, but "...turn... SRPs into FRPs" was more or less what interested me about our 4-pick R2 plethora. Especially since it seems impractical to add 6 rookies!

(never thought you'd read that remark from me!)

I think it is going to be interesting to see what happens with the 30th and SRPs. It is "almost" more interesting than our top pick (which is likely a top 6 and less variables involved).

The picks and our open cap space is going to be really interesting. Almost like the thread should be 30th, SRPs and open 2026-2027 cap space.

[dckingsfan]

It's really not worth spending too much time on this right now. I suspect the makeup of our second round pick war chest might change substantially at the Trade Deadline after we make deals to turn cap room and SRP's into FRP's

To be sure, but "...turn... SRPs into FRPs" was more or less what interested me about our 4-pick R2 plethora. Especially since it seems impractical to add 6 rookies!

(never thought you'd read that remark from me!)

Yeah. They have to be thinking about consolidation trades.

We have 6 recent FRPs: Bilal, Sarr, Carrington, George, Tre, Riley.
We have 2 other FRPs by others who are under contract next year: Whitmore and AJ.
We'll have at least 2 2026 FRPs
We have two good cheap vets under contract in: Champagnie and Kispert
We will probably try and retain Bagley

That's already 13 guys before we even talk about other young players like Watkins and Vukcevic. And there is likely to be at least one if not two or three big contract vets to get us up to the cap floor.

There isn't much room for even 1 SRP much less 3 or 4.

This is a really good way to look at it. And if I might add:

Code: Select all

Kispert     26   $13,975,000
Sarr        20   $12,370,680
Bilal       21    $9,240,012
Tre         19    $8,649,600
Cam         21    $5,458,310
Bub         20    $4,900,560
Riley       19    $3,688,320
AJ          21    $3,237,120
George      22    $3,108,000
Champagnie  24    $2,667,944
Total            $67,295,546

So, in addition to the points you make, we have to make a trade or acquire FAs just to get to the minimum salary (as you mention).

What does this mean? We have 10 under contract. Two FRPs. 4 SRPs. We would likely want to keep Bagley. And we need about $55M to get to the NBA minimum team salary. Naturally we can jettison our current two-way players and use 3 of them on the SRPs.

This is going to be absolutely fascinating. You look at other teams that could "work" with us and that would be "someone" like Sacramento if they wanted to move Sabonis and would be willing to do so for something reasonable (again, just an example).

[doclinkin]

Is noceilings have it right? Do we really have numbers 41, 46, 53, & 60?

According to Bleacher Report we have 4 picks in the 2nd round, 42, 44, 53, 60.

We don’t have the Bulls pick (early 40’s right now). We lost that in the Whitmore trade.

So: only 3 picks. Later in the 2nd round. Less exciting.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Is noceilings have it right? Do we really have numbers 41, 46, 53, & 60?

According to Bleacher Report we have 4 picks in the 2nd round, 42, 44, 53, 60.

We don’t have the Bulls pick (early 40’s right now). We lost that in the Whitmore trade.

So: only 3 picks. Later in the 2nd round. Less exciting.

What's also interesting is the Wizards have 4 2nd round picks in '27, and then 2 2nds in '28 and 2 1sts and 2 2nds in '29.

With the repercussions of NIL progressing the buildup of talent reaching a point of maxed expiring college eligibility, the pool of players in the 2nd round with high talent levels and increased experience providing both a readiness to contribute quickly without a lot of development needed while still containing the top end talent level to contribute long-term, these 2nd round picks will become more valuable as tools for roster building (especially for contending teams), as well as improved value as assets for trade.

That said, it will be interesting to see if Dawkins can parlay any of these current or future 2nd rounders into another 1st in this year's draft.

If we could add another pick in the mid 1st round and get a PG there like Wagler, and then use #30 on a big like Veesaar, that would be a great draft. Consolidation of our current allotment of 5 picks into 3 picks in the 1st round similar to what we had in 2024.

[payitforward]

Somewhere, Doc asked what the total Pelton value was of our combined 4 R2 picks.

The answer is 14.25 -- which is Pelton's value for the #28 pick!

Though it would be nice to have both 30 & 28 that way, no doubt it would be impractical to do a direct trade of all 4 R2 picks --

But, other pretty good deals -- maybe even better overall -- should be possible:

1. For starters, I bet we could buy back our high R2 pick from the Knicks using #41 & #46.

2. Keeping in mind that we gave #50 to move from #26 to #24 & grab Kyshawn, maybe #53 would suffice to move us from #30 to #28? If there's someone we prize a lot at that spot?

We'd still have #60, which we could use on Quadir Copeland if he's still on the board.

Pretty good, huh? Especially once we win the lottery!

[payitforward]

As nate has pointed out, all this is fan-tasy!

Still... I'd love to come away with Joshua Jefferson, Bruce Thornton, & Copeland. In addition to one of the top 3-4 picks, of course. That'd be a draft, huh?

[doclinkin]

Nvm

[payitforward]

Is noceilings have it right? Do we really have numbers 41, 46, 53, & 60?

According to Bleacher Report we have 4 picks in the 2nd round, 42, 44, 53, 60.

We don’t have the Bulls pick (early 40’s right now). We lost that in the Whitmore trade.

So: only 3 picks. Later in the 2nd round. Less exciting.

Aaaaarrghh -- I see this now?

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Looking through the Bleacher Report mock, this dude's profile caught my interest, projected at 43.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft


Malik Reneau - Senior at Miami

Position: PF | Size: 6'9", 238 lbs | Age: 22
Pro Comp: Collin Murray-Boyles

Malik Reneau is having a breakout year, showing improved shooting and a more modernized offensive game.

He's still at his best using his strength and scoring instincts off cuts, rolls and post-ups. But the ability to make threes and face up defenders has turned him into a 20.2-point-per-game scorer and NBA prospect.

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