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The 2025-26 NBA trade deadline came and went, and Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t traded after all, but a whole host of other players changed teams and future draft picks changed hands this week.
The Dallas Mavericks moved on from Nico Harrison’s shocking trade for Anthony Davis, sending the big to the Washington Wizards. The Golden State Warriors finally put an end to the Jonathan Kuminga saga, sending him and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis.
And in perhaps the most shocking trade of the deadline, James Harden left the surging LA Clippers to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a boost in the East.
There’s a whole lot to analyze, so let’s dive into the biggest winners, losers and trends of the 2026 NBA trade deadline.
Cleveland is finally on a hot streak, with a 9-2 record since a 22-19 start, and the preseason Eastern Conference favorite improved at the deadline. Out of 11 players with at least 500 minutes for the Cavaliers this season, the three worst net ratings belonged to Darius Garland (minus-3.0), De’Andre Hunter (minus-0.9) and Lonzo Ball (plus-1.3). And now all three are gone, replaced by James Harden, Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder.
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Swapping the 26-year-old Garland for the 36-year-old Harden might cost the Cavaliers in future seasons, but at the moment, Harden is undoubtedly better and healthier than the former Cavs point guard, and he should help reduce the offensive burden on Donovan Mitchell, who’s posting his highest usage rate since he was in Utah. Harden’s weaknesses also line up with Garland’s: He’s not the most engaged defender, but he’s still bigger than Garland, and he can’t be counted on in the playoffs, but Garland has a shaky postseason track record, too.
Cleveland’s other deadline additions should also reinforce the roster. Ellis is the best defender in the Cavaliers’ backcourt, while Schroder is a wild card who has alternated between incredible productivity and lackluster play in all of his recent stops; maybe he’ll switch back to the former again in Cleveland.
Moreover, adding those two players while shedding Hunter and Ball means Cleveland saved approximately $100 million in luxury tax payments, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It’s not often that a contender gets better and cheaper at the deadline, but Cleveland pulled off that surprising feat.
Winner: Surprise star destinations
As of Thursday, the Wizards, Jazz and Pacers are a combined 42-109 — that’s a 23-59 record when translated to 82 games — and the Wizards and Jazz are eager to lose enough games this season to retain the top-eight-protected picks they owe to the Knicks and Thunder, respectively.
Yet that didn’t stop Washington, Utah and Indiana from emerging to make big roster upgrades at the deadline. Washington had already traded for Trae Young last month and added Anthony Davis this week — ironically, it wasn’t that long ago that plenty of folks around the NBA envisioned a Young-Davis pairing in Los Angeles — while Utah splurged for Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Pacers made a late splash for Ivica Zubac.
On a broad level, this deadline theme reflects the NBA’s new financial environment, as the harsh penalties of the aprons intersect with a leaguewide desire for more youth and depth. As ESPN’s Tim Bontemps wrote, not many teams are interested in adding borderline All-Stars making around $50 million per season, as is the case for Young, Davis and Jackson, “unless you have an otherwise clean cap sheet like the Jazz and Wizards do.”
The Pacers’ move for Zubac was different, as Indiana — in the middle of an injury-induced “gap year” following a trip to the Finals last season — sought a replacement for Myles Turner. Zubac is both on a cheaper contract than Davis and Jackson (three years for $58.7 million total), and a phenomenal two-way fit with the extant Pacers core, so his price was commensurately higher: upcoming restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin and two first-round picks.
To be clear, while the Pacers should return to contention with Zubac right away in 2026-27, the Wizards and Jazz might not have made winning moves, as it’s very plausible that neither Washington nor Utah makes the playoffs with their new All-Stars next season. But as a concept, the surprise star destinations added a fun wrinkle to deadline week.
2:02
‘NBA Today’ crew reacts to Jaren Jackson Jr. trade
The “NBA Today” crew discusses the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade and its implications for Ja Morant, the Grizzlies and the Jazz.
Loser: Utah Jazz ball movement
Over the past three seasons, 47 players are averaging at least 20 points per game. Only two of them are below three assists per contest — incumbent Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (1.9) and new Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (2.1).
Toss in presumptive starting shooting guard Ace Bailey, who’s averaging 1.6 assists in his rookie season after struggling with his playmaking in college (1.3), and that’s a perimeter rotation full of ball stoppers.
That’s not compatible with the way Jazz coach Will Hardy likes his team to play. Utah leads the league in assist percentage this season, thanks to its point guards Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier, and center Jusuf Nurkic, who’s averaging 4.9 assists per game as a hub in the middle. (Nurkic even tallied three consecutive triple-doubles last month.)
Going forward, though, the Jazz have apparently decided to sacrifice ball movement for the sake of increased size, shooting and defense. That might be a worthy tradeoff; Jackson and center Walker Kessler, in particular, should form an imposing rim protection duo once Kessler, a restricted free agent this summer, returns from his surgery to repair a torn labrum. But this setup puts a ton of pressure on George to continue his development as a franchise point guard, or else Utah’s offense will stagnate just as the team hopes to round the corner toward competitiveness.
On the other side of the Jackson trade is Memphis, which has done well in the first two major moves of its rebuild. Last summer, the Grizzlies acquired four first-round picks and a swap for Desmond Bane — good value for a solid player who has never made an All-Star team. Memphis subsequently traded two of those picks to nab rookie standout Cedric Coward in the draft.
Eight months later, the Grizzlies flipped Jackson for three picks and a couple of unproven young players with potential, including the No. 18 pick in the 2025 draft, Walter Clayton Jr. In a vacuum, Jackson has a higher ceiling than Bane, as a two-time All-Star and a Defensive Player of the Year winner. But his quality of play has slipped a tad, and if Jackson is more good than great on both ends — as he has looked this season — he’s likely not worth his upcoming contract extension, which kicks in next season at four years and $205 million.
The downside, of course, is that Memphis is now staring at a long rebuild, and it still needs to figure out the next steps for Ja Morant. But the Morant-Bane-Jackson core had clearly run its course after just a single playoff series win. The Grizzlies were proactive in trading Bane and Jackson, and now they’re flush with what is among the most future draft capital for any team in the league.
On a related note, I’ve seen some criticism since the Jackson trade that the Grizzlies didn’t land any good picks in the deal; they’ll get the Lakers’ top-four-protected 2027 pick; the best 2027 pick from the Jazz, Timberwolves or Cavaliers; and the Suns’ 2031 pick.
But it’s far too premature for such a conclusion. First, even though the Suns have impressed with their turnaround this season, their 2031 pick could be lucrative, as it’s all but impossible to predict how good a team will be half a decade into the future. And the Jazz could easily end up giving Memphis a lottery pick next year (for what appears to be an admittedly weak draft class), because even with Jackson, I’d still project them as a play-in team at best in 2026-27.
As if the deposed Mavericks general manager needed any more ignominy added to his ledger, his former team traded Davis for a paltry return, just a year after prizing him in the surprise Luka Doncic blockbuster. Dallas traded the apple of Harrison’s eye for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, a 2026 first-round pick from the Thunder (likely No. 30 overall), a 2030 first-round pick from the Warriors (only if it lands in the 21-30 range) and three second-rounders.
Put another way, the Mavs ended up essentially trading a generational superstar for one rotation player (Max Christie), two bad first-round picks and one as yet unknown first-round pick (from the Lakers in 2029). That’s roughly the same overall value that Memphis received for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Vucevic is a consummate professional who has enjoyed a long and productive NBA career. The 15-year veteran is a two-time All-Star with more than 17,000 points and 10,000 rebounds, plus nearly $200 million in career earnings. But he has never had a deep playoff run, as his postseason résumé consists of just three five-game losses in the first round (not counting his rookie season, when he was a deep reserve who played three playoff minutes for the 2011-12 76ers).
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Now, the 35-year-old center will get his chance, after a trade from Chicago to Boston. The Celtics didn’t just save money and gain roster flexibility by dipping under the first apron with this move, which swapped out Anfernee Simons’ $27.7 million salary for Vucevic’s $21.5 million deal; they also gained a better version of Luka Garza for their center rotation.
Vucevic is a defensive liability against the best competition: He’s allowing opponents to shoot 68% at the rim this season, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 30th among 31 players who have defended at least 200 shots. For reference, Garza isn’t close to that 200-shot threshold, but he has allowed a similar 67% mark at the rim, while starting Celtics center Neemias Queta has held opponents to 56%.
But Vucevic is an upgrade on the offensive end, and a great fit for Boston’s perimeter-oriented system. Over the past two seasons, he has made 39% of his 4.5 3-point attempts per game.
Loser: ‘Oops’ trades
Another theme of deadline deals was what I’ll call the “oops” trade, as numerous teams sought to extract themselves from tricky situations they’d entered with a different recent move. The Davis trade is a great example, as the Mavericks decided to cut bait with the main part of their haul for Doncic just a year later, even if the return was essentially a couple of back-end first-round picks and financial relief.
But that’s far from the only example this week. The Knicks signed Guerschon Yabusele to bolster their bench, but his play cratered in New York. Oops! Now Yabusele is a Bull. Point guards Chris Paul, Tyus Jones and Lonzo Ball joined the Clippers, Magic and Cavaliers, respectively, last summer. Oops, oops, oops! All three were moved at the deadline to help their teams save money.
The Cleveland-Sacramento trade was a double “oops” move, as the Cavaliers moved Hunter a year after acquiring him at the 2024-25 deadline, while the Kings backpedaled from the three-year deal they offered Schroder in free agency So, too, was the trade between Atlanta and Golden State, which ended Kristaps Porzingis’ injury-marred Hawks tenure after half a season and put the Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga drama, at long last, to rest.
Winner: Madison Square Garden
It’s difficult to imagine a role player more suited to excite Knicks fans than Jose Alvarado, a pesky, hustling guard who grew up in New York City. The MSG faithful adored Pablo Prigioni in the 2010s, and now they have a better, homegrown version of that archetype a decade later, after the Knicks turned Yabusele and two second-round picks into Alvarado.
It’s not clear how much playing time Alvarado will receive in New York, as the Knicks already have Tyler Kolek, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride (who could be sidelined until the playoffs as he undergoes core muscle surgery) as backcourt options off the bench. But when he does play, Alvarado should help the Knicks’ depth — and inspire his new team’s fans into a frenzy whenever he dives for a loose ball or grabs one of his patented backcourt steals.
0:49
Shams: 76ers create roster room by trading Jared McCain
Shams Charania gives details of the 76ers’ trade of Jared McCain to the Thunder.
Despite the dizzying density of deals this week, not many are likely to have a great impact on the 2026 title race. That’s great news for the championship favorites.
The best players to change teams since the start of the season were, in some order, Davis, Harden, Zubac, Jackson, Young, Garland and Porzingis (if healthy). They joined teams with no shot at making the playoffs, teams in the Western Conference play-in mix and an Eastern Conference contender in the Cavaliers.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets made only a small trade to duck under the luxury tax line, while the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets were quiet and the Los Angeles Lakers added only Luke Kennard, who will boost their perimeter shooting but won’t improve the NBA’s 24th-ranked defense. For the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ayo Dosunmu is a strong fit next to Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, but by and large, all the top challengers to Oklahoma City in the West are no more of a threat today than they were a week ago.
The Thunder also made a shrewd trade of their own, giving up a pick that will likely land in the 20s (via Houston) for Jared McCain, who might have been the Rookie of the Year last season if he’d played more than 23 games. McCain hasn’t been as impressive in his sophomore season as he has returned from knee and thumb surgeries, but the Thunder still acquired a player on a cheap rookie contract with plenty of potential, which could be especially helpful in future seasons as pricey extensions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren cut into the Thunder’s depth.
Finally, Oklahoma City’s position in the 2026 draft likely improved this week, even as the Thunder surrendered a late first-rounder. The Clippers, who owe an unprotected pick to Oklahoma City this year, got much worse with their trades of Harden and Zubac, increasing the odds that they’ll send a lottery pick to the Thunder. Meanwhile, the Jazz, who owe a top-eight-protected pick to Oklahoma City, got better with Jackson, increasing the odds that they’ll send any pick to the Thunder (even if Utah will still do everything in its power to keep that pick).
Just about the only bad news for the Thunder this week had nothing to do with trades: Gilgeous-Alexander will be out until at least the All-Star break because of an abdominal strain. Given myriad other Thunder injuries — they were missing all five of their usual starters in a loss to the Spurs on Wednesday — and their reliance on the reigning MVP, that absence could cost Oklahoma City home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Thunder have four more games until the All-Star break, and they’re up only five games over the second-seeded Spurs in the West and 1.5 games over the East-leading Pistons.
