the rounds of draft They are one of the great assets of the NBA franchises. It is already known, the teams start with a first and a second round in each draft. These are more valuable, of course, the higher they are. There are thirty in the first round and another thirty in the second, and they represent the great assets of the future for the teams. Because of the young people who can select with them and because of the options they offer for the market.
because the rounds of draft are usually included in transfers. In fact, they are one of the main incentives many times. Especially when a team trades a star because they want to restart their project and start from scratch. For that, a good batch of rounds (picks) of draft They are a basic weapon and the most sought after loot. In the same way, teams looking for short-term success and winning now often choose to ditch these rounds in exchange for present players. The better that player is, the more rounds they will have to put on the table.
Teams may transfer their picks as soon as the normal season or when they are eliminated if they have played the title playoffs. The market remains open until the winter shutdown which leaves the teams basically ready for the following playoffs. There are limitations on what picks (rounds) can be transferred: it can only be negotiated with those of the following seven years, not beyond. Is called Seven Year Rule forks an obvious protection for teams that don’t want to inherit mistakes from previous executives and coaches. Another rule. (Ted Stepien Rule, in honor of a Cavs owner who was too fond of trading all of his rounds) prevents him from trading first rounds of consecutive years unless he receives another first round from one of those two years in exchange. If this is not the case, they will have to transfer rounds of non-consecutive years or of a year when the period has passed. draft.
Another key aspect in the rounds of draft that get into transfers are the protections. Teams can place them in their round to keep them if they don’t meet a certain condition. For example, a traded round with top 10 protection assumes that the sending team would keep it if it’s in that 1-10 range. These can be very restrictive or very broad (top-3 protection, first-round protection…) and obviously transform the value of those picks. Normally, the conditions of a pick that is not finally transferred for protection: it is prorated to another season, it becomes second rounds…
The fact that consecutive first rounds cannot be transferred (in a direct sense) by the Ted Stepien Rule has greatly increased the use of pick swapthe exchange of rounds, as ways to bypass it as much as possible. Basically a pick swap it implies that the team that receives the lot can choose whether or not to exchange its first round with the other. Basically, if the other team is in a worse position and therefore comes out with a pick higher than the positioning and the lottery, the other team will want the exchange to end, of the two, with the pick more valuable.
An example: in the horrible trade of the Nets in which they took over Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, the Celtics received three first rounds without protections and not in a row (2014, 2016 and 2018). But also, in addition to complementary players, a pick swap. Since the Nets did not do well at all, that pick swap of 2017 it was a No. 1 that the Celtics obviously ran for the top pick thanks to the Nets. Then the greens traded it for number 3 (they chose Jayson Tatum) and another future first round (they invested it in Romeo Langford).
Another, more recent example: the Pelicans had this season the right to pick swap with the Lakers for the transfer of Anthony Davis in 2019. During the first stretch of the course, when the Angelenos were in full crisis and the Pelicans were close to leading the West, it seemed obvious that in Louisiana they would execute the exchange. However, the tables were turning and the Lakers finished the regular season ahead of the Pelicans.