NBA Draft 2019: Winners and losers

BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 20: Ja Morant looks on after being selected second overall by the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2019 NBA Draft on June 20, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melanie Fidler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 14: Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks speaks with the press before the game against the Washington Wizards on December 14, 2018 at Barclays Center in New York, NY. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Winner No. 4: The Celtics, Nets, Grizzlies, and Pistons nabbing future picks

A strange trend in the 20s was teams selling future assets to move up into the end of the first round. This was likely spurred on by the wonkiness of the middle of the first, and the way teams valued certain players on the board. The Suns traded into the first round to take Ty Jerome at No. 24; The Clippers traded into the first round for Mfiondu Kabengele; and with the last pick of the first round, the Cavaliers jumped up to take Kevin Porter Jr. at 30.

The costs of each of these moves was picks, and specifically picks in future drafts, a great hedge by the teams trading out of those spots. Throwing in the Grizzlies, who received a 2022 first-round pick in the Mike Conley trade prior to the draft, each of the teams listed here now have an asset in a future draft (or in the Pistons case, four second-round picks of varying value). That is positive asset management, as the 2020 NBA Draft looks much stronger than the 2019 iteration, at least right now.

To pick up extra potential picks in the draft for picks in the back third of this one, where the players available weren’t all that enticing, is an incredible move for flexibility, as each of these deals will likely either help the team that traded out pick up a better young prospect than the ones the teams trading the picks received, and more importantly, are good chips to use as assets in trades this offseason and next regular season. That Grizzlies pick from the Jazz could be particularly special, as Memphis now has two picks in the potentially loaded 2022 double-draft that will feature both the last one-and-done rule class and the first high school class since 2006.

Trading assets next year for pieces this year isn’t a great bet, and it’s likely that the Cavs, Clippers, and Suns may end up kicking themselves for giving up these pieces to move up into the tail end of this draft.

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