NBA Draft Round 2 winners and losers: LaMelo Ball on the move? Must the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown? And players were drafted as well?

If we’re talking winners and losers of the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft, we have to start with New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, the league’s reigning Finals MVP.

Not only will Brunson be forever remembered in New York, the 33rd overall selection in 2018 will be mentioned every time the second round is aired — alongside Nikola Jokić, Manu Ginóbili and Draymond Green — as one of the greatest selections in draft history.

There were plenty more winners and losers on Wednesday. Let’s run them down:

Loser: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets

Casually dropped into the end of ESPN’s broadcast, courtesy of Shams Charania: “Multiple teams are strongly pursuing LaMelo Ball right now. The Hornets are engaged, I’m told.”

The news comes months after Ball was “open to a trade away from the franchise,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Kelly Iko. In between, though, the Hornets were one of the league’s hottest teams, showing promise as a future contender — with Ball at the helm of a team that includes Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and a ton of talent.

Ball had perhaps grown comfortable with the idea of building off the momentum in Charlotte, but the Hornets apparently have other ideas. According to insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of Substack, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors “have emerged as two of the teams with trade interest” in Ball. Let the sweepstakes begin!

Loser: The Boston Celtics, apparently

ESPN began its broadcast of the second round with a different report from Charania:

“The Boston Celtics are actively engaged in trade talks surrounding Jaylen Brown, with multiple interested teams, and I’m told there’s a sense of purpose — from teams around the league — that they feel from the Celtics in these conversations,” reported Charania.

This much was clear: Even after Boston’s failed pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brown’s name remains involved in trade discussions. Whether Boston is making the calls or on the receiving end of them does not much matter. Brown has reason to be upset.

The Celtics reportedly offered him and two first-round draft picks for Antetokounmpo. Boston executive Brad Stevens had an opportunity to dispel further trade speculation on Tuesday night and did not take it, telling reporters, “I’m never going to predict the future.”

The sharks smell blood in the water, and they are circling these Celtics, who have been perennial contenders with Brown and Jayson Tatum at the helm of several iterations of a talented roster. The odds of getting equal value now for Brown — a member of the All-NBA Second Team and a top-six MVP candidate this past season — are getting longer.

While Charania noted, “That does not mean though that a deal is guaranteed, because Jaylen Brown does have three years left on his contract,” the relationship is not going to get any better now that rumors are persisting. Who would blame Brown for asking out?

The Celtics landed St. John’s wing Dillon Mitchell with the 40th pick, but the news was an afterthought on a night the discussion in Boston shifted to Brown’s apparent availability.

Winner: Bruce Thornton, The Ohio State University

Now that the league has separated the draft into two nights, and the second round gets its own shine, the No. 31 pick has become quite an auction item. Teams want The Best Guy Who Wasn’t Drafted in the First Round, and the defending champions held his rights.

Those New York Knicks traded the No. 31 pick, along with No. 55, to the Houston Rockets for Nos. 39 and 53, plus a second-rounder in 2029, according to reports. And the Rockets selected The Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, whose own bio describes him as “an all-time great dude.” He is also a playmaking guard who fits well into a Houston system in need.

Loser: Mark Tatum, NBA deputy commissioner

Tatum has to juggle so many trades in the second round, you start to feel bad for him.

“We have another trade to announce,” he said, repeatedly, smiling through the confusion.

The first pick of the second round alone went from Washington to Oklahoma City to Houston to New York and back to Houston. How could we follow who is picking for whom?

Thankfully, we have who ultimately drafted whom for you here:

• 31. Bruce Thornton (Houston Rockets)

• 32. Richie Saunders (Memphis Grizzlies)

• 33. Isaiah Evans (Minnesota Timberwolves)

• 34. Meleek Thomas (Cleveland Cavaliers)

• 35. Trevon Brazile (Denver Nuggets)

• 36. Baba Miller (Los Angeles Clippers)

• 37. Ryan Conwell (Miami Heat)

• 38. Braden Smith (Indiana Pacers)

• 39. Jack Kayil (New York Knicks)

• 40. Dillon Mitchell (Boston Celtics)

• 41. Otega Oweh (Oklahoma City Thunder)

• 42. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (San Antonio Spurs)

• 43. Tyler Bilodeau (Brooklyn Nets)

• 44. Maliq Brown (San Antonio Spurs)

• 45. Emanuel Sharp (Sacramento Kings)

• 46. Felix Okpara (Washington Wizards)

• 47. Tyler Nickel (New York Knicks)

• 48. Tobi Lawal (Dallas Mavericks)

• 49. Bryce Hopkins (Denver Nuggets)

• 50. Jaden Bradley (Toronto Raptors)

• 51. Izaiyah Nelson (Orlando Magic)

• 52. Henri Veesaar (Atlanta Hawks)

• 53. Ugonna Onyenso (Detroit Pistons)

• 54. Lajae Jones (Golden State Warriors)

• 55. Nick Martinelli (Los Angeles Clippers)

• 56. Vsevolod Ishchenko (Dallas Mavericks)

• 57. Narcisse Ngoy (Los Angeles Clippers)

• 58. Jaron Pierre Jr. (New Orleans Pelicans)

• 59. Trey Kaufman-Renn (Minnesota Timberwolves)

• 60. Malique Lewis (Milwaukee Bucks)

Loser: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the draft broadcast of Ja Morant’s availability in Memphis, “It’s not really a question for the Grizzlies: They’re going to really try to trade him. I think we probably have seen the last moments of Ja Morant in a Grizzlies uniform.”

A two-time All-Star point guard is on the market, and it barely made a blip, because we have really known this for some time. Morant was also available at the deadline, and no teams bit. In fact, as ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins said on Wednesday, teams are asking the Grizzlies to attach first-round picks to Morant in order to take on the 26-year-old’s deal.

How far Morant has fallen. Once a future face of the league, now a salary dump. At 26.

Winner: Cameron Boozer, Memphis Grizzlies

Of course, Morant’s availability means the Grizzlies are giving the keys to Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft. This is his team now, and Memphis is acting accordingly, adding a marksman (Richie Saunders) with the No. 32 pick and trading three more second-rounders to the Pistons for enforcer Isaiah Stewart.

Boozer must be smiling, as the Grizzlies made the additions of one of the draft’s best movement shooters and one of the league’s toughest guys their next order of business.

Oh, and important to note: Boozer was the youngest player selected in the draft.

Winner: The Detroit Pistons’ salary-cap space

By dealing Stewart, a bona fide Sixth Man of the Year candidate this past season, the Pistons opened up even more salary-cap space and can get to as much as $30 million if they get creative. Whether in free agency or via trade, the Pistons can go big-game hunting with that cap room. Some names ESPN threw out on the broadcast included LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro. Those are big names!

Perhaps we should have expected this. The Pistons were reportedly gunning for Austin Reaves, before he agreed to a $185 million max contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.