At long last, we get out first trade of the 2026 NBA Draft, and it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder at the center of things. Let’s dig into the details of this deal.

The Memphis Grizzlies originally owned the 16th pick, and the Oklahoma City Thunder owned the 17th pick. For the price of two second-round picks, the Thunder jumped up one spot and selected Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz.

Memphis, now picking at 17, decided to trade back once again with the Detroit Pistons, who owned the 21st pick. For the price of three second-round picks, Detroit moved up four spots to select Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie.

The Grizzlies went on the clock for the fourth time today at 21. With five extra second-round picks, the Grizzlies selected Karim Lopez with their second pick of the first round.

Here are some grades on the deal for all three teams:

Oklahoma City Thunder: C+

I couldn’t care less about the picks. Two second-rounders are a pittance to Sam Presti. My issue is with the player; Stirtz isn’t an elite athlete, is small for a guard, and dribbles the air out of the ball to score. He can absolutely shoot and play off the ball, but a 6’2″ guard who doesn’t play great defense is hard to justify off the ball, so he needs heavy on-ball usage to be viable. Perhaps they’ll give that to him on the bench, but I feel he’s a bit redundant with Ajay Mitchell. Still, he’s ready to play now, and could fit in some lineups and matchups.

Detroit Pistons: A

Ebuka Okorie is, without question, a top-10 talent in this draft. Though smaller for a guard at 6’2″, he makes up for that with a 6’8″ wingspan and a lot of hops. An elite driver and shooter who put up over 23 PPG as a one-and-done at Stanford, Okorie brings an elite downhill threat to Detroit’s bench and fits their defensive infrastructure as a competitive point-of-attack defender. For a few second-round picks, moving up to get another great defender who can juice their offensive attack is a significant win.

Memphis Grizzlies: A

When you’re heading into a full rebuild like the Grizzlies are, getting more picks is always a plus. The talent in this portion of the draft is fairly flat to me, so getting five seconds to move back five spots is already a good move. Though I do think better players than Karim Lopez were available in this range, Karim Lopez is a great gamble. He’s an athletic monster with a lot of two-way upside, and Memphis has all the time in the world to let him figure it out on the court. If reports are true, they were set on selecting him at 16 before OKC called, so they got their guy with five extra second-round picks to boot. That’s good business.