NBA Draft tiebreakers clarify Phoenix Suns’ 2026 draft pick

The Phoenix Suns’ draft pick history is convoluted through the end of the 2020s because of their blockbuster trades involving Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, plus a handful of pick swaps and minor deals that followed.

The quick version is that Phoenix holds only the No. 47 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft after the NBA ran through several tiebreaking procedures on Monday.

How we got to the Suns owning the 47th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft

The Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic originally owned the 16th, 17th and 18th picks, respectively, in this year’s draft based on their finish in the NBA standings. Then, the three teams reverse in the second round to originally own the 46th, 47th and 48th picks.

Now, what changed for Phoenix to only own the 47th pick this year?

The Suns won a tiebreaker for the first round with fellow 45-win clubs in Philadelphia and Orlando.

The 76ers won second in that three-way tie, and that sorted the 16th through 18th picks, putting the Magic last. But Phoenix’s first-rounder goes to the Memphis Grizzlies from the Orlando Magic via the Desmond Bane trade. Orlando originally acquired a pick swap from the Suns in 2024 in exchange for three second-rounders, and that swap allowed Memphis to move up from 18th to 16th.

Suns used 3 2nds to get O'Neale, so a pretty good trade-off there.

The swaps did not look like they were going to age well but so far so good. Two Beal swaps are left in '28 and '30. The Memphis swaps that got 3 other 2nds have one more in '30 too.

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 20, 2026

That means the Suns had the Magic’s pick at 18th overall, but that was traded to the Charlotte Hornets when Phoenix offloaded Jusuf Nurkic before the February 2026 trade deadline.

What does that have to do with the 47th pick that the Suns currently hold?

By NBA rule, the tiebreaker order of the picks from 16-18 originally belonging to Phoenix, Philadelphia and Orlando appears in inverse order for the second round, from 46-48.

That means Orlando keeps its 46th pick. Philadelphia’s pick that went through the Thunder and then the Rockets heads to the Suns via the Kevin Durant trade.

Finally, the 48th pick originally owned by Phoenix will go to Dallas through Washington.

That last pick was sent to the Wizards in the Bradley Beal deal.

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