Blockbuster Trade Ideas for Washington Wizards' No. 1 Pick In the 2026 NBA Draft
Congratulations to the Washington Wizards on winning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft.ย
We will now be trading it on your behalf.
This impulse to ideate isn't out of the blue. President of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger told Jake Fischer of The Stein Line that the Wizards will "at least consider trading down."ย
Public posturing runs rampant this time of year, but we're going to take him at his word. The challenge is finding potential returns for the No. 1 pick of a draft class widely considered to have four superstar prospects: AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson.ย
Let's find out if we're up to the challenge.
The Jazz Look to Keep AJ Dybantsa in Utah
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The Trade
Washington Wizards Receive: No. 2 pick, 2027 first-round pick (second-most favorable from Cleveland, Minnesota or Utah) and 2029 first-round pick (most favorable from Cleveland, Minnesota (top-five protection) or Utah)
Utah Jazz Receive: No. 1 pick
Why the Wizards do it
AJ Dybantsaย is the odds-on favorite to go No. 1, but Darryn Peterson is considered to have just as high, if not a higher, career ceiling. Scooping up two additional firsts to move down one spot and nab a prospect with similar cornerstone appeal is great business in a vacuum.ย
That most-favorable 2029 selection has real upside. Utah is a franchise on the rise, but both Cleveland and Minnesota are asset-strapped and inching closer toward existential crises every year in which neither wins the title.
Washington could attempt to push for more by spotlighting the cramping issues Peterson has linked to high doses of creatine, per ESPN. The Jazz have picks to spare, and we have to imagine owner Ryan Smith is smitten with the idea of landing a fellow BYU alum.
Why the Jazz do it
Utah shouldn't have any qualms about who it might land at No. 2, but there's power in making the choice for yourself. If the Jazz believe the Wizards are gravitating toward their highest-ranked prospect (likely Dybantsa), this is the cost of getting him for themselves.ย
Assuming Dybantsa is the choice, Utah can spin this as targeting the star upside with a cleaner fit.
Though Peterson's shot-making catalog is absurd, he feels more scalable to a role that has him taking a backseat to Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George and potentially Ace Bailey.
The Memphis Grizzlies Supercharge Their Reset
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The Trade
Washington Wizards Receive: No. 3 pick, 2027 first-round pick (second-most favorable of CLE, MEM, MIN, LAL, UTA), Orlando's 2030 first-round pick
Memphis Grizzlies Receive: No. 1 pick
Why the Wizards do it
As Bleacher Report draft guru Jonathan Wasserman noted, certain big boards around the league have Cameron Boozer rated higher than both AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. Even if the Wizards aren't among the squads with those forecasts, they can still net one of the three first-overall candidates while picking up an additional two first-rounders.
Washington's interest in landing Boozer should spike if it's serious about moving Anthony Davis and wants to maximize frontline spacing alongside Alex Sarr. Boozer attempted more threes and made them at a higher clip last season than Dybantsa.ย ย ย
Why the Grizzlies do it
Another rebuild is already underway in Memphis after the team shipped out Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. While the Grizzlies could be content to jettison Ja Morant and begin reorienting the future around No. 3, Cedric Coward, Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, bagging No. 1 allows them to choose their own adventure.
Forking over two future firsts to move up two slots is a lot. Memphis will have to believe there's a serious gap in best-case outcomes between who it can take at No. 1 and who it might end up with at No. 3.
On balance, though, the opportunity cost is relatively modest. The Grizzlies' own pick is the only one from the 2027 batch that profiles as higher-end, and they wouldn't need to give that up. That Orlando Magic selection is a tantalizing mystery box but conveys so far into the future it's impossible to project as a surefire lotto ticket.
The Brooklyn Nets Make Their Own Luck
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The Trade
Washington Wizards Receive: No. 4, Philadelphia's 2028 first-round pick (top-eight protection), Denver's 2032 first-round pick (via Brooklyn)
Chicago Bulls Receive: No. 6
Brooklyn Nets Receive: No. 1, Patrick Williams
Why the Wizards do it
Dropping down three slots will take the Wizards out of AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson territory and might cost them Cameron Boozer. But ending up with Caleb Wilson would still give them a frontcourt partner of the future for Alex Sarr, particularly if the former's shot-making flickers become more of a constant.ย
Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman also divulged in his latest mock draft that "there are even NBA front office members who actually prefer" Wilson to Boozer.
Combine that belief with two additional first-rounders, including one of the highest-end selections floating around the traded-pick sphere (Denver's), and you've got a package that should at least get Washington thinking.
Why the Nets do it
More than three seasons removed from the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades, the Nets still don't have a primary cornerstone. Unless they are positively smitten with someone expected to tumble out of the top five, this year's lottery results haven't moved them much closer to remedying their situation.
Dealing two first-rounders, obliterating more than half of this summer's cap space and saddling themselves with the three years and $54 million remaining on Williams' contract is borderline overkill. They can rather easily shrug it off as the cost of doing lifeline business.
Brooklyn has future firsts to spare, and that Knicks selection in 2027 will land somewhere in the 20s. The Williams money will never take up 11 percent of the salary cap and should get easier to move next summer, when only two seasons are left on it.ย
Giving up Denver's 2032 first stings most. When faced with the chance to select AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson, the Nets shouldn't hesitate to part with itโor anything else included here.
Why the Bulls do it
New lead executive Bryson Graham might prefer to leave his mark on the roster with a top-four selection. Especially when so many of the prospects mocked Nos. 5 through 9 are guards.ย
Still, just as the Bulls aren't good enough to let Matas Buzelis dictate whether they take another forward, they don't have the guards in place to prevent them from going cornerstone hunting in the backcourt.
If the opportunity arises to add around $20 million to their immediate cap space and shed Williams' contract in exchange for dropping two spots in the lottery order, they should probably pounce.ย
4-Team Chaos Featuring the Clippers, Warriors, Grizzlies and Wizards
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Washington Wizards Receive: No. 3, Indiana's 2029 first-round pick (via LAC)
Golden State Warriors Receive: Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: Jimmy Butler, No. 1
Memphis Grizzlies Receive: No. 5, No. 11
Why the Wizards do itย
This is about the same rate of compensation the Boston Celtics received for the No. 1 pick in 2017 from the Philadelphia 76ers. If the Wizards believe Caleb Wilson or Cameron Boozer has a similarly promising trajectory compared to AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson, the unprotected Pacers selection offsets sliding two spots in the lottery.
Why the Warriors do it
Win-now is the default so long as Stephen Curry plays at a superhuman level when healthy. It's a lot harder to prop up urgent aspirations when Jimmy Butler may not return from his torn ACL before the calendar flips to 2027.ย
Kawhi Leonard will always be an availability risk himself, but he's working off a season in which he played 65 games, most of which came at a top-five-player level. Although punting on a lottery pick for a soon-to-be 35-year-old on an expiring contract isn't a no-brainer, this move is far safer than consolidating even more of their future firsts into another addition.
Plus, there is a chance Bradley Beal ends up being helpful upon returning from his hip injury. Even after landing Butler, the Warriors needed another scorer who could also handle the ball. Between Beal and Kawhi, they're netting two more.
Why the Clippers do it
Using Kawhi and the Pacers pick to move up four spots amounts to a steep opportunity cost. It's one worth paying if the Clippers are serious about hitting the reset button.ย
It'd be one thing if they had the No. 3 or No. 4 selection. They don't. There is a real drop-off in prospect quality between the top-four range and where they landed.ย This doesn't just vault the Clippers into the top four. It lets them choose whomever they want to lead them into the future.
Why the Grizzlies do it
Snaring another lottery pick in exchange for a two-spot dip has "excellent value" written all over it. Memphis doesn't have to worry about transitioning from Forward Country to Guards Galaxy if it plans to trade Ja Morant.
Completing this deal also leaves the Grizzlies with three first-rounders (Nos. 5, 11 and 16), as well as No. 32. That's enough ammo for them to move back up the draft board if they so please.
The Oklahoma City Thunder Lean Hard into Cost Control
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Washington Wizards Receive: Jalen Williams, Scoot Henderson, No. 12, Sacramento's 2028 second-round pick (via Portland), Denver's 2029 first-round pick (top-five protection; via OKC), Portland's 2031 second-round pick
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: Jerami Grant, No. 1
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Anthony Davis
Why the Wizards do it
Injuries derailed most of Jalen Williams' fourth year, but the 25-year-old has already established that he can be the second-best player on a title team. Whether he can be the absolute best is debatable. The same goes for AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson, neither of whom has an NBA track record under their belt.
Getting Williams just as he begins a five-year, $239.3 million extension is actually ideal. It's a lot of money but cheaper than it could be. He might've nudged it up to $296 million had he been healthy enough to contend for All-NBA honors.ย
The Wizards also don't have to worry about Williams entering free agency anytime soon. And while their own youngsters will soon require new deals, not one of them has done enough to warrant the kind of money that renders J-Dub's contract onerous.ย
Washington still walks away with a lotto pick in this year's draft to boot, and Scoot Henderson is a reasonable flier even after acquiring Trae Young, whose future remains unresolved (player option).
That 2029 Denver first, meanwhile, is the perfect distance away: not so far it gives the Nuggets time to build a contender without prime Nikola Jokiฤ, but close enough that the Wizards aren't waiting a half-decade for it to convey.
Why the Oklahoma City Thunder do it
Seeing a could-be two-time reigning champion offload arguably its second-most important player in the name of juggling long-term finances would be a bummer. It's not a scenario any of us should bet on.
At the same time, the Thunder have looked like title favorites all postseasonโlargely without J-Dub. The breakout of (the unfathomably cheap) Ajay Mitchell is a real game-changer and might compel the front office to rethink its bigger-picture plan for extending this window.
Oklahoma City doesn't save much immediate money. The salaries are basically a wash when considering how much more the No. 1 pick will earn than the No. 12 selection. But (old friend) Jerami Grant's deal comes off the books after 2027-28โtwo full years before the Thunder have to worry about bankrolling AJ Dybantsa's or Darryn Peterson's next contract.
This will give executive vice president Sam Presti more flexibility when it comes to planning around the futures of Mitchell (under contract through 2027-28), Isaiah Hartenstein (team option), Lu Dort (team option), Cason Wallace (extension eligible), Jared McCain (extension eligible in 2027) and other players OKC may draft or look to acquire.ย ย
Why the Blazers do itย
Portland has eyes for both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. I would prioritize bigger names who provide more spacing, but the Blazers may see things differently.
While Davis is the riskier acquisition, he's bound to come at a cheaper asset cost. Portland has the wiggle room beneath the luxury tax to get away with the two-for-one proposed here.ย
Of everything the Blazers send out, Scoot Henderson is the toughest sell. Then again, with Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday in tow and Damian Lillard on his way back, maybe not.
Henderson turned in some strong postseason moments, but it would be a stretch to declare him the floor general of the future. And with his extension eligibility hitting this summer, Portland might prefer to part with him over any future first-rounders.ย
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to theย Hardwood Knocksย podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report'sย Grant Hughes.
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