NBA Draft Rumors: Heading into the last week before the NBA Draft, there are three teams that are looking to trade out of the top 5.
The final week before the 2023 NBA Draft could prove to be quite eventual. Generally, you hear about teams trying to make a trade-up in an attempt to secure the player of their liking in drafts. However, this year may end up being the exception.
According to a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there are three teams that are trying to trade out of the top 5. Specifically, the Portland Trail Blazers (3rd), Houston Rockets (4th), and Detroit Pistons (5th) are looking for an opportunity to trade down.
If nothing else, this will add another interesting element heading into next week.
Will we see a historic number of teams trade down at the top of the 2023 NBA Draft?
It would be extremely surprising if all three teams managed to trade down. In fact, that’d probably be a rarity for the NBA Draft. For each team, though, there’s an argument to be made for trading down.
It’s easy to see why the Blazers would want to trade out of the No. 3 pick. Portland wants to build a contender around Damian Lillard and if they’re serious about that, trading the No. 3 overall pick seems like the starting point. Whether or not they find the right deal remains to be seen. However, I think it’s safe to say that if the Blazers end up making a selection with the No. 3 pick, it’s probably not a good sign for their ability to build around Lillard this offseason. But that’s another conversation for another day.
You can probably say similar things about the Rockets’ desires to trade down. It’s been well-documented that the Rockets are ready to make the pivot to a win-now roster (perhaps one that includes James Harden) and trading the No. 4 pick could be part of those plans.
For the Pistons, it’s probably one of two things. It could be more about not being able to get the prospect that they like at No. 5 or that they believe they can still snag their target later in the top 10.
The odds suggest that one or none of these teams will accomplish their goal of trading out of the top 5. But if there is a team that is looking to make a splash that finds itself out of the top 5, the opportunity will be there for some draft night trade fireworks.