Report points to five teams that could swing the NBA Draft with trades after the top four

With the NBA Draft approaching, CBS Sports suggested that teams will mostly refrain from trading in the top four selections, where certainty is higher about the landing spots for the highest-rated prospects. Beyond that range, however, the draft board becomes harder to predict, and the report argues that more teams may feel comfortable testing the market for value through trade.

In that framework, CBS Sports singled out four teams expected to be players in the near-term discussion for mid-first-round impact. The Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls, according to the report, should each be in position to land one of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, though the article also stresses that exact pairing of prospect to team remains unsettled as the draft gets closer.

The report’s underlying logic is that once the top tier of prospects is largely accounted for, teams that have built their boards around specific profiles can become more willing to move up or down if their preferred target is at risk of being taken. In that kind of environment, trade activity is less about disrupting consensus choices and more about capturing a specific fit at the right cost.

That matters for roster construction because the NBA draft is one of the few times each year when teams can add multiple layers of talent quickly, rather than relying exclusively on free agency or trades already in motion. If the early picks are relatively stable, teams selecting later can operate with more information about what is still available, which can increase the odds of agreements between teams with different needs, timelines, and salary considerations.

At the same time, the CBS Sports approach is cautious. It does not claim a specific trade will happen, and it does not promise that the four named teams will land the named prospects. It instead frames those teams as the most plausible landing spots among those that are not in the top-four orbit, while indicating that “things get complicated” after the first wave of selections.

For fans and front offices, the key watch point is what happens once the draft moves past the first four picks. If multiple teams maneuver, it can quickly reshape the board, forcing teams on the bubble of their preferred prospect to trade or adjust. If trades do not materialize as expected, then the teams highlighted by CBS Sports may simply wait and take their targets without paying an extra price.

In the immediate run-up, what remains uncertain is the draft-day reality behind the concept: whether each team’s preference holds firm, whether other teams decide to jump the queue, and how quickly the remaining prospects are absorbed once the market starts moving. With one day between the report and the draft itself, the next 24 hours should clarify which teams can translate draft flexibility into specific selections.