Team Asset Rankings 2024-25: Which franchises have the most valuable pieces?

As the 2024-25 NBA season lurches towards us, almost all of the summertime business is done. Aside from the usual turnover for the very final few spots, rosters are, for the most part, the same today as they will be come opening night.

That said, line-ups are forever fluid, and transactions are always going on. Just last season, for example. Damian Lillard (1st October) and Jrue Holiday (27th September) were two massive names to be moved in the free agency/training camp interregnum period, and James Harden (1st November) was only a couple of weeks into the season.

It matters, then, who has what. And it will matter even more come the midseason trade deadline. With that in mind, there follows a point-in-time appraisal and ranking of each NBA team’s assets in the trade market.

1

Oklahoma City Thunder

This is the third edition of HoopsHype’s annual asset rankings, and the Thunder have now topped all three. The youngest team in the league is also one of the best, have one of the world’s best players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have him tied in through his prime years to a contract that is small by comparison to other max salaries out there, and still have so many of their outstanding future picks to come to fruition. The gap to the field in these rankings has closed, but in large part, this is merely because the assets are becoming realities, which all assets must do eventually.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their own firsts; own all their own seconds except 2025

External draft picks incoming: Far, far too many to mention

Salary cap situation: Good flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 24.5 (youngest in the NBA)

2

Utah Jazz

The other reason for the gap to the field closing is the continued work of the Jazz, who will have almost as big of an influence over the next few NBA drafts as the Thunder will. And what they also have is one of the most tradeable players in the league in Lauri Markkanen. The Finnish star recently signed an extension with Utah, which makes him untradeable for the remainder of the 2024-25 season, but it also consolidates his trade value thereafter. And in being on a different timeline to the roster around him – and a combination of size and shooting that the entire league badly covets – he will be a high-value off-court asset again some day soon.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 first owed to Oklahoma City, top ten protected; no seconds until 2029

External draft picks incoming: Potentially eight firsts to come, and a right to swap another in 2028; no seconds

Salary cap situation: Plenty of flexibility both present and future

Traded Player Exceptions:

$3,044,872 – expires 10th February 2025 (Simone Fontecchio)

$6,473,006 – expires 10th February 2025 (Kelly Olynyk)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Gabriele Procida, #36, 2022; Balsa Koprivica, #57, 2021

Average age of roster: 24.8 (3rd in the NBA)

3

San Antonio Spurs

Historically, it has rarely been the case that the Spurs are out of the playoffs, but now that they are, they have been doing it right. Notwithstanding the enormous, franchise-altering piece of luck that saw them win the 2023 draft lottery and select Victor Wembanyama, shrewd decisions around that and the dividends paid in the trade of Dejounte Murray have seen the Spurs in a position where they have a comparatively low payroll, plenty of draft assets, a unicorn star, and many years to optimize the pieces around him.

Internal draft picks outgoing: None whatsoever

External draft picks incoming: Five firsts and two other pick swaps; twelve seconds

Salary cap situation: Low level of committed future salary

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Juan Nunez, #36, 2024

Average age of roster: 24.7 (2nd in the NBA)

4

Brooklyn Nets

The team that once so famously had the emptiest cupboard imaginable are now armed with plenty of draft picks. By virtue of their trade of Mikal Bridges last season in particular, the Nets have plenty of bullets to use in the next few drafts, and some decent players on the roster to pair them with. You would also hope that they will have learned from the Prokohorov days on what to do with it all.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their firsts except a right to swap in 2027 with Houston; own all their seconds except 2027 (going to either Washington or Detroit)

External draft picks incoming: Up to five other firsts; six seconds

Salary cap situation: Very clear once Ben Simmons expires

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Vanja Marinkovic, #60, 2019

Average age of roster: 25.9 (13th in the NBA)

5

Washington Wizards

In a complete refutation of the Chicago Bulls’ approach (see quite some way below), Washington has stockpiled the second-rounders, and then some. Firsts would be better, of course, but seconds can facilitate trades, including trade-ups for firsts, while being easier to obtain. And if you have nearly twenty bites at a cherry, surely at least one of them will pay dividends. Next year figures to be limbo for the Wizards’ franchise, but starting next summer, they will hold a good number of cards and can make moves around the league.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 first owed to New York, top-ten protected; 2028 and 2029 seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: Four firsts to come, and a right to swap firsts in 2030 with Phoenix, potentially up to 14 second-round picks to come

Salary cap situation: Nothing committed beyond 2027

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Yannick Nzosa, #54, 2022

Average age of roster: 25.5 (8th in the NBA)

6

Orlando Magic

The Magic have put themselves in an enviable position. They are young, good, cheap, and have more draft assets incoming than outgoing despite being a team on the way up. Even Jonathan Isaac is back and playing, and for a reduced price. It would be somewhat uncharacteristic for them to be aggressive buyers in the mid-season trade market, but then, this is also a position they have not been in for a generation, so the opportunity and logic are there.

Internal draft picks outgoing: None

External draft picks incoming: 2025 first from Denver and 2026 right to swap firsts with Phoenix or Washington; right to swap seconds with New Orleans in both 2030 and 2031, along with five other seconds

Salary cap situation: Well-managed

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 25.4 (6th in the NBA)

7

Portland Trail Blazers

Unusually, in an era where the three-future-first-plus-two-swaps “blockbuster” trade offer for superstars has become the norm, the Blazers did not stockpile draft capital when they traded Damian Lillard last season. They instead mostly got back useful players – Deandre Ayton, Jrue Holiday, the latter of which was turned into Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams, etc – leaving themselves in an awkward position of neither bottoming-out nor competing for anything. There are several players on the roster they may be hoping to trade for assets in the near future – Ayton, Williams, Jerami Grant – and who thus count as assets themselves. But for now, Portland is going to go with their new young core of Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan and Shaedon Sharpe and keep the rest in flux for later.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Lottery-protected first owed to Chicago through 2028; all but two seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: 2029 first and two rights to swap, five seconds

Salary cap situation: Little owed after 2026

Traded Player Exceptions:

$8,778,377 – expires 27th September 2024 (Damian Lillard)

$862,382 – expires 1st October 2024 (Jrue Holiday)

$6,875,000 – expires 6th July 2025 (Malcolm Brogdon)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 24.9 (5th in the NBA)

8

New Orleans Pelicans

The trading away of Jrue Holiday nearly four years ago continues to pay off for the Pelicans, with multiple future assets still to come, and the more recent trade to bring in Dejounte Murray cost only a few of them. They thus sold at the right time and bought at the right time, and thus have an overall net gain on the asset balance sheet.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their own firsts; no seconds until 2030, and the right to swap seconds in both 2030 and 2031 belongs to Orlando

External draft picks incoming: 2025 and 2027 firsts, plus the right to swap firsts in 2026 with Milwaukee; a protected 2027 second

Salary cap situation: Not bad

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 26.4 (17th in the NBA)

9

Detroit Pistons

Even after giving Tobias Harris $25 million a season, the Pistons still have cap space to work with in 2024/25, which if used right to be a great facilitator in league-wide trades that will net them more draft capital. With so many teams in the top half worried about payroll concerns and the impact of the apron system in future seasons, the Pistons are well-leveraged to take advantage and name a high price for their ability to serve as salary relief. Indeed, they have been for a while, but have instead done things like give Harris $25 million.

Internal draft picks outgoing: A first owed to New York; a 2026 second owed to one of three possible teams

External draft picks incoming: 2024 first-round pick, Atlanta Hawks

Salary cap situation: Still with plenty of 2024/25 cap room

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 24.8 (4th in the NBA)

10

Charlotte Hornets

For all their years in the lottery, the Hornets have never had much in the way of spending power, draft capital or quality young pieces to show for it. Things have improved over the past couple of seasons, however, as the cap quagmire has been confined to history. The Hornets’ projection in the coming years depends on the prognoses of Brandon Miller and Tidjane Salaun in particular, but there are more young players to come, and do not overlook the value of the draft rights to James Nnaji, which could pay dividends from next season.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their first unless 2025 pick falls outside the lottery, when it goes to San Antonio; own all their seconds unless 2025 first falls inside the lottery, in which case they owe both 2026 and 2027 seconds to San Antonio

External draft picks incoming: 2027 first-round pick from Miami, unless it falls in the lottery; up to four additional seconds

Salary cap situation: Decent

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: James Nnaji, #31, 2023

Average age of roster: 26.2 (15th in the NBA)

11

Houston Rockets

After three years of asset accumulation, the Rockets have spent the past couple pushing forwards again, and this change of pace is reflected in their draft pick situation. Near-enough a net neutral in terms of what picks they will have, the Rockets will also potentially soon have a lot of money to spend, and while this would cost them the players such as Fred VanVleet that saw them push forwards in the first place, it is nevertheless an option and an asset.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2026 first going to either Oklahoma City or Philadelphia; each of 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: Firsts in 2027 and 2029; three seconds

Salary cap situation: Incredibly clear after this year

Traded Player Exceptions: $797,080 – expires 17th October 2024 (Kevin Porter Jr)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Alpha Kaba, #60, 2017

Average age of roster: 25.9 (12th in the NBA)

12

Memphis Grizzlies

With Ja Morant’s wasted 2023-24 season putting the brakes on the franchise’s development for a year, the Grizzlies were able to reload via the draft with Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, both of whom could be assets on both the court and the market, depending on how this season goes. This in turn means that while it was by circumstances rather than design, the asset stockpile was replenished this summer, leaving the Grizzlies in a solid overall position in these rankings.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their own firsts; own none of their own seconds until 2030, and even that has only top 50 protection

External draft picks incoming: Own first-round swap rights in 2026 and 2030; four incoming seconds

Salary cap situation: Not a lot of flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Tarik Biberovic, #56, 2023

Average age of roster: 25.7 (9th in the NBA)

13

Atlanta Hawks

Having landed the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and taking the somewhat-raw Zaccharie Risacher, the Hawks are at something of a crossroads. They never intended to be in the lottery, let alone in a position to win it, and this in-between dichotomy is reflected in their assets. The Hawks traded a lot of their draft capital to acquire Dejounte Murray, and did not get much of it back when trading him away, leaving them without premium draft assets. But they do have an enormous trade exception created in the Murray trade, that could make them a significant player in what might be a frigid February 2025 trade market.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 and 2027 firsts owed to San Antonio, along with a 2026 swap; own no seconds until 2030

External draft picks incoming: 2025 (Sacramento) and 2027 (New Orleans or Milwaukee) firsts; four seconds

Salary cap situation: Reasonable flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions:

$3,712,920 – expires 27th June 2025 (AJ Griffin)

$25,266,266 – expires 7th July 2025 (Dejounte Murray)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Nikola Djurisic, #43, 2024

Average age of roster: 25.8 (11th in the NBA)

14

Toronto Raptors

Whereas teams such as the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder have yielded enormous hauls in the deconstruction of their previous incarnations, the Raptors have not. More emotionally bonded by the fact that those players won a title, the front office did not get optimum prices for their now-departed core, and as such are in the NBA’s bottom half without the plethora of picks and cap flexibility as their peers. That said, they are certainly not badly positioned, and can pick from several new directions going forward.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Own all their own firsts; 2025 second owed to Detroit

External draft picks incoming: 2026 first from Indiana, top four protected; 2025 second from Portland

Luxury tax situation: Not a huge amount of flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions:

$1,379,527 – expires 30th December 2024 (Precious Achiuwa)

$5,107,652 – expires 17th January 2025 (Pascal Siakam)

$1,607,916 – expires 10th February 2025 (Kira Lewis Jr)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 26.2 (16th in the NBA)

15

Philadelphia 76ers

Daryl Morey-led teams go for old veteran benches, and this year’s Sixers will be no different. Robert Covington, Danny Green, Nic Batum, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Pat Beverley and PJ Tucker have all gone, but in their places have come Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and a returning Kyle Lowry, all of whom should play useful minutes yet none of whom can be described as “assets” on the market. Nonetheless, even with hefty payroll commitments going forward, there is enough draft capital remaining (having replenished it somewhat with the James Harden trade) to be in the buyer’s side of the market during the season. And with the age and mileage of their Joel Embiid/Paul George core, they will need to be.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 first owed to Oklahoma City, and another first owed to Brooklyn two years later; 2025 and 2026 seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: 2026 first, 2028 first and 2029 right to swap firsts with the Clippers; two seconds

Salary cap situation: Significant future expenditure already

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 28.2 (28th in the NBA)

16

Chicago Bulls

For whatever reason, the Bulls have never put much value into second-round picks, a concerted organizational decision going back a generation that seems as odds with their espousing of the quality of Julian Phillips and Ayo Dosunmu. Both their internal development and asset accumulation has been fairly ineffective over the past couple of seasons, and trading for more veterans is not the way out of it. They should therefore be looking to gain more assets from others rather than using their own, and if they are to use the DeMar DeRozan trade exception, make sure they get back players on the right timeline.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 first goes to San Antonio, unless it falls in the top ten; 2025, 2026 and 2027 seconds all traded away

External draft picks incoming: Lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick from Portland; 2025 and 2028 seconds from Sacramento

Luxury tax situation: Reasonably clear upon the expiration of Lonzo Ball’s contract

Traded Player Exceptions:

$2,872,960 – expires 23rd June 2025 (Alex Caruso)

$17,506,232 – expires 8th July 2025 (DeMar DeRozan)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 25.5 (7th in the NBA)

17

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas does not have much in the way of draft capital to work with, but they do have a good-size trade exception. Created by the trade of Tim Hardaway Jr in a cap-clearing move to the Pistons, this exception will now allow them to take back salary beyond the cap in another trade, as long as they can stay below the requisite apron amount in doing so. Given that they are pushing hard for immediate success, they will want to find a way to use it all.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2027 first is only top-two protected otherwise Charlotte’s, Oklahoma City owns swap rights on the 2028 first, 2029 first going to either Houston or Brooklyn, and 2030 also has a swap; no seconds until 2032

External draft picks incoming: No firsts owned; 2025 second from either Denver or Philadelphia

Salary cap situation: A small amount of flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions:

$4,000,000 – expires 10th February 2025 (Seth Curry)

$16,193,183 – expires 6th July 2025 (Tim Hardaway Jr)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Melvin Ajinca, #51, 2024

Average age of roster: 26.8 (21st in the NBA)

18

Indiana Pacers

Historically, the Pacers are much more reticent to expend their first-round draft capital in trades than most of their peers, a strategy which remains largely true today. They did break the practice to engage in the Pascal Siakam trade talks, but there is no doubt that that was the right time to do so. This, then, puts them in a situation of being fairly young, quite good, and with the long-term assets to turn into more short-term improvements, if they so wish. They can be buyers for a third season in a row. But will they?

Internal draft picks outgoing: Top-four protected 2026 first owed to Toronto; 2026 and 2027 seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; six seconds

Salary cap situation: The money is mostly spent

Traded Player Exceptions: $159,471 – expires 10th February 2025 (Buddy Hield)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Mojave King, #47, 2023

Average age of roster: 25.7 (10th in the NBA)

19

Golden State Warriors

It would appear that with the end of the Klay Thompson era also came the end of the record-setting payrolls. The Warriors’ ownership has been griping about the increasing costs of everything for a while, and have lessened their committed future salary accordingly. This in turn gives them more flexibility with any aggressive spending, and alleviates the need to use more draft capital to shift salary, as was the case behind the pick still owed to Washington, used in the Jordan Poole trade.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2030 first owed to Washington, top-20 protected; no seconds until 2029

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; 2026 and 2028 seconds from Atlanta

Salary cap situation: Better than it was

Traded Player Exceptions:

$2,019,706 – expires 10th February 2025 (Cory Joseph)

$7,301,587 – expires 6th July 2025 (Klay Thompson)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Quinten Post, #52, 2024

Average age of roster: 28.0 (27th in the NBA)

20

Denver Nuggets

A recent report cites a disconnect between the Nuggets’ coach staff and front office, with the front office reportedly wanting to prioritize the development of the team’s draft picks over more veteran acquisitions. Debating the merits of a team doing that when it also has the best player the world entering his prime seasons is not for this space. But what is clear from the above is that the Nuggets own more of their own draft future than is usual for a contender, which could have value in trades, if they ever agree to use them for such.

Internal draft picks outgoing: A top-five protected pick is owed to Oklahoma City at some point between now and 2030; only two seconds remaining

External draft picks incoming: None whatsoever

Salary cap situation: Pretty clogged up

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 26.7 (18th in the NBA)

21

Sacramento Kings

The Kings are one of several teams in a win-now mode, as evidenced by their major offseason acquisition of DeMar DeRozan. They would have fewer future assets and more immediate impact had they been able to complete a trade earlier this year for Pascal Siakam, as they were hoping to do before Siakam declined their overtures – the aggression to buy in a buyer’s market, then, is undisputed. But what is also true is that the Kings made a salary-dump trade this summer when they moved Sasha Vezenkov and Davion Mitchell to the Raptors, giving up the rights to Jamal Shead and a future second-round pick to do so. There is a cap on this aggression, and a finite amount of resources.

Internal draft picks outgoing: A protected first owed to Atlanta; three seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: None whatsoever

Salary cap situation: Fairly average amount of committed future salary

Traded Player Exceptions:

$547,640 – expires 28th June 2025 (Davion Mitchell)

$6,341,464 – expires 28th June 2025 (Sasha Vezenkov)

$5,893,768 – expires 7th July 2025 (Chris Duarte)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 27.0 (22nd in the NBA)

22

Los Angeles Lakers

Despite playing home to the oldest player in the league – the soon-to-be-40-year-old LeBron James – the Lakers have a relatively young and fresh-legged roster, with only three other players (Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Christian Wood) having more than six years of NBA experience. This is representative of the fact that, despite their obvious push for competitiveness in LeBron’s twilight years, they have not decimated the asset pile and negated the value of youth. And this in turn means they still have some draft assets to offer in trades.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025 and 2027 firsts owed to Atlanta and Utah respectively, 2026, 2028 and 2029 seconds traded away

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; 2025 second from the Clippers

Salary cap situation: Fairly full

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 26.2 (14th in the NBA)

23

New York Knicks

Aside from the couple of 2025 firsts they received in the trade of Ousmane Dieng two years ago – both of which seem likely to defer due to their protections – the Knicks have emptied out the first-round pick cupboard, and they only have as many incoming seconds as they do due to an unusual deal at this year’s draft that saw them take five of Oklahoma City’s many, many excess second-round picks in exchange for the #26 pick and the rights to Dillon Jones. Given their prioritization of immediate gains, and their obvious willingness to trade draft picks away, one can only conclude that all those picks are also on the market. None, though, are premium assets, and the cap flexibility is minimal.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031 firsts traded away, as well as the right to swap in 2028; no seconds in 2025, 2028, 2029 or 2030

External draft picks incoming: Protected 2025 firsts from both Washington and Detroit; seven seconds

Salary cap situation: Substantial future commitments

Traded Player Exceptions:

$5,241,072 – expires 30th December 2024 (R.J. Barrett)

$3,873,025 – expires 10th February 2025 (Malachi Flynn)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Rokas Jokubaitis, #34, 2021; Mathias Lessort, #50, 2017

Average age of roster: 26.7 (19th in the NBA)

24

Miami Heat

Throughout the Pat Riley and Andy Elisburg era, the Heat have almost always traded away the future for the now, the youth for the veterans. As can be seen above in their average age and draft capital situations, this remains the case, which does not make for a high placing in these rankings (where “assets” is largely albeit not entirely synonymous with “picks”).

Internal draft picks outgoing: Lottery-protected firsts traded in both 2025 and 2027, to Oklahoma City and Charlotte respectively; all seconds traded except 2031 (2027 via a de facto swap)

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; a 2026 second from the Lakers

Salarp cap situation: Pretty clogged up

Traded Player Exceptions: $6,477,319 – expires 22nd January 2025 (Kyle Lowry)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 27.6 (26th in the NBA)

25

Boston Celtics

Draft assets are not particularly important when you are the defending NBA champions, whose key cogs are still only entering their prime years. The Celtics went all-in last summer with their acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and it worked. No regrets, nor much reason to change anything drastic. Then again, with the payroll as it is, not much in the way of options to do so either.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2028 right to swap firsts owed to San Antonio, 2029 first to either Portland or Washington; own no seconds until 2030

External draft picks incoming: 2025 and 2026 seconds from as-yet-undetermined teams

Salary cap situation: Very limited by the aprons and tax

Traded Player Exceptions:

$89,025 – expires 2nd February 2025 (Lamar Stevens)

$2,019,706 – expires 10th February 2025 (Dalano Banton)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Juhann Begarin, #45, 2021

Average age of roster: 27.2 (23rd in the NBA)

26

Cleveland Cavaliers

By and large, the Cavaliers have spent everything spendable. They have made a hard push for immediate competitiveness, in terms of both their salary commitments and draft capital, and while the relative youth of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley sees them retain a long-term future and the opportunity to reload if necessary, there is nothing left in the chamber for another Donovan Mitchell-size deal.

Internal draft picks outgoing: Three firsts still owed to Utah, along with a 2028 right to swap; 2030 second owed to San Antonio

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; 2025 and 2027 seconds from Milwaukee and Denver respectively

Salary cap situation: Little flexibility

Traded Player Exceptions: None

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Khalifa Diop, #39, 2022

Average age of roster: 27.5 (25th in the NBA)

27

Phoenix Suns

As explored in their offseason primer piece here at HoopsHype, the Suns took their shot when they assembled the trio of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. That cost them several useful players, most of their draft picks, and hundreds of millions in salaries and tax penalties. There are not many useful tradeable players or draft picks left, and the punitive tax increments combined with the functional limitations of the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement make it very hard to make significant upgrades. That trio, then, will have to work,

Internal draft picks outgoing: Incredibly complicated conditions on almost all of their firsts; no seconds until 2031

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; 2026 and 2031 seconds from Denver

Salary cap situation: The league’s highest payroll

Traded Player Exceptions:

$1,119,563 – expires 27th September 2024 (Toumani Camara)

$6,500,000 – expires 27th September 2024 (Cameron Payne)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: None

Average age of roster: 29.0 (30th in the NBA)

28

Minnesota Timberwolves

If it seems as though there is a clear delineation between the teams that traded away most of their draft picks and the teams that acquired them all, there is. It is also immediately obvious which side of the divide the Wolves are on. With $200-plus million annual payrolls and the surrendering of almost every draft pick to assemble and retain the Karl-Anthony Towns/Rudy Gobert/Anthony Edwards trio, there is little else available to use on the market now.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031 firsts all traded, as well as swaps in 2026 and 2030; traded all their seconds except 2029 and 2031

External draft picks incoming: No firsts; four seconds and a 2031 second-round swap

Salary cap situation: Highest future committed payroll in the league

Traded Player Exceptions:

$4.000,000 – expires 10th February 2024 (Troy Brown Jr)

$8,780,488 – expires 6th July 2025 (Kyle Anderson)

$2,537,040 – expires 6th July 2025 (Wendell Moore Jr)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Matteo Spagnolo, #50, 2022

Average age of roster: 26.8 (20th in the NBA)

29

Los Angeles Clippers

It was not a good summer for the Clippers. They lost Paul George, were not able to get in anything of substance to cover the loss, and yet because of the trade for James Harden and PJ Tucker last season, they remain old and expensive. The draft picks are mostly gone, and the opportunities for meaningful internal growth are minimal. Kawhi Leonard, then, might become their best asset.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2026 and 2028 firsts traded away, as are rights to swap in 2025, 2027 and 2029; no seconds until 2030, and even that has a right to swap on it

External draft picks incoming: None whatsoever

Salary cap situation: Reasonable

Traded Player Exceptions: $559,782 – expires 1st November 2024 (Filip Petrusev)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Ismael Kamagate, #46, 2022

Average age of roster: 28.2 (29th in the NBA)

30

Milwaukee Bucks

In terms of draft capital, the Bucks have only their 2031 picks to trade. That’s it. In terms of tradeable players on the roster, they will surely have to consider the possibilities of moving on from Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton at some point – for a lack of alternative trade options, if nothing else – and perhaps hope somebody out there sees a big future in MarJon Beauchamp. The takeaway here is obvious – the Bucks have very few assets, and will have to strike it rich with the minimum salary exception.

Internal draft picks outgoing: 2025, 2027 and 2029 firsts traded away, as are rights to swap in 2026, 2028 and 2030; all seconds traded until 2031

External draft picks incoming: None whatsoever

Salary cap situation: A very heavy payroll burden

Traded Player Exceptions:

$2,019,706 – expires 10th February 2025 (Robin Lopez)

$2,019,706 – expires 10th February 2025 (Cameron Payne)

Potentially useful draft rights owned: Hugo Besson, #58, 2022

Average age of roster: 27.5 (24th in the NBA)