NBA teams more than make up for quiet 1st round with flurry of trades on second day of draft
AP Sports Writer
NBA teams made up for the lack of trade action during the league’s first night of its first two-day draft with a flurry of moves Thursday.
Only three proposed trades came Wednesday night with no deal official until July 6, when the league’s new year begins.
Moves came fast and furious Thursday, even after the draft concluded as teams swapped players, cleared some cap space and traded around lots of picks, especially for future drafts still to come.
The New York Knicks announced they had finalized trades with Washington and Oklahoma City, acquiring the 26th and 51st overall picks from Washington for the draft rights to Kyshawn George taken at No. 24 overall on Wednesday night.
The Knicks then sent the draft rights to Dillon Jones, selected at No. 26 on Wednesday night, to Oklahoma City for five second-round picks.
New York made yet another move Thursday. The Knicks acquired the No. 34 pick from Portland, which was involved in one of Wednesday’s trades sending Malcolm Brogdon to Washington, in exchange for second-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2030.
The Knicks got the draft rights to guard Tyler Kolek out of Marquette. He led all Division I players with 7.7 assists per game. The 6-foot-3 guard was the Big East Player of the Year in 2022-23. Last season, he averaged 15.3 points, as well as those 7.7 assists.
Portland also was involved in another trade featuring a wild turn of events.
The Warriors reached agreement on a planned trade of the 52nd pick to Oklahoma City for guard Lindy Waters III, then the Thunder dealt the pick to Portland — only for the Trail Blazers to send it back to Golden State. Once finalized, the Warriors will acquire Boston College center Quinten Post.
The Miami Heat announced Thursday night they acquired the rights to Pelle Larsson, taken at No. 44, along with cash from Atlanta as part of a three-team deal with Houston. Atlanta also got the draft rights to Nikola Djurisic, picked at No. 43. The Hawks also sent AJ Griffin to Houston for that 44th selection.
A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press the Charlotte Hornets acquired guard Reggie Jackson and three future second-round picks from Denver in a move that will open up salary cap space for the Nuggets.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Thursday because the trade can’t take affect until after the new league year begins. Jackson played in all 82 games last season for Denver and averaged 10.2 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 36% from 3-point range
Indiana made a deal with San Antonio to move up one spot for Kansas forward Johnny Furphy at No. 35.
The Hawks made French teen Zaccharie Risacher the No. 1 overall pick in the draft Wednesday night in what had been Atlanta’s only pick in the draft before Thursday’s trade. Trading Griffin, a 2022 first-round pick, helps to clear playing time for Risacher.
Dallas swapped its 58th pick to the Knicks for the draft rights to 6-foot-8 Melvin Ajinca of France after he was taken at 51 overall.
Detroit made a couple of moves, agreeing to acquire the draft rights to Bobi Klintman after Minnesota took the forward at No. 37. The Pistons were listed as taking UConn’s Cam Spencer at No. 53 overall, but Memphis made a deal with Minnesota moving up from 57 overall.
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AP Sports Writers Steve Reed, Charles Odum, Anne M. Peterson, Janie McCauley, Cliff Brunt and AP Freelance Writer Clay Bailey contributed to this report.
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