The NBA Trade Deadline is in the rear view mirror, and it was wild, both for the trades we did see — James Harden to Cleveland, Anthony Davis to the discount-shopping Wizards — and for the ones we did not. Giannis Antetokounmpo remains in Milwaukee. Ja Morant is still a Grizzly.
Let’s break down the winners and losers from a roller coaster week around the NBA.
Winner: James Harden
A month ago, nobody saw a James Harden trade coming, but life moves fast in the NBA. Harden is now in Cleveland, Darius Garland is in Los Angeles with the Clippers along with some good draft picks, and it impacts the race in the East directly.
Out of all that, James Harden is the biggest winner. The Beard wanted two things: 1) To be on a team where he could make a deep run and maybe compete for a ring; 2) Get to a team willing to pay him going forward. He got those things… we think.
Harden goes to a Cleveland team that stumbled out of the gate this season — in large part due to Garland’s toe injuries — but had started to find its footing in the East. Cleveland had the No. 1 offense in the NBA a season ago, which had fallen to ninth, but Harden should make the Cavaliers’ offense elite again. In part because the Cavaliers struggled when Donovan Mitchell was off the floor, now staggering him and Harden keeps an elite creator on the court at all times. There are concerns about how Harden’s isolation-heavy — he runs a higher percentage of iso plays than any lead ball handler in the league this season — will mesh with Mitchell and the Cavaliers’ faster tempo and ball movement, but coach Kenny Atkinson said he’s not worried, that great players figure out how to make it work.
“The number one thing that stands out is his IQ, his feel for the game,” Atkinson said of Harden. “We’re “big believers that IQ translates to playoff success.”
For the Cavaliers, this was an all-in move — and they needed to make it. While everyone has discussed how Giannis Antetokounmpo can be a free agent in 2027 and the pressure that puts on Milwaukee, Cleveland is in exactly the same place with Mitchell. For the Clippers, it’s a realization that the Kawhi Lenard and James Harden era has run its course, and it’s better to start pivoting too early rather than too late.
Winner: New York Knicks
New York was a winner on two fronts this trade deadline.
One is that Giannis Antetokounmpo was not traded. The Knicks did not have the draft picks or young players to get a trade done at the deadline, but during the summer they have more picks and more flexibility. Getting Antetokounmpo to Madison Square Garden will still require him to put his thumb on the scale and demand it, but at least the Knicks are still in the race.
They also were a winner by picking up guard Jose Alvarado — the New York native who played his high school ball at Christ the King in Queens comes home. Alvarado is a guy who changes games with his energy off the bench — he could have the kind of impact for the Knicks that TJ McConnell did for the Pacers during their Finals run a year ago. He has that kind of impact with his defense and scoring.
Winner: Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks do not want to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo. For his part, Antetokounmpo would like to stay in Milwaukee and win there.
“What I want deep down in my heart is I want to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of my career and win here,” Antetokounmpo said recently in an interview.
By not trading him at the deadline, only good things happen for Milwaukee. First, the Bucks should have a lottery pick in a deep 2026 NBA Draft that they can trade. (Yes, Antetokounmpo said after the deadline he wants to make a playoff push with this team, but he remains out, and this team remains bad.) The Bucks will have up to three first-round picks to trade plus movable salaries such as Kyle Kuzma’s — could that be enough to land another star player or two, which convinces Antetokounmpo to stay? It’s what has happened in the past: the Bucks traded for Jrue Holiday once and for Damian Lillard another time — and Antetokounmpo signed an extension and stayed in Milwaukee both times. The Bucks will try to go this route.
If that fails and Milwaukee has to trade Antetokounmpo, the offers during the summer — which suitors like the Knicks, Lakers and Heat will have more picks and more flexibility — will be better than the ones they deemed insufficient at the deadline.
Loser: Nico Harrison, Luka Doncic trade
This feels like beating a dead horse, but we’re going to do it anyway. Because it’s so stunningly bad. We had deemed the Luka Dončić trade a loser when it happened, but this trade deadline cemented its legacy as one of the worst trades in NBA history.
For the record, the Mavericks ultimately traded one of the top five players in the world entering his prime for Max Christie, three first-round picks (with all three likely being in the 20s at best), three second-round picks, and about $50 million in cap space. That’s it.
This is not a reflection on the current Dallas front office, which did what it had to do to clean up Nico Harrison’s mess with this salary dump trade, getting the team out of the luxury tax and clearing the books to retool around Cooper Flagg. Still, now that Anthony Davis is traded, we couldn’t just let this go.
Winner: Nikola Vucevic
Nikola Vucevic is a rock-solid 15-year pro, a two-time All-Star at the center spot who can score in the paint or knock down 3-pointers. But over those 15 years, he has made the playoffs just four times, has never gotten past the first round, and has played in just 16 total games.
Which is why it’s good to see him traded to Boston, where he will not just get meaningful minutes but also meaningful playoff minutes. Whether Jayson Tatum returns or not, this Celtics team — with its ability to score behind a brilliant season from Jaylen Brown and its barrage of 3-pointers — is a threat to beat anyone. Vucevic could find himself in the biggest games of his life. He’s a free agent after this season, and if he’s willing to sign at the right price, he could be back in Boston next year.
He deserves it. I can’t wait to see it.
Loser: Sacramento Kings
What is the plan in Sacramento, exactly?
Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan — three veterans that the Kings have talked about trading for more than a year — are still on the roster. While the Kings did find a trade for Keon Ellis, the guys they need to trade — even if it’s just a salary dump — are still on the roster. Make it make sense.
Winner: Indiana Pacers
Indiana trading for Ivica Zubac from the Clippers sets them up beautifully to bounce back next season when Tyrese Haliburton is healthy again following his torn Achilles. While the price was a couple of good first-round picks, these are the kind of trades you make when you’re a Finals team trying to improve.
Zubac is more of an old-school big compared to Myles Turner (who was there for the Finals run then left in free agency), but he sets some of the best picks in the league, is great on the roll or ducking-in on sets, and he is a much better defender (a big who knows how to use that size to clog the lane). Zubac is averaging 14.4 points and 11 rebounds per game this season, numbers slightly down from last season, but a key factor is that other teams have focused more on slowing him (especially before Kawhi Leonard got healthy).
Indiana got better with this trade.
(About those picks: One is the Pacers 2026 first-round pick, but protected 1-4 and 10-30 — meaning if it’s 5-9, the Clippers get it now. Indiana is tanking hard this season. They have the third-worst record in the NBA, and the Pacers want to keep it that way. We’re not going to see a lot of Zubac. If the Pacers can add a top-four pick to this roster, they become that much more dangerous next season.)
Winner: Utah Jazz
This is how you hit the accelerator on the rebuild timeline.
Utah developed a strong young core: Point guard Keyonte George; a coveted big man in Walker Kessler (who they have to re-sign); and last year’s No. 5 pick Ace Bailey has put in the work and is finding his rhythm (the game is clearly slowing down for him, and he’s had some big nights). They also still had Lauri Markkanen.
Now you add Jaren Jackson Jr. and another high lottery pick next June to this group, and Utah is a team on the rise. There are questions to work out about fit, but Will Hardy is a very good coach, and he’s going to have some very talented players next year. (And it is next year, Utah is tanking to keep their top-eight protected pick this season — if it’s ninth or higher it goes to OKC — so don’t expect Jackson to play that much this year.)
