The NBA draft for 2026 featured yet another flurry of swaps and trades over two rounds and two nights that started before the first name was announced and involved the last player selected.
This draft started quietly Tuesday night with teams selecting players and keeping them at least through the first 12 spots. The trades started at No. 13 involving the teams that were part of the massive swap agreed to on Monday involving Giannis Antetokounmpo, the first of nine involving 10 players over the final 18 selections.
Keeping up with the trades Wednesday night proved far more challenging with the draft rights of 17 players swapped and picks dealt more than once during the second round in deals that will not be official until July 6.
A look at the players picked and traded in this draft:
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Round 1
No. 13: F Nate Ament, announced to Miami with rights quickly sent to Milwaukee.
No. 16: G Bennett Stirtz, selected by Memphis with rights swapped to Oklahoma City for No. 17 and two second-round selections.
No. 17: G Ebuka Okorie, slot held by Oklahoma City sent to Memphis in trade for Stirtz’s rights.
No. 21: F Karim Lopez, announced to Detroit with rights sent to Memphis along with three first-round selections for Okorie’s rights.
No. 24: G Cameron Carr, New York Knicks sent his rights to the Los Angeles Lakers.
No. 25: F Sergio De Larrea, the Lakers’ pick sent to the Knicks with his rights traded to Dallas.
No. 26: C Tarris Reed Jr., Denver traded his rights to San Antonio.
No. 28: F Joshua Jefferson, Minnesota traded this slot to Brooklyn as part of the Julius Randle trade as the Nets moved up five spots.
No. 29: F Alex Karaban, Cleveland moved back to No. 34 in this draft, sending Karaban’s rights to Sacramento.
No. 30: F Koa Peat, the Knicks traded out of the first round entirely sending the Dallas pick to Phoenix along with the rights to the player from the Phoenix-area who played for Arizona.
Round 2
No. 31: G Bruce Thornton, Knicks traded the selection and No. 55 to Houston to start the second night of the draft sliding back to No. 39 while moving up to No. 53 and a second-round pick in 2029.
No. 33: G Isaiah Evans, Minnesota acquired this spot in the trade that sent Julius Randle to Brooklyn.
No. 34: G Meleek Thomas, Sacramento sent this deal to Cleveland as part of Tuesday night’s swap of picks.
No. 35: F Trevon Brazile, the Spurs swapped this selection to Denver as part of the trade involving the 26th pick overall.
No. 37: G Ryan Conwell, Oklahoma City picked him only to quickly send his rights to Miami.
No. 38: G Braden Smith, selected by Chicago in a deal sending his rights to Indiana.
No. 39: G Jack Kayil, Houston packaged this pick to the Knicks in the deal moving the Rockets up to No. 31.
No. 41: G Otega Oweh, Miami swapped Oweh’s rights to Oklahoma City for Conwell’s.
No. 46: F Felix Okpara, Orlando selected him and sent his rights to Washington.
No. 47: F Tyler Nickel, Phoenix included this slot in the deal for Peat’s rights from the Knicks.
No. 51: F Izaiyah Nelson, Washington sent Nelson’s rights and No. 60 to Orlando for Okpara’s rights.
No. 52: C Henri Veesaar, the Los Angeles Clippers sent his rights to Atlanta with the Hawks moving up five spots.
No. 53: C Ugonna Onyenso, the second selection in this draft acquired by the Knicks from Houston.
No. 55: F Nick Martinelli, Houston sent the rights to this pick announced as going to the Knicks from the teams’ earlier swap to the Clippers.
No. 56: G Vsevolod Ishchenko, Chicago sent this selection to the Los Angeles Lakers who then swapped the rights to Dallas.
No. 57: F Narcisse Ngoy, Atlanta sent these rights to the Clippers in the deal for Veesaar’s rights.
No. 60: F Malique Lewis, Milwaukee acquired this slot in a deal from Orlando after the Magic added this selection in the Okpara trade.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba