Fans of lottery-bound NBA teams will be keeping a close on the bottom of the league’s standings down the stretch because of the effect that “race” will have on the draft order and lottery odds for the 2026 first round.
However, it’s not just the first round of the draft that’s worth keeping an eye on. Those reverse standings will also dictate the order of the draft’s second round, and an early second-round pick can be nearly as valuable as a first-rounder.
[RELATED: Traded Second-Round Picks For 2026 NBA Draft]
Here are a few of the traded 2026 draft picks that will land near the top of the second round:
From: Indiana Pacers
To: Memphis Grizzlies
Current projection: No. 31
When the Pacers first sent this pick to the Bucks in a 2021 offseason deal, it was one of four second-rounders they gave up to move up to No. 31 in that draft in order to select Isaiah Todd, who was subsequently flipped to Washington with Aaron Holiday for No. 22 pick Isaiah Jackson.
Technically, Indiana was giving up the most favorable of its own 2026 second-round pick and the Heat’s 2026 second-rounder in that deal, so there was always a decent chance it would end up in the first half of the second round. But it’s probably safe to assume the Pacers didn’t expect it to end up at the very top of the round, which is where it’d be if the season ended today thanks to Indiana’s NBA-worst 15-53 record.
The Grizzlies ended up acquiring the pick from the Bucks just a few days later in 2021 as part of a package for Grayson Allen. Five years later, it looks like a pretty valuable asset for a Memphis team leaning more aggressively into a rebuild.
From: Washington Wizards
To: New York Knicks
Current projection: No. 32
Technically, the Wizards owe the Knicks their 2026 first-round pick, not their second-rounder. But that first-rounder is top-eight protected, and with Washington sitting near the bottom of the NBA standings at 16-51, it appears increasingly likely that it’ll land in its protected range.
In that scenario, the Wizards would keep their first-round pick and would instead send their 2026 and 2027 second-rounders for New York.
While that’s not the outcome the Knicks would’ve preferred, this year’s Wizards second-rounder will at least end up in the early 30s, giving New York a pair of picks in that section of the draft (the Knicks’ first-rounder currently projects to be No. 26). Those assets should come in handy for a front office that could use some younger, cheaper talent to fill out the back of its roster and showed last year that it’s capable of finding value in the second round (Mohamed Diawara at No. 51).
From: Utah Jazz
To: San Antonio Spurs
Current projection: No. 35
Originally traded to Minnesota at the 2023 deadline, this pick was one of several valuable chips that went from the Jazz to the Timberwolves in that three-team deal, along with Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and two more second-rounders (one of which was the No. 31 pick a year ago).
The Jazz acquired the Lakers’ top-four protected 2027 first-round pick in that trade, which they later used as part of their package to land Jaren Jackson Jr., so it’s not as if the deal was a total disaster for Utah. But the Jazz probably don’t love the fact that the Spurs, one of the Western Conference’s ascending powers, will be drafting in their place early in the second round this June.
San Antonio acquired the pick from the Timberwolves at the 2023 draft as part of a package for that year’s No. 33 selection. The Wolves used that pick to select forward Leonard Miller, who never developed into a regular NBA rotation player in Minnesota.
From: Dallas Mavericks
To: Oklahoma City Thunder
Current projection: No. 36/37
Like the Jazz with their second-round pick, a retooling Mavericks team won’t be excited about the prospect of shipping this selection to one of the powerhouses in their own conference. But Oklahoma City will receive the most favorable of Dallas’, Philadelphia’s, and its own second-round picks, so even if the Mavs finish the season on a hot streak, Dallas’ selection will almost certainly head to OKC.
Currently, the Mavs and Pelicans have matching 23-46 records and are tied for sixth in the lottery standings — if they were to finish the season in that same position, a tiebreaker would determine the order of the two teams in the lottery, and whichever team drafted lower in the first round would receive the higher second-round pick.
Like many of the picks the Thunder accumulated during their most recent rebuilding process, they landed this second-rounder when they accommodated a salary-dump deal. It occurred during the 2020 offseason when they took on Trevor Ariza and Justin Jackson in a three-team trade with the Mavericks and Pistons.
From: New Orleans Pelicans
To: Chicago Bulls
Current projection: No. 36/37
The Pelicans have been playing their best basketball of the season as of late, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if this pick ends up moving down a couple more spots into the late 30s. Still, it will be a nice replacement selection for a Chicago team that has traded away its own 2026 second-rounder — depending on what the final standings look like, the Bulls could end up moving up a couple spots in the second round by essentially swapping their own pick for New Orleans’ selection.
The Bulls are technically owed the most favorable of four teams’ second-round selections, but the Pelicans are way behind the Knicks and Timberwolves in the standings and it’s all but impossible for them to catch the Trail Blazers too, so it’s safe to say New Orleans’ pick is the one Chicago will receive.
The selection was one of many the Bulls acquired at this year’s trade deadline. This one was part of their Anfernee Simons/Nikola Vucevic swap with the Celtics.