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NBA Trades: 3 teams likely to trade their top-10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft

By Peter O'Keefe

PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 04: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA game at the Moda Center on March 04, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 04: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA game at the Moda Center on March 04, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /
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NBA Trades, 2022 NBA Draft
Feb 24, 2022; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) and guard De’Aaron Fox (5) talk during the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Golden 1 Center, NBA Trades: 3 teams likely to trade their top-10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

The NBA Draft Lottery took place in Chicago last week, with the fortune favoring the Orlando Magic, as they landed the number one overall pick. Teams will now analyze and explore their potential options, aiming to maneuver themselves into advantageous positions for both short and long-term success.

Multiple NBA teams may be actively interested in trading their top-10 draft pick, whether it be for an established player or in an attempt to move up the draft board for a higher-rated prospect.

Let’s look at three teams likely to trade their top-10 pick.

NBA Trades: 3 teams likely to trade their top-10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft – Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are enduring a highly-publicized playoff drought, with no postseason action now for 16 seasons. Having hired another new coach in Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Brown, could they use the fourth overall pick to try and generate some greater short-term success?

Whether or not there’s a suitable, realistic player worthy of trading the number four pick for, it does, at the very least, appear like the Kings may be shopping the pick to see what may become available. According to Mike Scotto of HoopsHype, the Kings seem determined to end their embarrassing drought.

"“After acquiring Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento has made it clear the goal is to end the franchise’s playoff drought … rival teams are keeping an eye on Sacramento to trade this pick”."

With Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox offering an offensively productive one-two punch, the Kings could undoubtedly do with some defensive reinforcements next to rookie guard Davion Mitchell. Sacramento ended the regular season with the fourth-worst defensive rating in the league at 114.8.

Conversely, could they use Mitchell and/or future picks to get in the conversation for one of the top three picks? This would give them access to one of the consensus top three prospects – Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith, or Paolo Banchero.

This may actually be a more viable option for Sacramento, assuming they’d be able to appease the Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, or Houston Rockets in some way. What’s the point of trading the fourth pick for one playoff series before falling back to mediocrity? Despite their complete lack of recent success, they should still be aiming to build a championship-contending team, not just a playoff one.