New Orleans traded four second-rounders and Devonte’ Graham to San Antonio for Josh Richardson. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
While the minutes ticked away before the NBA’s annual trade deadline last Thursday, team after team landed player after player for second-round pick after second-round pick.
A handful of transactions snowballed into three- and four-team deals, but the Los Angeles Clippers effectively landed Bones Hyland from the Denver Nuggets for two second-rounders. The Memphis Grizzlies sent out three-second rounders in exchange for Clippers guard Luke Kennard. New Orleans traded four second-rounders and Devonte’ Graham to San Antonio for Josh Richardson. And the Hawks essentially shipped five second-rounders to Golden State for Saddiq Bey, only for the Warriors to reroute that number of picks to Portland and reunite with Gary Payton II. The list goes on, if you want to search RealGM’s transaction log.
In total, 71 second-round picks changed teams from Jan. 1 until the buzzer sounded at 3 p.m. ET on deadline day. Only 29 seconds were dealt during that window in 2022, 32 in 2021, 17 in 2020 and 32 in 2019 — which includes conditional picks, plus selections that allow teams to choose between the more favorable of two or three picks.
Not every second-round selection is created equal. Not every first-round pick is created equal. But this bona fide arms race to compete for the championship, all without a clear-cut title favorite, has left contenders with little first-round capital to trade, despite greater motivation than ever to improve. Contenders are selling everything short of their houses and all their furniture that’s not screwed to the floor. “You can’t trade first-round picks if you don’t have first-round picks to trade,” an Eastern Conference analytics staffer said. The Lakers and Bucks emptied the cupboards to New Orleans to land Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, respectively. The Thunder control the Rockets’ picks, Houston controls the Nets’ picks and Brooklyn now controls the Suns’ picks after dealing Kevin Durant for four unprotected first-rounders between 2023-29. “Any time…
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