Orlando Magic’s 2026 First-Round Pick Could Be One Of NBA’s Most Valuable

Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman's conservative approach has helped them stockpile eight first-round picks over the next seven years. In addition to owning two this year, their 2026 pick has unique circumstances potentially raising its value.

In 2023, the Magic acquired 2026 pick swap rights from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for three second-round picks. While the deal went under the radar at the time, the Suns could be headed for a rebuild if Kevin Durant is moved, boosting the value of the swap.

NBA insider Yossi Gozlan recently noted this swap can potentially move them up 10 spots next draft.

"They have a very interesting situation going on next year," Gozlan said. "They have two first-round picks this year, but next year, they have the right to swap their first-round pick, their 2026 pick, with either the Suns or the Wizards. First, the Wizards are going to have the opportunity to swap with the Suns, which might not happen, because the Wizards, based on what happened last year, they'll still be worse than the Suns. But then the Magic have the right to swap whichever pick is the worst. They got the swap looking really nice for the Magic right now. If last season standings played out similarly to this year, then you've got the Suns maybe like in the middle of the lottery, and the Magic, assuming they do improve, instead of being 16, maybe they're in the early 20s, you're looking at maybe moving up 10 spots in the draft, going from middle to late first round pick to a lottery pick."

Despite potentially making a major jump in next year’s draft, they could use the pick as trade bait to land a proven scorer or move up in this year’s draft as they shift into a win-now mindset.

"This makes next year's first-round pick extremely valuable right now," Gozland stated. "There's a couple ways you can go about this. If you want, you can play things out. Maybe even jump up into the top four, and now you have the opportunity to draft another cornerstone at the same time. If you want to trade for an impactful player right now, and you're not going to include many of your top guys or any of them, then this selection is going to be highly coveted from other teams. I don't know how far out the Magic want to trade any picks in the future. They've never really traded any picks that far out." 

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