Grizzlies, Thunder, Pistons trade grades for 3-team 2026 NBA Draft deal

The NBA Draft is always full of surprises in the form of trades, and this one was no different. During the first round on Tuesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies rearranged the middle of the draft with a three-team trade.

The full details of the trade are as follows.

Thunder receive: No. 16 overall pick (Iowa PG Bennett Stirtz)

Grizzlies receive: No. 21 overall pick (Mexico F Karim Lopez), five second-round picks

Pistons receive: No. 17 overall pick (Stanford G Ebuka Okorie)

How did each team fare in this deal? Let’s get into what it means for all teams involved.

Thunder get another promising young piece

The Thunder gave up two second-round picks to move up one spot and take Bennett Stirtz, one of the best true floor generals in this draft. While it seems like a steep price to move up just one spot, Sam Presti has plenty of second-rounders to spare, so the cost isn’t bad for the Thunder to have to pay.

The pick is golden for Oklahoma City. Stirtz is an iron man who almost never came off the floor for Drake and Iowa under Ben McCollum, and he is a great offensive guard. He plays with great pace and is impossible to speed up, all while being a great table-setter for his teammates.

Of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell handle a lot of the on-ball duties for the Thunder, so you may be wondering why the Thunder would want a point guard in the first round. But fear not, Stirtz is an elite shooter who will be able to play off the ball and has great basketball IQ to make things happen even when he isn’t operating the offense. For a cost that is almost nothing given the Thunder’s stash of picks, this is a home run move.

Grade: A

Pistons pay steep price for another bench scorer

The Pistons gave up three second-round picks to move up four spots and take Okorie, who is an excellent scorer and will give the Detroit bench a spark plug that is desperately missed during its playoff exit against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

However, those second-rounders are valuable for a team like the Pistons that isn’t in nearly the same position that the Thunder are. Detroit still has holes in the rotation to fill and doesn’t have the same deep stockpile of picks, so this is a big investment.

Okorie is a good player, but this is a reach at No. 17. While the Stanford guard is explosive and has excellent scoring ability, something the Pistons desperately need, he is extremely small at just over 6-foot-1 without shoes and 186 pounds. In the playoffs, is someone with that build going to be able to hold up and play real minutes without getting hunted on defense?

Detroit’s biggest need this offseason was shooting, and there were a number of good shooters on the wing available if it had stayed put at No. 21. Both Duke’s Isaiah Evans and Baylor’s Cameron Carr were still on the board, and both would have provided more defensive value than Okorie on top of the shooting ability. This is a swing and a miss for the Pistons.

Grade: D

Grizzlies collect future picks, land intriguing international prospect

Meanwhile, after landing Cameron Boozer with the No. 3 overall pick, the Grizzlies stockpiled five future second-rounders and get Karim Lopez, an intriguing forward prospect out of Mexico.

Lopez has very good size and length and uses it to attack the basket well. He is also a solid athlete, which should help him find some upside on the defensive end of the floor. While he has a decent handle for his size, the jump shot still has a ways to go and will likely be what determines his offensive ceiling.

Still, getting a player with a lot of potential to pair with Boozer while also acquiring five future picks is good business for the Grizzlies. Those picks can be used to patch up the Memphis rotation in the future, get off of bad contracts or help acquire a key contributor in a trade. It’s not a home run, but this is sound thinking by Memphis.

Grade: B

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