The next time you hear that your favorite NBA team doesn’t have the assets to pull off a trade, remember that the Phoenix Suns are creating draft picks out of thin air. It might not be wise, but it’s certainly possible.
Going into the trade deadline, the Golden State Warriors are only limited in the first-round picks they can trade by one outstanding pick: A 2030 first-rounder, protected for picks 1-20 and held by the Washington Wizards. NBA teams can’t trade their first-round pick in consecutive years, so the Warriors can’t trade their selections in 2029 or 2031, even with the 2030 pick unlikely to convey. They don’t have their own second-round pick until 2029, but they do have two…
