2026 Draft Talk

[Klomp]

Obviously way too early to really dive into this, but wanted to at least get a thread going before the season gets crazy.....

We have a first round pick this year, and it's likely ours. The pick is involved in multiple pick swaps though which makes it a bit confusing. I think this is how to break it down, with the RealGM description to follow.

SA gets higher of SA or ATL
UTA gets higher of UTA, MIN or CLE
MIN gets lesser of MIN or UTA
ATL gets higher of ATL/SA lower or lower of CLE or UTA/MIN higher
CLE gets what ATL doesn't

Via RealGM:
San Antonio will receive the more favorable of its 2026 1st round pick and Atlanta's 2026 1st round pick; Utah will receive the most favorable of its 2026 1st round pick protected for selections 9-30, Minnesota's 2026 1st round pick and Cleveland's 2026 1st round pick; Minnesota will receive the less favorable of its pick and the Utah pick if conveyable [or its pick if the Utah pick is not conveyable]; Atlanta will receive the more favorable of (i) the less favorable of its 2026 1st round pick and San Antonio's 2026 1st round pick and (ii) the less favorable of (a) the Cleveland pick and (b) the more favorable of the Utah pick if conveyable and the Minnesota pick [or (ii) the Cleveland pick if the Utah pick is not conveyable] and Cleveland will receive the less favorable of (i) and (ii) (if the Utah pick falls within its protected range and is therefore not conveyable, then Minnesota's and Cleveland's obligations to Utah will be extinguished) (via Utah's right to swap for Minnesota; via Utah's right to swap Utah or Minnesota for Cleveland; via San Antonio's right to swap for Atlanta; via Atlanta's right to swap Atlanta or San Antonio for Cleveland, Utah or Minnesota) [Atlanta-San Antonio, 6/30/2022; Minnesota-Utah, 7/6/2022; Cleveland-Utah, 9/3/2022; Atlanta-Cleveland, 2/6/2025]

We also have two 2nds
Lesser of DEN/GSW
Lesser of IND/MIA/SAS

[frankenwolf]

Great, I'm confused already. I thought we had traded all our draft picks away for Rudy Also, which AI computer is keeping track of these picks and conveyances.

[Note30]

Great, I'm confused already. I thought we had traded all our draft picks away for Rudy Also, which AI computer is keeping track of these picks and conveyances.

We might have it. We might not.

We still can't trade it till we get it, because we don't know if it's ours and because we don't have a pick next year, we can't trade it now even if we did have it.

Its not that complex.

[Klomp]

Great, I'm confused already. I thought we had traded all our draft picks away for Rudy Also, which AI computer is keeping track of these picks and conveyances.

We might have it. We might not.

We still can't trade it till we get it, because we don't know if it's ours and because we don't have a pick next year, we can't trade it now even if we did have it.

Its not that complex.

We will have a pick. A pick swap is just that, a swap.

If we won the No. 1 spot in the lottery and Utah won the No. 3, a pick swap does not mean that Utah has both the Nos. 1 and 3 picks. It means Utah would have the No. 1 pick and we would have the No. 3 pick.

But you are correct that we cannot trade it ahead of the draft without getting a guaranteed 2026 or 2027 pick in return.

[KGdaBom]

Great, I'm confused already. I thought we had traded all our draft picks away for Rudy Also, which AI computer is keeping track of these picks and conveyances.

We might have it. We might not.

We still can't trade it till we get it, because we don't know if it's ours and because we don't have a pick next year, we can't trade it now even if we did have it.

Its not that complex.

We will have a pick. A pick swap is just that, a swap.

If we won the No. 1 spot in the lottery and Utah won the No. 3, a pick swap does not mean that Utah has both the Nos. 1 and 3 picks. It means Utah would have the No. 1 pick and we would have the No. 3 pick.

But you are correct that we cannot trade it ahead of the draft without getting a guaranteed 2026 or 2027 pick in return.

Is it an unprotected pick swap in 2026? I seem to recall one pick swap is protected for #1 overall.

[younggunsmn]

Simple way to think of it is this:
Pickswap with Utah only happens if both of these things happen:
1. Minnesota and Utah both end up with picks inside the top 8 after the draft lottery.
2. Minnesota's draft position is higher than Utah's.

Any scenario in which Utah has a higher pick or either team is slated to pick outside of the top 8 ends up with the Wolves keeping their own pick.

There's also the absurdly unlikely scenario in which Minnesota, Utah, and Cleveland all pick inside the top 8 and Cleveland ends up with the highest pick of the 3 teams in the draft lottery.

[younggunsmn]

We might have it. We might not.

We still can't trade it till we get it, because we don't know if it's ours and because we don't have a pick next year, we can't trade it now even if we did have it.

Its not that complex.

We will have a pick. A pick swap is just that, a swap.

If we won the No. 1 spot in the lottery and Utah won the No. 3, a pick swap does not mean that Utah has both the Nos. 1 and 3 picks. It means Utah would have the No. 1 pick and we would have the No. 3 pick.

But you are correct that we cannot trade it ahead of the draft without getting a guaranteed 2026 or 2027 pick in return.

Is it an unprotected pick swap in 2026? I seem to recall one pick swap is protected for #1 overall.

Yes 2026 is unprotected.
2030 to SA would be the top 1 protected swap.

The only 1st round draft pick of our own we hold guaranteed rights to over the next 6 drafts is the 2028 pick.

[shangrila]

Lesser of IND/MIA/SAS

This might actually be an ok pick. Hard to tell how the Spurs will do in the bloodbath West but Indiana and Miami both look like they'll be varying levels of bad. So might be looking at a pick in the 40s. Not great but better than the other one we have.

And as we've seen, the 2nd in particular is so absurdly agent driven that it doesn't really matter where we pick; if someone wants to go somewhere it'll happen.

[shangrila]

It's too early to pick prospects but I'd say we could use a longterm 3/4 forward and a 1/2 combo guard.

From guys from last year, Lendeborg fits the former and Sergio De Larrea the latter

[Klomp]

Lesser of IND/MIA/SAS

This might actually be an ok pick. Hard to tell how the Spurs will do in the bloodbath West but Indiana and Miami both look like they'll be varying levels of bad. So might be looking at a pick in the 40s. Not great but better than the other one we have.

And as we've seen, the 2nd in particular is so absurdly agent driven that it doesn't really matter where we pick; if someone wants to go somewhere it'll happen.

I was thinking that too, as I was putting the list together. When we got it, the pick didn't seem like much....but Haliburton's injury could change that. The pick should be in the mid-40s, if I had to guess.