With owners coming and going, RDA has had its share of turnover—three different franchises have had three owners each. However, we’ve never had a dispersal draft, which is something we all love to see, as it both provides entertainment for the current owners as well as a more balanced roster for the new owners coming in.
For example, IND went 114-47-1 (0.707) in 2023, with a roster filled with depth and talent. NYK, on the other hand, finished last season with a 51-108-3 (0.324) regular season record—featuring arguably Andrew Nembhard as their best player—but with a full complement of juicy picks moving forward.
A dispersal draft would even the two teams out and give the new owners a chance to display their prowess. Both IND Bryan and NYK Henry have proclaimed their Knicks fandom, and through some mysterious process, Henry got his franchise of choice. Which one of these teams will rise to contender status first? We'll see in the coming years but one thing is for sure: we love dispersals!
NYK
Leading off the draft, Henry took the one young franchise type player on the board, twenty-six year old De’Aaron Fox. He followed that up by collecting NYK’s own RD1 picks in 2026 and 2027, before selecting James Harden. Securing his own 2029 RD1, NYK then took Rudy Gobert with this sixth pick before grabbing a 2029 IND RD1 to give himself four RD1 in the next five years. That’s a pretty strong core of three players, if a bit on the older side with Harden and Gobert.
Other names NYK brought aboard: Deandre Hunter, Rui Hachimura, Isaiah Joe, Haywood Highsmith, Spencer Dinwiddie, Trey Lyles, and value last-pick Monte Morris.
IND
Without an obvious second player to take, Bryan went out and nabbed the 2026 CHI RD1. Since CHI was the second-worst team in 2023, it’s likely that 2026 pick could end up being very high indeed. Intriguingly, Bryan took NYK’s 2028 RD1 with his second pick, gambling that NYK would doing poorly in the future.
The first player off the board for IND was twenty-five year old Jaren Jackson, one-time All-Star, and then he took a 2027 UTA RD1, betting on another franchise to be poor in the future. With those picks secure, IND went big, very big! After Jackson, IND’s player picks went DeAndre Ayton, Myles Turner, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Isaiah Stewart with four of their next five picks, and then grabbed Christian Wood as well with his thirteenth pick in the dispersal.
Other players: Andrew Nembhard (RD7), Norman Powell, Dennis Smith Jr, Kevin Knox, Seth Curry, Robert Covington.
