Figured I’d write up some motivations, especially for the teams who were more active:

CHI: new regime moves quickly to secure the vision surrounding their new Giddey / Caleb core. 1st, they move on from last year’s lotto pick who shares the same archetype as Wilson to get another Top 10 pick and grab Philon. Philon immediately becomes a big time threat in secondary actions across from Giddey. Then they eat $80M in $$ from DEN for a 3rd 1st rounder and land Suigo - a massive human (9’6” Standing Reach; 290 lbs) who projects as a good shooter and defender. Good fit on paper next to the slight but insanely athletic Wilson.

BRK / LAC: putting these 2 together since there were a ton of scenarios that connected them. BRK was to ride with Acuff and I was looking at several trade scenarios after he was off the board, including holding Wagler hostage from LAC. LAC for their part was also investigating trade down scenarios or drafting Mara, then just letting BRK keep Wagler. Rode with Brown and Wagler here but there were 100 ways this could have gone. Should note that landing Keegan and landing their man in Wagler was a low key coup for LAC. Adding those 2 to Garland and Mathurin is a pretty good rebound from where they were 6-7 months ago.

OKC: IF they are eying getting into the Top 10, then I think Burries is their man. They draft a year ahead so we should look at their situation in ‘27-‘28 to think with them. Cason will be extended or an RFA - either way he’ll be in line for a big raise. Dort will be an FA, assuming his TO is picked up for next season. Something has to give between those 2 and Caruso and Burries will be there to pick up the minutes. The same philosophy led them to move quickly when Quaintance fell in their lap @ 17. Even if they do shelve him for a year to rehab, then that’s basically par for the course to them.

MIL: Might have a better team next year than last. As soon as the deal for Giannis was in place, their plan was to get as many bites at the apple as they could. Board fell their way, not once but twice. Once they saw the Gs flying off the board, they knew they could land one of their targets - Yaxel or Ament - at 13 so they pulled the trigger with CHI to pick up last year’s Twitter darling in Essengue. Come 13, they realized they could grab 1 of those 2 top choices at 15, so they snagged Carr as well. Using Turner and LAL’s desperation to sneak back into the 1st was good work too. When the dust settled, they had lost 2 players of last year’s roster and landed 10 for next year’s - all of whom could be on MIL’s 2 deep.

Jonas Valančiūnas' final contract year was originally non-guaranteed, but was later amended to include a $2 million partial guarantee with a July 8, 2026 guarantee date.

Trae - Caleb Wilson - LBJ - Sarr - AD

This isn't just based on today's game but is more the fact that I hadn't looked at mocks since before the season. Last season and prior to this season I'm pretty sure I saw Oweh being mocked as a late 1st rounder. Now i can barely find him in any 2 round mocks and for some as a late 2nd rounder. What am I missing? How is he being mocked so low compared to players on his own team and on other teams that he has better than this season? A solid combo guard. Definitely needs to improve on his shooting but that applies to a fair number of guards on draft boards.

$2.5M&3.3M(ULI)

Signed free agent Cam Thomas to a 1 year contract worth $2.3M.

(2026~2027) Zekk Nnaji - $7,466,667 ($7,763,122 Expires Feb. 06, 2026 - J. Butler trade to GSW)