Biggest winners -- and question marks -- from Roun...
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Washington Wizards selected AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 overall pick, while the Utah Jazz took Darryn Peterson at No. 2 — a player Jeremy Woo had ranked as the top prospect in the entire class, calling the slot a simple win for Utah.
- Memphis Grizzlies landed Cameron Boozer at No. 3 (who averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds as a Duke freshman), then traded down from No. 16 to No. 21 to select Karim Lopez and extract five future second-round picks from two separate deals.
- New York Knicks made three trades down the board without selecting a single prospect, adding five second-round picks and cash considerations while pressed against the NBA's second apron ahead of free-agent decisions on Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado.
- Dallas Mavericks took Morez Johnson Jr. at No. 9 in new coach Dusty May's first draft move, passing on fellow Wolverines Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg in what Jeremy Woo called a culture-setting pick more than a talent swing.
- San Antonio Spurs addressed frontcourt size by selecting Jayden Quaintance (No. 20, recovering from an ACL injury) and Tarris Reed Jr., explicitly motivated by seeing OG Anunoby win his matchup against Victor Wembanyama in the Finals.
- Seven trades involving NBA teams headlined the back half of the round, including the Knicks sending No. 25 (Sergio De Larrea) to Dallas, which was then flipped to Phoenix for Koa Peat at No. 30.
Why it matters: The Knicks' draft-night pivot — three trades down, zero prospects selected, five future second-round picks added while pressed against the second apron — crystallizes how cap-strapped contenders are using draft night for asset accumulation rather than talent acquisition. Memphis extracted five future second-round picks of its own while still landing a consensus top-three talent in Boozer, and the Thunder's two rookies (Aday Mara at No. 12, Bennett Stirtz at No. 16) addressed positional needs as their payroll balloons this summer.
