Welcome to your one-stop shop for analysis of every major transaction leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Harden for Garland blockbuster 🚨
Cavaliers receive
Clippers receive
James Harden
Darius Garland
2nd-Rd Pick
No star has consistently spiced up NBA trade season like James Harden, who has been dealt for the fourth time in five years and the fifth time in his career. Remarkably, none of those trades were completed in the offseason. As I’ve said in the past, when the going gets tough, Harden gets lost.
That’s not an entirely fair assessment of this particular situation. The Clippers faced a ton of adversity to start the year, but Harden wouldn’t allow his team to let go of the rope. Kawhi Leonard’s return fueled Los Angeles’ surge up the standings, but Harden worked tirelessly to keep the team in games up to that point.
The Clippers scored like a top-seven offense (116.8 points per 100 possessions) in minutes with Harden on and Kawhi Leonard off the floor, per pbpstats – an incredible feat when you consider Harden’s most frequent lineup mates in those minutes were Kris Dunn, Ivica Zubac, John Collins, and Nicolas Batum. Harden also led the Clippers in court time and is averaging more than 34 minutes per game for the 14th consecutive season, inching closer to the 48,000-minute mark between the regular season and playoffs. He’s averaging 25.4 points and 8.2 assists on 59.8% true shooting, marking the 17th straight year he’s scored on above-average efficiency.
Given that Garland has been in and out of the lineup due to toe injuries on both feet, you can argue that the all-in Cavs managed to get better in the short term while trimming long-term salary (Garland’s deal runs one-to-two years longer, depending on whether Harden picks up his 2026-27 player option). In addition, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen can cover for some of Harden’s defensive issues.
Harden can clearly still serve as an offensive engine, but can the future Hall of Famer, who famously declared himself to be “The System,” find a way to complement an even better guard in Donovan Mitchell and a team trying to compete for a championship? Or at this point of Harden’s career, is he just best suited to carry the load for an overmatched play-in team?
Harden will also have to overcome his own playoff demons if the Cavs are going to slay theirs. His postseason resume isn’t as bad as his critics suggest, but he’s famously shrunk in some of the biggest moments of his career, reducing himself to the role of disengaged passenger. Whether this deal helps the Cavs extend Mitchell and gain financial flexibility should come second to whether it helps them compete for a title in the present, when they’re the league’s only second-apron club.
As for the Clippers, Garland represents a rare win. The toe issues and his general injury history are concerning, but he’s a 26-year-old two-time All-Star who averaged roughly 21 points and seven assists for a 64-win team last season. He’s also under contract at about 25% of the cap for the next two years. In a best-case scenario, Garland can serve as a tremendous offensive Robin to Leonard’s Batman. But even without Leonard, Garland represents the type of young building block the Clippers seemingly had no chance to acquire given their heavily mortgaged future (and potentially looming cap-circumvention penalties).
Jazz make stunning move for JJJ 🚨
Jazz receive
Grizzlies receive
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Walter Clayton Jr.
Jock Landale
Kyle Anderson
Vince Williams Jr.
Taylor Hendricks
John Konchar
Georges Niang
2027 1st-Rd Pick (LAL)
2027 1st-Rd Pick (UTA/CLE/MIN)
2031 1st-Rd Pick (PHX)
Last summer’s Desmond Bane trade gave Memphis two options: Trade Ja Morant and retool around former Defensive Player of the Year Jackson, or trade both Jackson and Morant to rebuild completely. Though Morant remains (for now), Tuesday’s trade signifies that the Grizzlies have clearly chosen the latter option.
Jackson has long been one of the league’s most underrated players. But considering Memphis’ long-term plans and the fact that the 26-year-old will be playing on a 30% (of the salary cap) max contract starting next season, it’s not a bad piece of business for the Grizzlies. Acquiring three first-round picks is nothing to sneeze at, while Clayton is a rookie guard who’s shown promise, and Hendricks is a young big with shooting upside.
As for the Jazz, Jackson isn’t the star we envisioned them chasing with their surplus of draft picks. Still, given the reasonable price to acquire him, the team did well to add a legitimate building block under long-term team control.
Although we can quibble over whether Jackson will be worth nearly 30% of the cap in the coming years and nitpick his rebounding and playmaking limitations, his impact as a defensive big is undeniable. Jackson offers elite rim protection at center or can serve as a more mobile defensive force at power forward. His defensive versatility and floor-spacing ability – he’s a career 35% 3-point shooter on nearly five attempts per game – give his team options in the frontcourt. Jackson could easily anchor Utah’s defense for the next half-decade or form a devastating frontcourt trio beside Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen. He’s also averaged 21.6 points per game while shooting 52% inside the arc over the last three seasons.
In the short term, Utah’s priority should still be trying to keep its top-eight protected 2026 pick (owed to Oklahoma City), but it’s time to accelerate things as soon as next season. Jackson could just be the first domino, as the Jazz still own six first-round picks between 2028 and 2032 in addition to coveted talents like Markkanen, Kessler, emerging youngster Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, and Isaiah Collier.
Celtics get frontcourt help with Vucevic
Celtics receive
Bulls receive
Nikola Vucevic
Anfernee Simons
2nd-Rd Pick
The Celtics were expected to take a gap year as franchise superstar Jayson Tatum rehabbed a devastating Achilles injury. Instead, the third-place Celtics have made a win-now move to plug their biggest hole. Who can blame them? Boston is a hardworking team that boasts the league’s second-ranked offense and could get Tatum back for the playoffs, all the while somehow thriving with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza filling in at center.
Vucevic won’t solve many defensive concerns, but the two-time All-Star will still provide a boost. He’s averaging 16.9 points per game while shooting nearly 57% inside the arc and 38% from deep. Vucevic gives the Celtics an interior scoring threat and a dynamic big man who should ease the offensive load currently shouldered by Jaylen Brown (and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard to a lesser extent). An already elite offense just got much tougher to stop. Vucevic’s top-20 defensive rebound rate also won’t hurt a Celtics squad that ranks 23rd when it comes to cleaning the defensive glass.
The Celtics did well to turn a second-round pick and Simons – who they acquired in last year’s Jrue Holiday trade – into a more helpful player on an expiring contract. Boston also cut its luxury-tax bill by more than $22 million and got under the first apron. Among the many advantages of this maneuver, the Celtics can now sign a buyout player who was earning more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1 million) as they continue to load up for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Bulls resisted calls to rebuild and sell higher on their veteran stars in recent years, which has led them here. Simons is a terrific shooter and should be able to score efficiently off the bench for as long as he wants. However, he’s also a pending unrestricted free agent, making the upside of this return a little cloudy for Chicago.
Bulls-Pistons-Wolves deal could have big implications
Pistons receive
Bulls receive
Timberwolves receive
Kevin Huerter
Jaden Ivey
TBA
Dario Saric
Mike Conley
2026 1st-Rd Swap (MIN)
This three-team trade is notable enough. Ivey has struggled to find his rhythm in Detroit since left leg and right knee injuries, but the speedy guard has star upside. Chicago taking a flier on such a youngster rather than chasing overpriced veterans is a step in the right direction for an organization obsessed with mediocrity rather than long-term planning. Though Conley’s career is on its last legs, the floor general’s expiring contract won’t complicate things for the Bulls.
The first-place Pistons desperately needed shooting, and Ivey was always assumed to be part of the package that would help Detroit fill that hole. But rather than having to attach a large salary (like Tobias Harris’) and draft capital to the young guard in order to get a star, the Pistons are actually the team acquiring an extra first-round pick in this deal (a protected pick swap with Minnesota). Huerter, despite currently mired in his worst shooting slump, is a career 37% 3-point shooter whose volume and off-ball activity demand defensive attention. He and Saric are also both on expiring contracts.
None of that makes this deal a win for Detroit. If Huerter finds his stroke, a Finals contender will have gotten better, but even with the pick swap in the mix, this feels like a disappointing return for giving up on Ivey.
Finally, the Timberwolves cut their tax bill and ducked under the first apron, giving the two-time West finalists much more flexibility in their reported pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo (or another star). A protected first-round swap in a contending year is a small price to pay.
Joseph Casciaro is theScore’s lead NBA reporter.
