05-29-2026, 08:04 AM
To use the Memphis example, some asked why the restriction wouldn’t be that Utah couldn’t land in the top five in 2027 regardless of whose pick it owned. Surely the rule was never designed to stop the Grizzlies from picking there. As multiple general managers told The Athletic long before this rule was adopted, however, this created asymmetries in the market that likely would have resulted in teams of roughly equal talent just trading picks with each other. Teams could also sidestep trade restrictions by agreeing long beforehand to make trades immediately after the draft. “That was the system that we felt was most ripe for manipulations, because there are both timing elements and arbitrated elements,” Wasch said. “Teams could theoretically agree to trade right after the draft, skirting the restriction that way, or trade in advance to avoid the restriction and extract value some other way.”