There's a natural life cycle of team-building in the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder just masterfully rode that to a championship this past season.
At the beginning, you start rebuilding. In that stage, you have two primary goals: asset accumulation and player development. At some point, you flip a switch and decide to prioritize winning. That's when you start to cash in some of the chips you piled up during your rebuild for win-now pieces.
The Paul George trade was the obvious catalyst for the Thunder's eventual championship foundation. They received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and multiple first-round picks (including the one that they used on Jalen Williams) in return. However, that trade alone wasn't OKC's only shrewd move. The Thunder picked up Isaiah Joe off waivers, flipped Josh Giddey straight up for Alex Caruso and structured their cap sheet so they could give Isaiah Hartenstein a balloon deal in free agency. All of that resulted in their first championship since their arrival in OKC.
Other teams won't be able to replicate the Thunder's exact rebuilding strategy. After all, future MVPs don't get traded every day. However, many rebuilding teams figure to emulate them, particularly after seeing it pay off in a championship.
With that in mind, let's take look at the five teams with the best current asset collections in the NBA. That includes draft picks, high-level young players, and in one team's case, salary-cap space.
5. Charlotte Hornets
Top assets: 2026 CHA 1st, 2027 DAL 1st (top-2 protected), 2027 MIA 1st (lottery-protected), LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel
When you win only 67 games over a three-season span, absolutely nothing should be set in stone for your roster. Such is life for the Charlotte Hornets, who have a seemingly promising collection of young talent but have yet to see the on-court results from that.
Brandon Miller, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2023 draft, had a promising rookie season before injuries upended his sophomore campaign. LaMelo Ball is a stat-sheet stuffer when healthy, but he's played only 105 games over the past three seasons, and questions remain about whether he's a good-stats, bad-team merchant.
Between those two and Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 draft, the Hornets have a handful of blue-chip prospects whom they could offer in trades. They also have a few veterans to use as salary ballast, including Miles Bridges ($25.0 million), Collin Sexton ($19.0 million), Josh Green ($13.7 million) and Grant Williams ($13.6 million). Sexton is on an expiring contract, while Bridges, Green and Williams are all signed through 2026-27.
The Hornets control all of their own future first-round picks, and they have a top-two-protected pick from the Dallas Mavericks in 2027, as well as a lottery-protected 2027 first-round pick from the Miami Heat that would become fully unprotected in 2028 if the Heat miss the playoffs in 2027. While things might seem bleak at the moment, the Hornets have the chips to rapidly accelerate their rebuild in the next two years.
4. Brooklyn Nets
Top assets: 2026 BKN 1st, 2029 NYK 1st, 2031 NYK 1st, 2032 DEN 1st, Nic Claxton, cap space
The Brooklyn Nets aren't even pretending like they want to be competitive this year. They have a handful of veterans (Nic Claxton, Terance Mann, Michael Porter Jr. and Haywood Highsmith), but their roster is otherwise littered with players on their rookie-scale deals, including five (!) new first-round picks.
The Nets' biggest asset from an immediate standpoint is their own 2026 first-round pick—which they presumably have no interest in giving up—and their $15 million in remaining salary-cap space. They're the only team with any spending power left this offseason, which should make them the first call whenever another team is looking to offload salary for luxury-tax or apron purposes.
Since the Nets are effectively resetting, all of their veterans will presumably be available to the highest bidder. Claxton in particular should intrigue other suitors, as his four-year, $97.0 million contract descends in value each year. He's earning $25.4 million this season, but that dips to $23.1 million next year and only $20.9 million in 2027-28.
Distant fully unprotected first-round picks from the New York Knicks (2029 and 2031) and Denver Nuggets (2032) could have serious upside whenever the Nets do decide to put together a competitive roster again. For now, they'll likely use their flexibility to continue accumulating assets and try to position themselves as the next Thunder.
3. San Antonio Spurs
Top assets: 2027 ATL 1st, 2030 MIN/DAL 1st, 2031 SAC swap rights, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell
The Spurs' sole focus should be on how to best build around Victor Wembanyama moving forward. Luckily, they have a deep chest of assets to help them in that effort.
The Spurs have only seven first-round picks over the next seven years, but they do own the Atlanta Hawks' fully unprotected first-rounder in 2027. They also will get the best of the Minnesota Timberwolves' pick, the Dallas Mavericks' pick or their own pick in 2030, and they have swap rights with the Sacramento Kings in 2031 that they're a virtual lock to use. They have 16 second-round picks over that span, too.
As long as Wembanyama stays healthy, the Spurs should be in the playoff hunt every year moving forward, so their own picks don't have a ton of upside. However, they do have a pair of blue-chip prospects in Stephon Castle (No. 4 overall in 2024) and Dylan Harper (No. 2 overall in 2025) whom they could dangle as the centerpiece of a major trade package.
The Spurs signed De'Aaron Fox to a four-year max contract extension earlier this summer, which reflects their commitment to moving into win-now mode. However, it's fair to wonder whether they can keep all three of Fox, Castle and Harper on a long-term basis. If the Spurs are willing to flip Castle or Harper down the road, they might have one of the most enticing prospects that any team is willing to offer in a trade.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Top assets: 2027 LAC swap rights, 2028 DAL swap rights, 2029 DEN 1st (top-5 protected), Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic
If you're asking which team is best set up for the future, the Thunder are the only right answer. They have all three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren signed to long-term contracts, and they have as many as 13 first-round picks heading their way in the next seven years.
However, having the core of their championship team locked up through the rest of the decade actually hurts the projected value of their own draft picks. They do have the right to swap first-rounders with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2027—which could be especially valuable depending on what happens with the Kawhi Leonard circumvention scandal—and the Mavericks in 2028, but the Mavs' incredible lottery fortune this past spring could decrease the upside of that swap.
The Thunder have a pair of recent late lottery picks in Cason Wallace and Nikola Topić whom they could dangle as high-upside prospects. They also have Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million) and Lu Dort ($18.2 million), both of whom have team options for the 2026-27 campaign, as salary ballast. But if SGA, Williams and Holmgren are off the table, the Thunder don't have a franchise-changing prospect whom they can offer in a trade.
Although no team can match the Thunder's volume of draft picks, the quality of those picks matters as well. And since the Thunder are fresh off winning a championship, they'd likely have no interest in breaking up their core anytime soon. That's what keeps them out of the top spot here.
1. Houston Rockets
Top assets: 2027 PHX 1st, 2029 PHX 1st, 2029 DAL 1st, Reed Sheppard, Tari Eason
The Rockets don't have nearly as many future draft picks as the Thunder. They have only eight first-rounders over the next seven years compared to OKC's 13. But what they lack in quantity, they gain in quality.
The Rockets own fully unprotected first-round picks from the Phoenix Suns in both 2027 and 2029 and a fully unprotected Mavericks first-round pick in 2029. (They get the two most favorable of Phoenix's pick, Dallas' pick and their own pick in 2029, and they send the least favorable to Brooklyn.) They owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder (top-four protected), but they otherwise have full control over the rest of their first-rounders.
The Rockets also have a handful of high lottery picks who are still on their rookie contracts. They already jettisoned Jalen Green to the Phoenix Suns and signed both Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Şengün to extensions, but they still have Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard on rookie deals through 2026-27 and 2027-28, respectively. They also have Tari Eason, who'll be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn't sign an extension by Oct. 20.
Thompson might be close to untouchable, but the Rockets likely aren't quite as committed to their core as the Thunder are to theirs. Şengün alone would be better than anyone whom OKC could offer outside of SGA, J-Dub or Chet. Throw in high-upside prospects like Sheppard and Eason along with Fred VanVleet ($25.0 million), Steven Adams ($14.1 million) and Dorian Finney-Smith ($12.7 million) for salary filler, and the Rockets should be the first call that any team places whenever they decide to trade a star.