Tanking Tips: Who owns whose picks in the 2014 NBA Draft?
The NBA's trading season unofficially begins on Dec. 15.
While we've already witnessed several trades in the early going, the trade market significantly opens up after that date. That's because teams are then free to trade players who were signed or acquired in the offseason.
Dec. 19 is another date to keep in mind, as players acquired before that date can be flipped once again by the NBA's trade deadline. (Technically, a player can be traded again before the 60-day window closes, but a team could not package him with other players.)
With trade season about to pick up, we thought we'd provide a refresher of who owns whose picks for the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft at present. First round picks are a major currency on the trade market, especially with a loaded draft, so it's worth remembering who does and does not have a pick.
The table below shows the picks each team may have, along with any relevant protections or stipulations. [All traded pick info courtesy of RealGM.]
| Team | Picks | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | ATL/BRO* | *Higher of ATL & BRO | ||
| BOS | BOS, ATL/BRO* | *Lower of ATL & BRO | ||
| BRO | ||||
| CHA | CHA*, POR**, DET*** | *Top-10 only | **Top-12 protected | ***Top-8 protected |
| CHI | CHI, CHA* | *Top-10 protected | ||
| CLE | CLE, SAC* | *Top-12 protected | ||
| DAL | DAL* | *Top-20 only | ||
| DEN | DEN/NY* | *Higher of DEN & NY | ||
| DET | DET* | *Top-8 only | ||
| GSW | ||||
| HOU | HOU | |||
| IND | IND* | *Top-14 only | ||
| LAC | LAC | |||
| LAL | LAL | |||
| MEM | MEM | |||
| MIA | MIA, PHI* | *Top-14 protected | ||
| MIL | MIL | |||
| MIN | MIN* | *Top-13 only | ||
| NO | NO* | *Top-5 only | ||
| NY | ||||
| OKC | OKC, DAL* | *Top-20 protected | ||
| ORL | ORL, DEN/NY* | *Lower of DEN & NY | ||
| PHI | PHI*, NO** | *Top-14 only | **Top-5 protected | |
| PHX | PHX, MIN*, WAS**, IND*** | *Top-13 protected | **Top-12 protected | ***Top-14 protected |
| POR | POR* | *Top-12 only | ||
| SAC | SAC* | *Top-12 only | ||
| SAS | SAS | |||
| TOR | TOR | |||
| UTA | UTA, GSW | |||
| WAS | WAS* | *Top-12 only |
And of course, if you're the creative type, there's always ESPN's Trade Machine to help you work through trade scenarios.
Note: Teams are also unable to trade their 2014 first round pick if their 2015 pick has already been traded. The teams that can freely trade their 2014 first rounder without restriction are: Atl, Bos, Chi, Cle, Den, Hou, Mil, OKC, Orl, Phx, SA, Tor, Uta.