Everyone has already dismissed the New York Knicks’ control over the Washington Wizards’ 2026 first-round pick as immaterial. It has top-eight protection, so the bad-on-purpose Wizards need to end up with the No. 9 or later selection for it to convey. That’s clearly not going to happen.
Right?
Not so fast.
Washington has been playing .500 basketball since the middle of December. It has not faced a murderer’s row of opponents, but with every win, it increases the chance that New York actually winds up with an extra first-round pick.
Not that the Knicks will lose sleep if this doesn’t pan out.