Four Teams control nearly half of the 2nd round picks in 2029 and 2030

Including their own picks:

OKC: 3 in 2029, 4 in 2030 (7 total)
Spurs: 3 in 2029, 3 in 2030 (6 total)
Hornets: 3 in 2029, 2 in 2030 (5 total)
Nets: 4 in 2029, 4 in 2030 (8 total)

That’s 26 second round picks between 4 teams in 2 years – or 4 shy of 50% of all second round picks in those years.

In addition, for the 2028 draft Spurs and Nets have 3 each and Charlotte has 2. OKC only has 1 pick in 2028, but that’s because they just traded two of them to the Sixers for Jared McCain. The Sixers now have between 3 and 5 second round picks in 2028, depending on protections, so good chance we have the same concentration of picks in that year as well.

This also stood out to me because the GMs of these teams are all kind of from the same San Antonio front office tree:
- Sam Presti was with the Spurs under RC Buford from 2000-2007, ending as Assistant GM
- Sean Marks was with the Spurs from 2012-2016, ending as Assistant GM
- Jeff Petersen, the GM of the Hornets, was with Marks in Brooklyn for 4 years, ending as Assistant GM

So why are they so interested in second round picks in those years?

Starting with the 2025 nba draft, even some projected first-round draft picks are able to make more money in college than they would as professionals in the NBA. This also applies to international players who are increasingly choosing NBA colleges over being late first round or second round NBA draft picks. This does not effect the top 15-20 picks, but for anything after that, the top underclassmen can often make more money in college. It was a trend before 2025, but seemed to reach its natural peak in that last draft (judging by the # of freshman going in the top 20 and all the seniors going after that).

You can read about it here:

So if the draft delay trend peaked in the 2025 draft, when do all these players run out of college eligibility? 2028 draft. That should be when the depth of the NBA draft (past the first 20 picks) returns to full strength and probably stronger than ever.

No-Shop-6020

68 | 7 hours ago

2nd round picks are the full court heaves of drafting

if you have enough chances one will probably hit

maiq--the--liar | NBA

13 | 7 hours ago

BasketballGM strategy

mucho-gusto | CLE

4 | 5 hours ago

In that game I’ve never had a single 2nd I personally picked get good for me, but then again once they decline 2 years I drop them because we’re competing for championships

legend023 | Pelicans

3 | 6 hours ago

lol no

You use second round picks to sweeten offers for mediocre players you wanna trade

If you still have it by the draft, just use it to trade up in the first round

ShaiFanClub | Thunder

8 | 6 hours ago

We got Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams and Aaron Wiggins in the 2nd round. 2 key rotation players and Mitchell could genuinely be a breakout star one day

I agree with using them to trade for players but you can do both

mucho-gusto | CLE

8 | 5 hours ago

They are talking about the video game

MuchAbouAboutNothing | Thunder

3 | 6 hours ago

I think our success has at least as much to do with player development within the org as drafting ability

sunpar1 | Nets

7 | 7 hours ago

Agree

NewConcentrate9682

4 | 7 hours ago

Very accurate analogy considering the best second round pick of all time lol.

Sumo_Cerebro

1 | 6 hours ago

I also think UDFA’s are going to be a bigger deal moving forward.

It’s going to be like the NFL where these guys get signed immediately after the draft ends.

a_moniker | Hornets

1 | 3 hours ago

The issue will be rostering all the selections long enough to figure out which one is the hit

moongato

1 | an hour ago

The picks may be more valuable as trade assets for smart GM’s than the actual potential players in the draft..

composer_7 | Hawks

64 | 7 hours ago

OKC and Spurs having this many picks is unfair lmao

Hypnosix | Timberwolves

15 | 4 hours ago

Second round picks aren’t that valuable to a team that is trying to contend. They’re best used as filler in a trade, if the teams actually made 7 second round picks in 2 years half of them would not get signed due to a lack of roster space. Plus SRPs barely play on middle of the pack teams these guys are just going to be cheap roster fillers and g league development projects. 1 in 5 might end up being a role player if there’s injuries and they somehow see the court

No_Diver_629

3 | 3 hours ago

You are not wrong but in the roster for OKC today it is 3 rotation players they picked in the second round Jaylin Williams (34th), Ajay Mitchell (38th) and Aaron Wiggins (55th). They also have 2 undrafted players in Dort and Caruso OKC signed after the draft.

And Kenrich Williams was signed undrafted by Pelicans and isaiah Hartenstein was picked 43rd by the rockets and Isaiah Joe was second round pick by the 76ers.

Thunder:
Picked 3 second round solid rotation players.
Traded for 2 second round rotation players.

Signed 2 starter level players undrafted.
Traded for one undrafted rotation player.

So while you miss on far more SRP than you hit on, there is always a possibility to sign a Ajay or a Caruso etc.

And those players are usually very cost controlled the first few years.

anonssr

2 | 4 hours ago

The west is gonna be so one (two) sided

kl08pokemon | Lakers

26 | 7 hours ago

Doubt they plan to use many of the picks themselves. Good leverage to sweeten up a trade

we_hella_believe

11 | 7 hours ago

I think it’s more for salary cap management.

sunpar1 | Nets

2 | 7 hours ago

Of course. I think (all speculation here), the point of having so many is that you may end up with one or two are are relatively high in the second round, to be able to get what is functionally equivalent to a late first round pick today.

starfox2315

1 | 7 hours ago

Or sell them for cash considerations

Larovich153 | Celtics

12 | 7 hours ago

it’s ok the celtics will probably trade their late first for a couple of seconds to rebuild our stock

sunpar1 | Nets

2 | 7 hours ago

Some teams seem to be able to find guys no matter what the environment. Hugo was a rare late first round international player, and he hit. Seems to me like he could have made more in college probably, but the Celtics ended up with a gamer.

Larovich153 | Celtics

1 | 5 hours ago

in brad we trust

Fun-Jellyfish-61 | Timberwolves

0 | 7 hours ago

Phew

dreamweaver7x | Spurs

12 | 7 hours ago

Yup, Presti and Marks are direct descendants of the Pop/RC front office tree. PATFO for life.

All it takes is one Manu (57th pick) or Marc Gasol (48th pick) or Joker (41st pick) or Draymond (35th pick).

HeyItsChase | Pacers

4 | 4 hours ago

Yeah direct dependents of geniuses. They really know how to build a team.

All it really takes is Timothy (1st pick) or Victor (1st pick) or Harper (2nd pick) or Robinson (1st pick) or Castle (4th pick) or Sean Elliot (3rd pick)

dreamweaver7x | Spurs

1 | an hour ago

Or a Paolo (#1), or a Zion (#1), or an Ant (#1), or a DominAyton (#1), or a Simmons (#1), or a Towns (#1), or an AD (#1), or a Fultz (#1)…

John Wall? Blake Griffin? Greg Oden? Kwame Brown?

It’s not enough to get a high draft pick. For every Timothy Theodore Duncan (#1), you need a Tony (#28) and a Manu (#57).

Sure we’ve got Vic (#1), Steph (#4) and Harp (#2). We’ve also got Keldon (#29), Devo (#11) and Carter (#14).

We traded away Dejounte (#29), Derrick (#29), Tre (#41), and Dilly (#8).

Not perfect though. 2022 was a bust. Jeremy (#9), Malaki (#20) and Blake (#25). Struck out when like 15 All Stars and rotation pieces came off the board around those three lottery picks.

Finally, there’s development. If the Wiz got Vic, or Steph, they may not be the same ones we have. They won’t have the same coach and teammates and culture.

So let’s not be reductive here. You can draft #1. What you do with the pick, how you develop and coach, and how you build your team around the lottery picks matters.

ComedianFantastic319 | Thunder

9 | 7 hours ago

The Thunder have made a killing off second round picks in recent years.

Aaron Wiggins

Ajay Mitchell

Jaylin Williams

just to name a few

MVPiid | 76ers

5 | 5 hours ago

Isaiah Joe

Oh wait

BasedGodProdigy | Nets

3 | 4 hours ago

We just stole one of your top dawgs in player personnel last year, I’m hoping we can get some of that 2nd round pick prowess from you guys now. We need it real bad

ComedianFantastic319 | Thunder

1 | 4 hours ago

It’s a good way to create sustainable depth. Contracts are cheaper and up for extensions sooner. We have Ajay on like a 3 million a year deal over 3 years lol

TemuKnightFromChess

1 | 22 minutes ago

You definitely need it because your first round was awful this year lol

CHEVIEWER1

-2 | 3 hours ago

Also make a killing on the free throw line over and over and…

ddottay | Cavaliers

3 | 7 hours ago

Somewhere in the last ten years teams went from not really thinking about 2nd round picks a whole lot to either deciding they were worthless (which is why some teams trade them without a second thought) or very undervalued (which led to some teams collecting others’ picks)

LittleTension8765 | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

It happened when they added in all the penalties for going over the cap

vindictivejazz | Thunder

3 | 7 hours ago

He who controls the ~~spice~~ picks controls the universe.

masterpierround | Grizzlies

2 | 5 hours ago

Under the new CBA, there’s something called the 2nd round pick exception, which lets you sign your 2nd round picks to a 4 year deal even if you’re hard capped. This means that if you’re bumping up against one of the apron hard caps, 2nd round picks are basically the only way to add long term players to your team.

It should also be worth noting that 2nd round picks are often thrown into trades for a little extra value.

Therefore the 2 types of team that you should expect to be accumulating 2nd round picks are teams that expect to have really expensive rosters in a few years (OKC, Spurs), and teams that just traded away a lot of their players (Nets). The Hornets are the interesting ones, could be a sign that they’re ready to go all in on the next few years.

Netwealth5 | 76ers

1 | 7 hours ago

All draft picks are valuable until you have to put a face to the pick.

Which sounds better? Johni Broome or the 35th pick?

MVPiid | 76ers

2 | 5 hours ago

Maxine Raynaud was picked with 42

GGTae | Spurs

1 | 7 hours ago

but those teams got those picks before the new NIL rules and co, so I don’t think that’s the reason why, unless they predicted it somehow ..

LittleTension8765 | Lakers

1 | 5 hours ago

Second round picks allows you to keep a fresh bench - lottery ticket, defensive guys, and minutes in a long season. The old NBA used to have a bunch of older guys fill in those roles but now you want younger guys who can keep up with the pace

tomhalejr | Trail Blazers

1 | 5 hours ago

So, you are looking at now fully physically developed players, with more experience, that are taking a pay cut from their actual market value and have full RFA Bird rights to those players.

Hefty-Afternoon-5605

1 | 5 hours ago

congrats to them. there’s like 5 good players ever drafted from the 2nd round

fisheggsoup | Jazz

1 | 4 hours ago

Heh heh, and y’all suckers want us to lose our top 8 pick this year to the Thunder…

rabidantidentyte | Nets

1 | 2 hours ago

I’m so glad the Billy King era in Brooklyn is over.