What every NBA team’s trade-deadline decisions tell us about the future

The trade scene had been quiet. Too quiet. We should have known it wouldn’t stay that way. NBA front offices tend to figure out their environments.

For most of this season, conversation around the league pointed to a potentially uneventful trade deadline. The latest collective bargaining agreement is more restrictive than its previous iterations. More than ever, the rules make it difficult to spin in-season trades.

With the deadline passed, it’s safe to say that new archetypes of trades emerged. Teams valued expensive contracts, even deals attached to multi-time All-Stars, less than they had in years. Organizations treading around the luxury tax or dreaded aprons enthusiastically sought to duck under them. But one theme remained: During the 72 hours leading up to Thursday’s deadline, front offices reeled off trade after trade after trade. Only three teams failed to execute one.

Some deals occurred in silence. Some shocked the basketball world. Some signaled a change in organizational direction.

Let’s take a look at how trade season wrapped up, splitting all 30 teams into eight categories, based on each one’s approach to the deadline:

Blown to Smithereens

Cleveland Cavaliers
LA Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies

The Cavaliers didn’t tear it down, but they did blow it up. A season after winning an Eastern Conference-best 64 games, they sit in fourth place. Considering their price tag — owners of the league’s bulkiest payroll — that meant a shakeup.

Cleveland had to get better for April, May, and, it hoped, June. Doing so meant shattering minds around the league and flipping 26-year-old All-Star point guard Darius Garland for the 36-year-old James Harden.

Garland has missed much of the season with a lingering toe injury. On the court, he hasn’t looked like the best version of himself. So the Cavs opted for the more available guy who will shake up their style as much as a midseason acquisition could. Since coach Kenny Atkinson took over before last season, Cleveland has prided itself on high pace and cutting aplenty. Harden plays slowly. He once declared, “I’m not a system player. I am a system.”

That bar was from his 2017-18 MVP days — and he wasn’t wrong. Harden remains a dynamic scorer, even if the efficiency has fallen off, and one of the world’s slyest passers. But when Harden is around, the offense runs through him. Donovan Mitchell and the rest of the Cavs will need to adapt.

The Cavs added playmaking across the board, swapping wing De’Andre Hunter, whom they had pulled from the starting lineup, for veteran floor general Dennis Schröder and sparkplug guard Keon Ellis. They salary-dumped Lonzo Ball.

They renovated their roster.

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It was a chaotic deadline, especially at the end, with former All-Stars switching teams and two of the biggest names staying put.

As did two other teams, who took drastic approaches in the other direction.

The Grizzlies continued a slow-burn demolition. Over the summer, they received an offer they couldn’t refuse, one that included four first-round picks, for shooting guard Desmond Bane. Only months after extending former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., they’re sending Jackson out, too — to the Utah Jazz for a smattering of young players, veterans and three first-round picks.

They held onto All-Star Ja Morant, whom they discussed with other teams, league sources said. Memphis isn’t the type of organization to trade a guy just to trade him. It waits for the enticing offer to come its way, like with Bane and with Jackson, and then pounces. It’s taken the same approach with Morant.

The Clippers finally combusted — flipping Harden for Garland and a second-rounder, which injects youth into one of the NBAs oldest squads. LA went from a 6-21 start to winning 16 of 20 to putting itself out of its own misery before it could even reach .500. It received a massive haul for its giant center Ivica Zubac, which included 2022 first-rounder Bennedict Mathurin, a 2029 first-round pick and another first-rounder that could climb as high as fifth in this upcoming draft.

The Clippers don’t control their own first-round pick for years to come. It’s facing an impending investigation from the NBA. And amidst too much losing, it turned to youth and draft capital.

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Editing Edges

Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Lakers
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers

Six teams, ranging from competitive to dominant, made modest tweaks.

The Timberwolves landed a point guard, their top priority leading up to the deadline. Ayo Dosunmu was a sneaky Sixth Man of the Year candidate for the Chicago Bulls and will fill the void created with the loss of Nickeil Alexander-Walker last summer, along with the aging of veteran guard Mike Conley, whom they also traded this week. Dosunmu can shoot, create off the dribble, play with the bench and run alongside starters.

This team has reached two consecutive Western Conference finals and remains capable of elite play on both sides of the ball, but the offense can also turn too frenzied at times. Every once in a while, the Wolves require an organizer. Dosunmu — for whom they traded four second-rounders and former first-round pick Rob Dillingham — will be a welcome addition.

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Why Timberwolves’ Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit fizzled, and the pivot to Ayo Dosunmu

After exploring a potential blockbuster for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Timberwolves instead found a way to bolster their bench.

The Knicks accomplished two objectives in their quest to win the East: getting rid of Guerschon Yabusele, who they signed last summer to a regrettable two-year contract, and acquiring a secondary ballhandler who can also help as a point-of-attack defender, Jose Alvarado. Alvarado’s presence will be even more important with the new injury to Miles “Deuce” McBride, who could be sidelined until the playoffs with a sports hernia, league sources said.

Somehow, the Knicks convinced Yabusele, who was far from New York’s rotation, to decline a $5.8 million player option for 2026-27. Once he did, they were able to trade Yabusele to the Bulls and also grab Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicans for a total of only two second-round picks.

The defending-champion Thunder added an extra ballhandler in 21-year-old Jared McCain, who’s had a down second season but is a talented scorer and silky shooter.

Their deadline moves, all the way down to a seemingly irrelevant draft-rights transaction, signal they are thinking about future finances with a payroll that is bound to explode in the years to come. Such is the curse of acquiring so many good players. McCain still has three years, including this one, remaining on his rookie-scale contract. It is essential with mega deals for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren kicking in next season, one for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starting the following year and significant contract decisions coming this summer for Cason Wallace, Lu Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Warriors finally ended the Jonathan Kuminga saga, swapping him for Kristaps Porziņģis, who would help if he could stay on the court. If it ever materialized, Porzingis and Stephen Curry running pick-and-rolls together 35 feet away from the basket would be devastating.

The Lakers turned a second-round pick and Gabe Vincent, a bench shooter and ballhandler, into Luke Kennard, a superior bench shooter and ballhandler. This was about the biggest move they could make, given their long-term goals. Los Angeles can create massive cap room this summer, when LeBron James’ contract expires.

In dire need of shooting, the Trail Blazers swiped Vit Krejčí, a 3-point maestro on a bargain contract, away from the Atlanta Hawks for a couple of second-rounders.

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Content Contenders

Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs

Four teams at the top of the standings did little or nothing.

The Nuggets dipped below the luxury tax, dumping Hunter Tyson to the Brooklyn Nets. Neither the Rockets nor the Spurs made moves inside the hyper-competitive West, though for different reasons.

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said Thursday that the team’s injuries, which include season-ending ones to veterans Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, played into their decision to stand pat. The Spurs are young, second in the West and want to see this group in the pressure cooker.

The Pistons, who sit atop the East, could say the same. Detroit made one move Thursday, but one could argue it offloaded more talent than it acquired, sending 2022 No. 5 pick Jaden Ivey to the Bulls in a deal that landed Kevin Huerter, a veteran shooter in the midst of a disappointing season and the ability to move up a few spots in the upcoming NBA draft.

Maybe Huerter finds his jumper again in Detroit, another squad on the prowl for 3-point help. But it’s also possible the best piece the Pistons earned in this trade is the draft pick, a rare type of move for a first-place team to make in February and a luxury for a young team that’s far ahead in its timeline.

Silence

Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
New Orleans Pelicans

The Heat’s silence was loud. They didn’t trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. They didn’t trade for Morant. They didn’t trade for anyone. Miami has to be careful, lest it disturb its plans for cap room in 2027 or hopes to trade for a megastar before then.

The Bucks, in case you hadn’t heard, did not trade Antetokounmpo, who is still out with a right calf injury. Now, they will sink in the standings, hoping to land a high draft pick, which won’t be as easy as it sounds. First, the best of Milwaukee’s and the New Orleans Pelicans’ first-rounder will go to the Hawks. The Bucks received the worst of the two selections. And second, Milwaukee is far from the only team with an incentive to tank.

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The Pelicans have zero motivation to bottom out, even if they are tied for the most losses in the NBA. They traded away their 2026 first-round pick last summer and made only the Alvarado deal leading into the deadline. All of their major players — and in some cases, their major salaries — remain on the books into next season.

The Tax Duckers

Boston Celtics
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors

The Celtics just pulled off one of the most artful luxury-tax dodges in recent history. Over the summer, they were above the second apron. Now, after a flurry of moves — three separate salary dumps (Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher) along with an Anfernee Simons-for-Nikola Vučević swap — they are in a strong financial place.

The question will be if they try to stay below the tax next season, too. Doing so would fend off the repeater tax, which becomes untenable in the long term.

Boston did it all while addressing an on-court need. Vučević may have his flaws, but the second-place Celtics were aching for a center, and now they have a veteran 7-footer in the fold.

The Celtics saved money while also adding a much-needed big man in former Bulls center Nikola Vučević. (Matt Marton / Imagn Images)

The disheartening Magic dumped backup guard Tyus Jones to fall below the tax. Orlando has serious financial concerns moving forward with big contracts for Bane, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. And it hasn’t been successful enough to justify the expense. If the Magic finish around where they are now, in the range of the Play-In Tournament, they are a team to watch this offseason.

The 76ers offloaded McCain, who couldn’t find a comfort zone on a competitive team overflowing with fellow young guards. They received a kiss from the luxury-tax gods when the NBA recently suspended Paul George for testing positive for a banned substance. George’s 25-game, unpaid absence shaved nearly $6 million off Philly’s cap sheet, bringing it only one small move away from evading the tax.

The Raptors and Suns are hard-playing teams exceeding expectations after trading non-rotation players to dip below the tax. The Nuggets got out of the tax, too. (But they fit too well into the “Content Contenders” tier.)

Two-Timeline Turnpike

Indiana Pacers
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

Three teams are ugly today, but don’t want to be for long, choosing to conduct their offseason early.

The Pacers made the NBA Finals last season, lost star guard Tyrese Haliburton for this one, saw starting center Myles Turner sign with the Bucks and are mired in a gap year. They may be at the bottom of the East, but they don’t plan to be once healthy again next season. So, they acquired their replacement for Turner this week.

The Pacers dealt those two first-rounders, Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson for Zubac, a risky proposition, considering it’s a bet that chemistry and vibes will carry over from a more-than-one-year layoff. Of course, these are the types of chances teams can take in the weaker East, where plenty of organizations feel only one or two moves away from a leap.

The Wizards were set to have cap room galore this summer, but used it now instead, speeding their rebuild by adding Trae Young and Anthony Davis, who took just matching salary and some protected draft picks to acquire. After three years dedicated to the tank, Washington will mesh a couple of high-priced vets next season with its young core, one that will also include a high pick in 2026. Don’t expect Young or Davis to step on the court this season. The Wizards owe the Knicks a top-eight-protected pick and are determined to keep it.

The Jazz pulled a similar move to the Wizards, tossing three first-rounders to the Grizzlies for Jackson. Utah finds itself in a fascinating spot, with its first-round pick going to the Thunder if it falls to ninth or later. The Jazz own the league’s sixth-worst record, but this organization has futzed around with injury reports in not-so-distant past tanks. Might it have one more run to the bottom in it before it tries to compete more next season with Jackson and Lauri Markkanen?

The Pu Pu Platter

Atlanta Hawks
Dallas Mavericks
Charlotte Hornets
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls

Five teams were all over the place, which isn’t necessarily bad. Some, like the Hornets, checked various boxes.

Charlotte, already loaded with bucket-getters, upgraded with Coby White, an unrestricted free agent this summer. It also acted as a salary-dumping ground for the Celtics and Magic. The Hornets made a value play to nab a second-rounder from OKC.

Charlotte has surged over the past month and a half and stands a real chance to make the Play-In Tournament. And one reason is that the Hornets are tied with the Bulls for 10th place, which helped them out.

The Bulls traded White to Charlotte, which would seem like a tank-mode move if it were from anyone other than the Play-In Tournament’s favorite participants. Chicago stripped itself down leading into the deadline. White is gone. So are Dosunmu and Vučević. It took a chance on Ivey, who is a restricted free agent this summer and found himself in a far better situation than he had with the Pistons. Detroit is winning and will have to pay its young guys soon. The Bulls will have cap room this summer.

They netted nine second-round picks in deadline season. But they also made a couple of harmless moves that are still oddly win-now, adding expiring veteran big men Yabusele and Nick Richards.

The Hawks moved on from Trae Young, then turned to what they considered value plays. They turned into the much-awaited Kuminga team, receiving him for Porzingis. They gathered second-rounders for Kennard and Krejci.

Atlanta had higher hopes for this season than the bottom of the Play-In Tournament, but it has maintained a clean cap sheet for next season and could end up with a golden draft pick, the better of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’, to add to Jalen Johnson and Co.

The Mavericks closed another chapter in the post-Luka Dončić era, saying goodbye to Davis. They plan to build around rookie sensation Cooper Flagg and All-Star guard Kyrie Irving with cleaner finances and more optionality.

The rebuilding Nets used themselves as a dumping ground, helping the Raptors, Nuggets and Celtics get out of the tax while adding second-rounders in the process. Brooklyn then ended the Cam Thomas era, waiving the score-first guard after years of trying to trade him.

The Road to Nowhere

Sacramento Kings

The Kings might be the first team in NBA history to add money in a salary dump. The club with the NBA’s worst record keeps covering up battle wounds with tiny Band-Aids. And now, it has even greater financial concerns.

Sacramento used its one cheap, early-to-mid-20s player, Keon Ellis, as a sweetener to get out of the contract it handed Schröder last summer. In the same trade, it brought back De’Andre Hunter, who has fallen out of favor with his last two teams.

The move opens up $4.3 million of space for the Kings in the summer of 2027, but do you know what comes before then? The summer of 2026. That’s when the Kings’ books turn into a wasteland.

Hunter makes $10 million more than Schröder does next season, when the Kings, a team on pace to lose 63 games, could vault into the luxury tax — and maybe push up against the aprons. Surely, they will find a way to avoid the tax, but that will just be slapping on another Band-Aid as they bleed out. The Kings could waive and stretch DeMar DeRozan, which would hurt their long-term flexibility (and essentially eliminate the minimal 2027 cap space created by dumping Schröder). They could find new homes for Domantas Sabonis or Zach LaVine, but it may take attaching an asset to either to cut salary.

The strategy here is difficult to follow — and, oh by the way, Sacramento gave up a second-round pick in the trade, too.

What every NBA team’s trade-deadline decisions tell us about the future

Blown to Smithereens

Editing Edges

Content Contenders

Silence

The Tax Duckers

Two-Timeline Turnpike

The Pu Pu Platter

The Road to Nowhere

Analyse