2026 NBA Draft

Traded Second-Round Picks For 2026 NBA Draft

We’re using the space below to keep tabs on each NBA team’s second round pick for 2026, continually updating it as necessary throughout the year. Our list of traded first-round picks for 2026 can be found right here.

We’ve listed all 30 teams here, so even if a team hasn’t traded its second round pick, that will be noted. We’ll also provide details on protections for each traded pick, including what happens to the pick in 2027 if it doesn’t change hands in 2026.

Here’s the full breakdown on the status of each 2026 second-round pick:


Atlantic

  • Boston Celtics: Traded to Hawks or Grizzlies.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Brooklyn Nets: Traded to Heat (top-55 protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Nets will keep it and their obligation to the Heat will be extinguished.
  • New York Knicks: Possibly traded to Celtics or Wizards.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Philadelphia 76ers: Traded to Thunder, Suns, or Wizards.
    • The Thunder will receive the most favorable pick of the Sixers’, Mavericks, and Thunder’s second-rounders; the Suns will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Wizards will receive the least favorable.
  • Toronto Raptors: Traded to Pacers (top-55 protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Raptors will keep it and their obligation to the Pacers will be extinguished.

Central

  • Chicago Bulls: Traded to Rockets.
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: Own pick.
  • Detroit Pistons: Traded to Celtics, Magic, or Knicks.
    • The Celtics will receive the most favorable pick of the Pistons’, Bucks’, and Magic’s second-rounders; the Magic will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Knicks will receive the least favorable.
  • Indiana Pacers: Traded to Hawks, Grizzlies, Spurs, Timberwolves, or Nets.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Milwaukee Bucks: Traded to Celtics, Magic, or Knicks.
    • The Celtics will receive the most favorable pick of the Pistons’, Bucks’, and Magic’s second-rounders; the Magic will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Knicks will receive the least favorable.

Southeast

  • Atlanta Hawks: Traded to Nets.
  • Charlotte Hornets: Traded to Kings or Pistons.
    • The Kings will receive this pick if it lands between 31-55; the Pistons will receive if it lands between 56-60. The Hornets’ obligation to whichever team doesn’t receive the pick will be extinguished.
  • Miami Heat: Traded to Hawks, Grizzlies, Spurs, Timberwolves, or Nets.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Orlando Magic: Possibly traded to Celtics or Knicks.
    • The Celtics will receive the most favorable pick of the Pistons’, Bucks’, and Magic’s second-rounders; the Magic will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Knicks will receive the least favorable.
  • Washington Wizards: Own pick.
    • If the Wizards’ first-round pick lands in the top eight, the Wizards would send the Knicks their second-rounder.

Northwest

  • Denver Nuggets: Traded to Hornets or Timberwolves.
    • The Hornets will receive the most favorable pick of the Nuggets’ and Warriors’ second-rounders; the Timberwolves will receive the least favorable of the two.
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: Traded to Celtics, Knicks, or Wizards.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: Own pick.
    • The Thunder have the ability to swap their own pick for the Sixers’ or Mavericks’ second-rounder. The Thunder will receive the most favorable pick of the Sixers’, Mavericks, and Thunder’s second-rounders; the Suns will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Wizards will receive the least favorable.
  • Portland Trail Blazers: Traded to Celtics, Spurs, or Wizards.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Utah Jazz: Traded to Spurs or Bucks.
    • The Spurs will receive this pick if it lands between 31-55; the Bucks will receive if it lands between 56-60. The Jazz’s obligation to whichever team doesn’t receive the pick will be extinguished.

Pacific

  • Golden State Warriors: Traded to Hornets or Timberwolves.
    • The Hornets will receive the most favorable pick of the Nuggets’ and Warriors’ second-rounders; the Timberwolves will receive the least favorable of the two.
  • Los Angeles Clippers: Traded to Nets or Grizzlies.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Los Angeles Lakers: Traded to Raptors.
  • Phoenix Suns: Traded to Wizards.
  • Sacramento Kings: Own pick.

Southwest

  • Dallas Mavericks: Traded to Thunder, Suns, or Wizards.
    • The Thunder will receive the most favorable pick of the Sixers’, Mavericks, and Thunder’s second-rounders; the Suns will receive the second-most favorable of the three; the Wizards will receive the least favorable.
  • Houston Rockets: Own pick.
    • If the Rockets’ first-round pick lands in the top four, the Rockets would send the Thunder their second-rounder.
  • Memphis Grizzlies: Traded to Clippers or Trail Blazers.
    • The Clippers will receive this pick if it lands between 31-42; the Trail Blazers will receive if it lands between 43-60. The Grizzlies’ obligation to whichever team doesn’t receive the pick will be extinguished.
  • New Orleans Pelicans: Traded to Celtics, Spurs, or Wizards.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • San Antonio Spurs: Possibly traded to Timberwolves.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.

Here are the details on how the Knicks‘, Timberwolves‘, Trail Blazers‘, and Pelicans‘ second-round picks will be distributed:

The Celtics will receive the most favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Knicks’ second-round pick.
  2. The Timberwolves’ second-round pick.
  3. The Trail Blazers’ second-round pick.
  4. The Pelicans’ second-round pick.

The Knicks will receive the least favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Knicks’ second-round pick.
  2. The Timberwolves’ second-round pick.

The Spurs will receive the least favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Trail Blazers’ second-round pick.
  2. The Pelicans’ second-round pick.

The Wizards will receive the least favorable of the following picks:

  1. The most favorable of the Knicks’ and Timberwolves’ second-round picks.
  2. The most favorable of the Trail Blazers’ and Pelicans’ second-round picks.

Here are the details on how the Celtics‘, Pacers‘, Heat‘s, and Clippers‘, and Spurs‘ second-round picks will be distributed:

The Grizzlies will receive the most favorable of the following picks, while the Nets will receive the least favorable:

  1. The Clippers’ second-round pick.
  2. The most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s second-round picks.

The Spurs will receive the most favorable of the following picks, while the Timberwolves will receive the least favorable:

  1. The Spurs’ second-round pick.
  2. The least favorable of the Pacers’ and Heat’s second-round picks.

The Hawks will receive the least favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Celtics’ second-round pick.
  2. The most favorable of the Pacers’ and Heat’s second-round picks.

Information from RealGM was used in the creation of this post.

And-Ones: Carmelo, Howard, 2026 Draft, Raveling, Armani

Ahead of Carmelo Anthony‘s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, Dave McMenamin of ESPN revisits the forward’s impressive career at the college, NBA, and international levels, laying out why he was a “no-brainer” choice to make the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Zach Kram makes a similar case for another of this weekend’s inductees, detailing why center Dwight Howard, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is a worthy first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. In Kram’s view, Howard has actually become somewhat underrated, since his drop-off in production during his 30s made it easy to forgot how high his peaks were in his prime.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • With the start of the 2025/26 college basketball season around the corner, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his 2026 NBA mock draft, running through all 60 hypothetical picks, from Kansas guard Darryn Peterson at No. 1 to Connecticut big man Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 60.
  • After longtime college basketball coach and Nike sports marketing director George Raveling died on Monday at age 88, NBA commissioner Adam Silver put out a statement lauding Raveling for his “influence on the game of basketball at every level” and sending condolences to his family and friends (Twitter link).
  • Giorgio Armani passed away on Thursday at the age of 91, as Eurohoops relays. While he’s more known for his role in the fashion world than for his contributions to basketball, Armani had owned the EuroLeague club Olimpia Milano since 2008. In a statement issued on Thursday, the EuroLeague credited the Italian fashion designer for “ushering in a new golden era” for Olimpia Milano during his tenure as owner, which included six Italian League championships and the team’s first EuroLeague Final Four appearances in nearly three decades.

Traded First-Round Picks For 2026 NBA Draft

The 2026 NBA draft is still nearly 10 months away, but a number of teams have already traded away their first-round picks for ’26, and more clubs may do so before this season’s trade deadline.

We’ll use the space below to keep tabs on each team’s first-round pick for 2026, continually updating it as necessary throughout the year.

We’ve listed all 30 teams here, so even if a team hasn’t traded its first-round pick, that will be noted. We’ll also provide details on the protections for each traded pick, including what happens to the pick in 2027 if it doesn’t change hands in 2026.

Here’s the full breakdown on the status of each 2026 first-round pick:


Note: Teams marked with an asterisk (*) have traded away their 2027 first-round pick (either unprotected or with protection) and can’t freely trade away their 2026 first-rounder due to the Stepien Rule.

Atlantic

  • Boston Celtics: Own pick.
  • Brooklyn Nets: Own pick.
  • New York Knicks (*): Own pick.
  • Philadelphia 76ers: Traded to Thunder (top-four protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Sixers would instead owe the Thunder their 2027 first-round pick (top-four protected).
  • Toronto Raptors: Own pick.

Central

  • Chicago Bulls: Own pick.
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (*): Traded swap rights to Jazz and Hawks.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Detroit Pistons: Own pick.
  • Indiana Pacers: Own pick.
  • Milwaukee Bucks (*): Traded swap rights to Hawks.
    • The Hawks will receive the most favorable pick of the Bucks and Pelicans’ first-rounders; the Bucks will receive the least favorable of the two.

Southeast

  • Atlanta Hawks (*): Traded swap rights to Spurs.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Charlotte Hornets: Own pick.
  • Miami Heat (*): Own pick.
  • Orlando Magic: Traded to Grizzlies or Hornets.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Washington Wizards: Traded to Knicks (top-eight protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Wizards would instead send the Knicks their 2026 second-round pick and 2027 second-round pick, and Washington would have swap rights on its pick (details outlined at bottom of article).

Northwest

  • Denver Nuggets (*): Own pick.
  • Minnesota Timberwolves (*): Traded swap rights to Jazz.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: Own pick.
  • Portland Trail Blazers: Traded to Bulls (top-14 protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Trail Blazers would instead owe the Bulls their 2027 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
  • Utah Jazz: Traded to Thunder (top-eight protected).
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Jazz’s obligation to the Thunder would be extinguished and Utah would have swap rights on its pick (details outlined at bottom of article).

Pacific

  • Golden State Warriors: Own pick.
  • Los Angeles Clippers: Traded to Thunder or Wizards.
    • The Thunder will receive the two most favorable picks of their own, the Rockets’ (top-four protected), and the Clippers’ first-rounders. The Wizards will receive the least favorable of the three.
  • Los Angeles Lakers (*): Own pick.
  • Phoenix Suns (*): Traded to Wizards, Grizzlies, or Hornets.
    • Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • Sacramento Kings: Own pick.

Southwest

  • Dallas Mavericks (*): Own pick.
  • Houston Rockets: Traded to Thunder or Wizards (top-four protected).
    • The Thunder will receive the two most favorable picks of their own, the Rockets’ (top-four protected), and the Clippers’ first-rounders. The Wizards will receive the least favorable of the three.
    • If this pick lands in its protected range, the Rockets would instead send the Thunder their 2026 second-round pick and Oklahoma City would only receive one of the above picks instead of two.
  • Memphis Grizzlies: Own pick.
    • The Grizzlies have swap rights on their pick. Details outlined at bottom of article.
  • New Orleans Pelicans: Traded to Hawks or Bucks.
    • The Hawks will receive the most favorable pick of the Bucks and Pelicans’ first-rounders; the Bucks will receive the least favorable of the two.
  • San Antonio Spurs: Own pick.
    • The Spurs have swap rights on their pick. Details outlined at bottom of article.

A series of 2026 first-round picks are tied up in a pair of convoluted trade/swap scenarios. The first of those situations involves the Spurs‘, Hawks‘, Jazz‘s, Timberwolves‘ and Cavaliers‘ first-rounders, while the second involves the Suns‘, Wizards‘, Magic‘s, and Grizzlies‘ picks.

Here are the details on how the first set of picks will be distributed:

The Spurs will receive the most favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Spurs’ own first-round pick.
  2. The Hawks’ first-round pick.

The Jazz will receive the most favorable of the following picks if their own first-rounder is in the top eight:

  1. The Jazz’s own first-round pick.
  2. The Timberwolves’ first-round pick.
  3. The Cavaliers’ first-round pick.

The Timberwolves will receive the least favorable of the following picks:

  1. The Timberwolves’ own first-round pick.
  2. The Jazz’s first-round pick (if in the top eight).

The Hawks will receive the most favorable of the following picks, while the Cavaliers will receive the least favorable:

  1. The least favorable of the Hawks’ own first-round pick and the Spurs’ first-round pick.
  2. The least favorable of the Cavaliers’ first-round pick and either the Jazz’s first-round pick (if in the top eight) and the Timberwolves’ first-round pick (whichever is most favorable).

If the Jazz’s pick lands outside the top eight, it will be sent to the Thunder, and the Timberwolves will keep their own first-round pick. In that scenario, the Jazz/Timberwolves picks would not be in play for the Hawks and Cavaliers — and Utah wouldn’t control a first-rounder.


Here are the details on how the second set of picks will be distributed:

The Wizards will receive the most favorable of the following picks if their own first-rounder is in the top eight:

  1. The Wizards’ own first-round pick.
  2. The Suns’ first-round pick.

The Grizzlies will receive the two most favorable of the following picks, while the Hornets will receive the least favorable:

  1. The Grizzlies’ own first-round pick.
  2. The Magic’s first-round pick.
  3. The least favorable of the Wizards’ first-round pick (if in the top eight) and the Suns’ first-round pick.

If the Wizards’ pick lands outside the top eight, it will be sent to the Knicks. In that scenario, the Wizards pick wouldn’t be in play for the Grizzlies and Hornets — and Washington wouldn’t control a first-rounder.


Information from RealGM was used in the creation of this post.

And-Ones: Free Agents, 2026 Draft, Next Summer, 2024 Re-Draft

While most of the top free agents of the summer class of 2025 have either re-signed or joined new teams, there are still some potential impact role players on the market outside of the well-reported restricted free agent group.

Al Horford, Russell Westbrook and Amir Coffey sit atop Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report‘s list of best-available low-cost free agents. Horford has been heavily linked to the Warriors (as have Pincus’s fifth- and sixth-ranked free agents in Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton) and reporting has strongly suggested he’ll ultimately end up there once the Jonathan Kuminga situation is resolved.

Westbrook and the Kings have been frequently connected too, but reporting has suggested Sacramento might not have a spot for the former MVP if Malik Monk and/or Devin Carter aren’t traded, so it’s unclear where Westbrook would end up if the Kings decide they don’t have room in their backcourt.

As for Coffey and Pincus’s No. 4-ranked player Ben Simmons, there have been fewer definitive reports linking them to one team or another. Simmons has been connected to the Kings, Suns, Knicks and Celtics, but there hasn’t been much media traction involving Coffey.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Ahead of the 2025/26 collegiate season, the 2026 NBA draft class looks top-heavy, with three players in A.J. Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson who are in contention to be selected No. 1 overall, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report writes. Karim Lopez of the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers is Wasserman’s highest-ranked international prospect in the August update of his top-50 list, while Jayden Quaintance of Kentucky is the highest-ranked returning player (No. 4 overall) after he started 24 games for Arizona State in his age-17 season.
  • Looking ahead to next offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks details the headlines that should dominate the news cycle, including the futures of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. James will be an unrestricted free agent next year, and it’s unclear whether he will finish his career with the Lakers. Meanwhile, Curry, Jokic and Antetokounmpo could all be free agents in 2027 if they don’t sign extensions before then.
  • One year removed from the 2024 draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic re-drafted his top 20 from last year’s rookies. Zaccharie Risacher had a strong rookie season, but slipped from No. 1 to 2 in Vecenie’s re-draft, with 2024/25 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle overtaking him for the top slot. Jared McCain (from No. 16 to No. 3) and Jaylen Wells (from No. 39 to No. 9) are the biggest risers in the top 10, while Ajay Mitchell jumped from No. 38 to No. 12.

Potential 2026 First-Round Pick Alijah Arenas Could Miss Freshman Season With Knee Injury

USC’s Alijah Arenas, one of the nation’s top incoming freshmen and a potential first-round pick in the 2026 draft, has suffered a torn meniscus that could sideline him for the entire season, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

The school announced Wednesday that Arenas will undergo surgery and is projected to miss six to eight months, writes Jeff Borzello of ESPN. A six-month recovery time would have him back in late January, while eight months would push him to the start of the NCAA Tournament.

“Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to supporting him during this process.”

It’s a brutal setback for Arenas, who was only recently able to resume practicing after recovering from an April car accident that left him hospitalized for a week. According to Borzello, Arenas crashed into a tree after losing control of his Tesla Cybertruck. The vehicle caught on fire, but he was able to escape with help from bystanders after breaking the driver’s side window.

Arenas, the son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas, was placed in an induced coma because of the amount of smoke he inhaled. Otherwise, he didn’t suffer any significant injuries from the accident.

Arenas was a five-star recruit who reclassified so he could attend college a year early. The 6’6″ shooting guard was 13th on ESPN’s recruiting rankings for this year’s class.

And-Ones: Kokoskov, Luxury Tax Payments, 2026 Mock, Injuries, NBA TV

Hawks assistant Igor Kokoskov is leaving his position to become head coach of Turkish League team Anadolu Efes, according to Eurohoops.net. Kokoskov has signed a three-year contract.

Kokoskov has been an assistant in the NBA for 19 years, along with a stint as the head coach of the Suns during the 2018/19 season. He was also a head coach in the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce during the 2020/21 season.

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

  • How much did NBA teams who stayed below the luxury tax get rewarded for keeping their salaries below the line? Non-tax teams collected $11,530,235 from the taxpaying clubs, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets.
  • Is it too early to talk about the 2026 draft class? Not for draft experts like The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. He’s posted his first 2026 mock with Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and BYU wing A.J. Dybantsa occupying the top three spots.
  • Thunder executive Sam Presti believes there’s a direct correlation between the number of games played and injuries. Presti mentioned the NBA’s 65-game rule to qualify for certain awards, the condensed schedule due to the in-season tournament and the recent uptick in physicality allowed by the league, according to an ESPN story.“I think the one thing we have to do is get away from the defensive nature of trying to convince people, players and teams that there’s no connection between the loads and the injuries,” Presti said. “I think it’s — we’re kind of bordering on a level of like, it’s almost insulting.”
  • TNT Sports will cease production efforts on NBA TV at the end of the league’s calendar year in September, according to the Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp.  The league will begin operating the network starting Oct. 1. It will continue to carry some regular-season games during the 2025/26 season, plus WNBA, G League and other games from international leagues. One key element is that there will be far fewer live games on NBA TV once the new media-rights deal kicks in this fall with ESPN/ABC, NBC Sports and Prime Video, Karp adds.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Grades, 2026 Class, France, Gabriel

Five teams earned ‘A’ grades on Sam Vecenie’s post-draft report card for The Athletic, including four teams who had picks in the top six. The fifth team to earn an A was the Hawks, primarily for landing an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans to drop 10 spots in the middle of the first round.

Another 18 teams earned ‘B-‘ to ‘B+’ grades, meaning they mostly met or exceeded the value expected at their respective draft slots. Multiple clubs who only had second-round picks, like the Cavaliers and Warriors, found themselves in this tier. A few teams who ended up landing players who slid from pre-draft projections also ended up in this group, with the Jazz getting Ace Bailey at No. 5, the Heat landing Kasparas Jakucionis at No. 20 and the Thunder getting Thomas Sorber at No. 15.

That left five teams to earn a mark of ‘C’ or lower from Vecenie (Houston and Denver did not make any selections). The Pelicans were marked down for the haul they gave up to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 and select Derik Queen. The Nets were questioned for making three selections – Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf – with positional overlap, while the Knicks earned a middling grade for selecting a stash player who may not make it to the league.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The 2026 draft looks to be loaded on paper, with a strong blend of returners who would have been drafted this year and high-level incoming talent. In ESPN’s first full 2026 mock draft, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have Darryn Peterson of Kansas as the No. 1 overall pick. A.J. Dybantsa (BYU), Cameron Boozer (Duke), Nate Ament (Tennessee) and Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville) round out their top five. Among returning college players, Jayden Quaintance (No. 6, Kentucky) and Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 14, Michigan) are the highest-ranking.
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report‘s top three looks identical to ESPN’s, but he has Arizona’s Koa Peat at No. 4 in his first 2026 mock draft. Another significant difference between the two boards is Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou‘s spot — Wasserman has him at No. 6, but ESPN places him at No. 23.
  • France has named its 18-man preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2025, per the team (Twitter link). Bilal Coulibaly, Moussa Diabate, Ousmane Dieng, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Guerschon Yabusele are the current NBA players on the roster. Former NBAers on the team include Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntilikina and Theo Maledon, among others.
  • Former NBA player Wenyen Gabriel is leaving Panathinaikos to sign with Bayern Munich in Germany, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gabriel played his first EuroLeague season in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points per game, and will remain in the league by signing with Bayern. The 6’9″ big man played 150 NBA games from 2019-24 across stints with the Lakers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Kings and others. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG for his career.

Pelicans, Pacers Complete Draft-Pick Swap

2:23 pm: The trade is official, the Pelicans confirmed in a press release.


12:51 pm: The Pelicans and Pacers have agreed to a trade, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports (via Twitter) that Indiana is sending the No. 23 overall pick in this year’s draft to New Orleans, along with the draft rights to 2023 second-round pick Mojave King.

In exchange, the Pelicans will trade Indiana’s 2026 first-round pick back to the Pacers. That pick, which was originally sent to Toronto with top-four protection as part of the Pascal Siakam blockbuster at the 2024 deadline, was flipped to New Orleans at the 2025 deadline in the Brandon Ingram deal.

The deal will give the Pelicans some extra ammunition in this year’s draft. New Orleans also controls the No. 7 overall pick but previously traded away its second-rounder. The Pelicans will now have an opportunity to add two of the top 23 players from the 2025 draft pool, assuming the front office hangs onto both picks.

King, who was the 47th overall pick in the 2023 draft, has played in the G League, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico in the past two years. Although he’s not considered an elite draft-and-stash prospect, the 6’5″ guard is still just 23 years old, so it’s not out of the question that he’ll sign an NBA contract at some point.

As for the Pacers, the deal accomplishing two things. For one, it will remove a cap hold of roughly $3.24MM from their books for 2025/26, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That will give the team slightly more cap flexibility as it looks to re-sign Myles Turner without going too deep into luxury-tax territory.

Additionally, as Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports tweets, the move will free up more of the Pacers’ future first-rounders for trade purposes. Previously, due to the Stepien rule that prevents teams from leaving themselves without a pick in the first round of consecutive future drafts, the Pacers wouldn’t have been able to offer more than two first-rounders unconditionally in any trade package. Now they could offer up to four (2026, 2028, 2030, and 2032).

While teams typically aren’t permitted to make trades between the in-season trade deadline and the end of their season, the Pacers can make this deal while they remain alive in the NBA Finals because it doesn’t involve any players on their 15-man roster.

International Notes: Bogdanovic, EuroLeague, Asia, Sarr

The No. 27 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Bogdan Bogdanovic spent three more seasons playing in Europe before making the move stateside in 2017. The veteran swingman has been in the NBA since then, but told reporters at the EuroLeague Final Four this week that he could see himself playing overseas again before his career is over.

“I had that goal when I was leaving (for the NBA), but I’ll see how my health is later in my career,” Bogdanovic said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. “I want to come back, of course, but I have to stay healthy. … I miss it because I’m closer to my friends and family (in Europe). That’s what I miss most. Competition as well, but friends and family first, honestly.”

Bogdanovic, who finished the 2024/25 season with the Clippers following a midseason trade from Atlanta to Los Angeles, added that he’s looking forward to representing Serbia in EuroBasket 2025 and is “optimistic” that Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will participate in the tournament.

“I feel like we have a good opportunity (to win the gold). We can’t hide,” Bogdanovic said, according to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “That’s it. We’re going for gold. All those years we’re building something. It’s progress. A process. Hopefully, we’ll stay healthy and we show up healthy and ready to go.”

Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:

  • The EuroLeague is expected to expand from 18 to 20 teams beginning next season, according to reports from Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews and Alessandro Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link). Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dubai BC, and Valencia are the favorites to join the league next season, with ALBA Berlin exiting, according to Urbonas. In addition to working on expansion, EuroLeague officials are expected to meet with the NBA and FIBA next week about the NBA’s own European league.
  • What exactly is the Asian University Basketball League? Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com takes a closer look at the college basketball organization launching this summer in Asia and speaks to AUBL CEO Jay Li about his goal of finding and developing the next NBA star from the continent. “We are not just an Asian basketball league,” Li said. “We could be the centerpiece of youth talent development for the entire world when it comes to developing Asia’s next Yao Ming, Asia’s next Jeremy Lin.”
  • Dame Sarr, a 6’8″ wing from Italy, has committed to Duke for the 2025/26 season, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Sarr, who has spent the past two seasons playing for Barcelona in Spain, had a big game at last month’s Nike Hoop Summit, establishing himself as a potential 2026 first-round pick to watch. “My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA,” Sarr told ESPN. “There’s no better place to prepare you for that than Duke. For me to be as NBA-ready as possible, and become the best version of myself, I needed to have both experiences — playing for a pro team like Barcelona, and playing in a different type of professional environment like Duke against other players my age. Opportunity, minutes, repetition — this route is the best next step for me at this time.”

Alijah Arenas Making ‘Significant Progress’ After Car Crash

Five-star prospect Alijah Arenas was involved in a serious car accident early Thursday morning and had to be placed in a medically-induced coma.

According to Arenas’ family (Twitter link via Shams Charania of ESPN), the 18-year-old is no longer in a coma and “has shown significant signs of progress within the last 24 hours.” While Arenas remains intubated, the fact that he was able to come out of the coma was a “critical step forward in his recovery.”

Arenas was reportedly the driver and lone person involved in the crash. After hitting a fire hydrant and tree, the vehicle he was driving caught on fire, and nearby bystanders helped rescue him from the accident, per the statement.

A 6’6″ shooting guard who has committed to playing his freshman season at USC, Arenas was No. 13 on ESPN’s recruiting rankings for the 2025 class, making him a possible first-round pick in 2026. He is the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas.

Our best wishes go out to Arenas as well his family and friends as he continues to recover.