NBA Trade Rumors: Big NBA Draft Day Trades On The Horizon
NBA trade rumors continue to circle the New York Knicks. Now big NBA draft day trades are causing some buzz as several teams want the Knicks to deal that No. 4 overall selection. Knicks team president Phil Jackson won’t be short on suitors as confirmed by a report from basketball analyst Chris Sheridan on Friday (June 19). The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics lead the list of teams that want to make a deal with Jackson.
It looks like the primary target in the 2015 NBA Draft for the Knicks is Jahlil Okafor. If Okafor is taken before they are on the clock, the Knicks are reportedly very likely to trade that pick. This is where the 76ers and Celtics enter the picture. Both teams want to be in that No. 4 spot, and the two franchises have stockpiled assets in recent years. If Jackson is indeed looking to recoup some of the draft picks his predecessors have dealt away, he has a prime opportunity to do it in the next week.
Sheridan goes in-depth on the picks that the Celtics and 76ers both possess, suggesting that both teams could also look into draft day trades with other franchises. Fans should expect many additional NBA trade rumors for those teams to surface over the next week. As for which picks the teams have, Sheridan lays that out quite nicely.
“The Celtics have picks 16, 28, 33 and 45 in this year’s draft, along with the rights to Brooklyn’s No. 1 picks in 2016, 2017 (right to swap) and 2018. They also have the Mavericks’ first-round pick in 2016, the Mavericks’ first-round pick in 2016 (protected 1-7), the Timberwolves first-round pick in 2016 (protected 1-12), and the Grizlies’ first-round pick in 2018 (protected 1-12).
“The 76ers have picks 3, 35, 37, 47, 58 and 60 in this year’s draft. They also own the rights to four first-round picks next year: Their own, the Lakers’ (protected 1-3), the Heat’s (protected 1-10), the Thunder’s (protected 1-15), along with nine second-round picks from other teams between 2016 and 2020.”
As previously reported on the Inquisitr, the Phoenix Suns have also been linked to the Knicks in current NBA trade rumors. The Suns may look to part with Eric Bledsoe and the No. 13 overall selection in order to entice Jackson into giving up that high pick. It doesn’t stop there, though, as the Golden State Warriors might be willing to give up a first-round selection to convince a team to trade for David Lee. That could be added incentive for a team to take on that selection to swing it to New York as part of a three-team trade.
The 2015 NBA Draft takes place on Thursday (June 24), meaning there could be a number of big moves made within the next week. With teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Miami Heat looking to get back to the postseason, draft day becomes the first real opportunity to make that big offseason splash. There are certainly going to be some big deals coming, which is why so many NBA trade rumors are floating around. What the Knicks do with that pick could also dictate other moves that take place in the first round.
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