Editing NBA draft (section)

== Trades ==
The NBA allows teams to trade draft picks, with all of a team's first and second round draft picks in the next 7 drafts being tradable.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=2023 NBA trade deadline: How the Stepien Rule dictates what first-round picks teams can and can't move |url=https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2023-nba-trade-deadline-how-the-stepien-rule-dictates-what-first-round-picks-teams-can-and-cant-move/amp/ |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=www.cbssports.com}}</ref>

Draft picks in the NBA can be unprotected or protected. With unprotected picks the team who receives the pick is guaranteed to have the pick no matter where it falls, whereas a protected pick allows the team who trades a pick to retain it if it falls within a current range (such as being a top-5 pick or a draft lottery pick) with them often agreeing to give the team who receives the pick an unprotected pick in the following year's draft as compensation. As a result of this unprotected picks are generally considered more valuable than protected picks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-17 |title=How the Pick Protection Took Over the NBA Transaction Game |url=https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/3/17/22335035/nba-trade-deadline-first-pick-protection |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=www.theringer.com |language=en}}</ref>

Another common draft pick trade is a pick swap. Under this trade the team who receives the pick is given the right to swap picks with the other team if they are higher or retain their pick if it turns out to be higher pick than the draft pick of the team who traded the pick.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-19 |title=How do pick swaps work in the NBA? |url=https://www.deseret.com/2022/9/16/23338834/how-do-nba-draft-pick-swaps-work/ |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref>

Under current NBA rules a team must have at least one first round pick (which can either be their own pick or another team's pick) in every other draft under the Stepien Rule.<ref name=":1" />