About a week before the 2017 NBA Draft, I read an article by ESPN's Kevin Pelton about trading down the number 1 pick, which contained his own chart that breaks down NBA draft pick trade values.

Kevin Pelton had previously created a trade value chart in 2015, and I wanted a way to compare the two. So I took a Saturday to whip up a new online software tool to show those comparisons. I created a database that allowed for a user to have any number of charts in the system, maintaining previous versions. These charts can be viewed individually, or grouped together to show several at the same time, using line graphs for easy comparison as well as showing the differences of the raw data.

View the NBA Draft Pick Trade Value Tool

Click each to view an enlarged image

Then I created a trade simulator, where you can enter a trade of any number of draft picks, and it will convey whether you are receiving more value than you are giving away using any number of existing trade value charts.

While I wrote this software for fun and as a quick proof-of-concept, I know of at least one NBA team that made use of this tool heavily during the draft and the days preceding. I look forward to creating more of these tools in the future.