After the NBA Finals are done and the parade is over, the news starts flying so quickly it's hard to keep up. It's enough to make one wonder how Shams gets any sleep over the summer between the draft, trades, and free agency. He must be a ball of nerves with his phone going off every five minutes until the regular season starts back up in October. And there have already been some major moves.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is now on the Miami Heat. LaMelo Ball is going to be a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. And Ja Morant is on his way to Portland to become a Trail Blazer. Not enough? Devin Carter will be an Atlanta Hawk. That last one might not have been as big a deal as the other three.
Some of these titanic trades are going to thoroughly shift the NBA landscape going into the 2026-2027 season. What does the situation look like now, and who is on top?
30. Utah Jazz
If you think that getting a top-five draft pick two years in a row would make the Jazz remotely relevant, you would be sadly mistaken. After drafting Ace Bailey with their fifth pick in 2026, Utah got Darryn Petersen with the number two pick in 2026. They are both heavy hitters.
On top of that, Utah has no shortage of talent on the team, due in no small part to their 2026 Trade Deadline deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. That netted them Jaren Jackson Jr., a two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year, to position alongside Lauri Markkanen.
Despite a high level of talent, the Jazz struggle to put everything together into something coherent. A "championship or bust" mentality combined with constantly tanking to protect draft picks has left them out of any serious conversations. Maybe Petersen's presence will force that to change.
29. New Orleans Pelicans
It's almost impossible to figure out what the Pels are trying to do on a day-to-day basis. They have had plenty of talented players on the roster over the last few seasons, yet nothing seems to work. Part of their issues are trading everyone except the one guy who absolutely needs to go.
New Orleans has a death grip on Zion Williamson like he's the last life preserver on the Titanic. It's a comparison that works on a couple of levels. He was drafted first overall in 2019 but has struggled due to personal issues, conditioning inconsistencies, and nonstop injuries.
Drafting Jeremiah Fears and Derick Queen in 2025 should have been a turning point for the team, but it wasn't. Their inability to let Zion go continues to hamstring them as a franchise. Until they wake up and smell the beignets, the Pelicans simply aren't going anywhere.
28. Washington Wizards
This is another franchise that seems to always be making moves but cannot put the pieces together. They traded for both Trae Young and Anthony Davis, which seems good. While Young has committed to the team, Davis is not all in on the Wizards and is reportedly interested in a move.
On top of that, they just got AJ Dybantsa, the number one pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They also have other great young players like Alex Sarr and Tre Johnson, both of whom were top-ten draft picks in their respective years. Somehow, that's still not enough.
Young is good, but he couldn't get the job done in Atlanta for a reason. That's unlikely to change in Washington. Plus, the Wizards have one of the worst head coaches in the league in Brian Keefe. Until they get rid of him, it doesn't matter how good they draft or trade.
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