Through Monday night, this was an exceptionally boring trade deadline, but the action heavily increased to a feverish pace beginning on Tuesday morning and through the Thursday afternoon deadline, seeing several all-stars and several intriguing role players change hands, along with a small army of draft picks.
As we know, the Knicks were able to effectively flip Guerschon Yabusele and two second-round picks for Jose Alvarado by using the Chicago Bulls as an intermediary, sending Dalen Terry to New Orleans. The move, while not only adding a rotation player, allows the Knicks to participate in the buyout market immediately.
And, yes, a lot of the action this week involved Western Conference teams, but plenty of moves were made by teams in the East as well. We’ll be checking in on all of the teams in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, plus one or two more that could be relevant for one reason or another.
Added: Kevin Huerter, Dario Saric
Jaden Ivey, at one point a white whale for the Knicks’ front office in the 2022 draft, is in the final year of his rookie contract, and the Pistons did not want to pay him with the several major injuries he’s suffered in the last two seasons. He’s shown flashes, but he was shipped to Chicago in a three-team trade.
What they do add is shooting. With Malik Beasley currently trying to stay out of jail and Tim Hardaway Jr. in Denver, they’ve needed shooting, and they get it with one-time Knick killer Kevin Huerter. The 27-year-old is shooting a career-low from three, but is over 37% for his career. It’s a casual deadline for the East’s top dog.
Subtracted: Anfernee Simons, Chris Boucher, Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman Jr.
The surprisingly stout Bostonians made a big 1-for-1 move with the Bulls, finally replacing Kristaps Porzingis (and Al Horford) by adding a pure stretch five in Vucevic, who should’ve been dealt years ago. Simons was kind of redundant with all the guard talent, and Boston needed an upgrade over Luka Garza and Neemias Queta. If the 35-year-old from Montenegro can show up anywhere, it’s in the Mazzulla system.
Boucher, Minott, and Tillman Jr. were salary dumped to three different teams to duck the luxury tax. Since the offseason, Brad Stevens has saved his new bosses a staggering $350 million in luxury tax penalties and has built a Celtics team that, if Jayson Tatum returns, could come out of the East in a gap year.
Added: James Harden, Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder
Subtracted: Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, Lonzo Ball
The Cavs have steadied the ship after hovering around .500 into January and have solidified themselves in the East’s top six, but they still sit several games behind the Knicks and Celtics, who are tied for the No. 2 seed. The stagnation, especially after flaming out early last year, has caused them to take a sledgehammer to the “Core Four”.
Garland is gone, freeing up future cap flexibility for the NBA’s lone second apron team. In comes future Hall of Famer James Harden, who remains one of the league’s premier scoring threats even past his 36th birthday. Can he and Spida co-exist? Can the Cavs avoid another flameout that will cause Spida to look elsewhere?
They also banished Hunter to Sacramento, accepting defeat from a disappointing trade last February, and Ball to Utah in a pure salary dump. Keon Ellis was a highly coveted pesky guard, and Schroder will play for his *checks notes* 11th team. It’s his 10th different team in eight seasons. They’re absolutely deeper at guard now, but does this move the needle?
Subtracted: Jared McCain, Eric Gordon
For a team with an aging, injury-prone superstar, the Sixers really didn’t have any urgency to go for it this year, even with Paul George on the shelf due to a PED suspension.
They ducked the luxury tax thanks to a tax credit from the suspension and trading away McCain and Gordon. Trading away the second-year guard who showed so much promise as a rookie is baffling to me. Players always play worse right off a severe knee injury. What’s with the impatience? Was the package of three seconds and a late 2026 first-rounder too enticing?
Added: Chris Paul (will be waived), Trayce Jackson-Davis
The Raptors were very public about wanting an upgrade at center, fishing in the Domantas Sabonis and Anthony Davis markets. They settle for an undersized TJD, but he’s at least a rotation-caliber big in a rotation that is giving center minutes to Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Chris Paul still has never played a game in the East and will likely not do so for the Raptors. This will be the second time he is shipped to an Eastern Conference team and immediately redirected or waived.
It’s not a good look when, in a year where you pushed all your chips to the center of the table, you’re not only a likely play-in team, but you’re only deadline move is a salary dump. They attached two second-round picks to get Jones off their books.
They’ll be players in the buyout market, but they’re going to have a hard time getting on track with the injuries, inconsistent shooting, and regression on defense. This was a year where they had to show some progress, because it’s their last before the bill comes due. As of right now, they’re projected to be a second apron team in 2026-27 with two open roster spots and a quickly dwindling asset pool. It’s bleak in Orlando.
Despite being in on a star every single offseason and trade deadline, the Heat continue to do nothing. They reportedly wanted Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant; they got neither. Here is every single player the Heat have traded for since bringing in Jimmy Butler in July 2019:
- Jae Crowder, Solomon Hill, Andre Iguodala (February 2020)
- Trevor Ariza (March 2021)
- Victor Oladipo, Nemanja Bjelica (March 2021)
- Kyle Lowry (August 2021)
- Terry Rozier (January 2024)
- Pelle Larsson (June 2024, draft rights)
- Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell (February 2025)
- Simone Fontecchio, Norman Powell (July 2025)
He went 2 and a half years without trading for a single player. While there are multiple flashy names on here, aside from Powell, who’s seriously contributed? Complacency and continuity mean something when you’re competing for titles, but the Heat just aren’t anymore, and I don’t understand why every deadline looks like this.
Added: CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Jock Landale, Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Gabe Vincent, Duop Reath (waived)
Subtracted: Trae Young, Vit Krejci, Luke Kennard, Kristaps Porzingis
The Hawks are finally conceding. After years of mediocrity and attempts to retool around Trae Young, they’re finally committing to something a bit bigger. They’re not totally bottoming out (mostly because they can’t), but they’ve changed timelines. Jalen Johnson is the future now and they’re going to build around him and whoever they get from the Pelicans’ pick.
Trae and Tingus Pingus are out the door. They get some veteran fliers in McCollum, Hield, and Landale (who had the game of his life Thursday) and some young talent. Can they unlock Kuminga? What about Kispert? One criticism I have of their deadline is getting essentially no draft compensation, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
Added: Coby White, Malaki Branham, Xavier Tillman Sr., Mike Conley (may be waived)
Subtracted: Mason Plumlee, Collin Sexton
What on earth are you doing here?
The Hornets have won eight in a row and are currently in the play-in. After years of what-ifs, they’re finally realizing their potential. They, though, smartly approached this deadline.
Would I have fielded calls for people like Grant Williams? Sure, but they didn’t have to. They also got Coby White for three seconds, which can be an absolute steal if they extend him. They also picked up some seconds along the way, scooping up one from OKC to eventually ship Ousmane Dieng to Chicago (who then went to Milwaukee), while doing something similar with Tyus Jones in redirecting him to Charlotte.
It’s startling how hot they are. How high can they climb?
Added: Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton, Guerschon Yabusele, Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, Nick Richards
Subtracted: Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Coby White, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips
Well, it’s three years too late, but the Bulls finally accepted they need to tank. Sure, they got off DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine last year, but they still held onto hope for no real reason.
They have a lot of guards now, so that’ll be interesting. There’s potential in Ivey and Simons, both expiring contracts that now get a 30-game audition. Yabusele is now a pure rental, too, after waiving his player option. They also picked up eight second-round picks, only trading away a pick swap.
Added: Nigel Hayes-Davis, Ousmane Dieng
Subtracted: Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey
Giannis is still in Milwaukee, which is the wise move for the Bucks. No matter what the Warriors, Wolves, or Heat offer you now, you will definitely get more in June. Just tell your social media team to stop being delusional for a sec, okay?
As for what they did… essentially nothing. They got no picks, neither player they got moves the needle, and it just felt like they wanted to say they did something.
Added: Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, Dante Exum
Subtracted: CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Khris Middleton, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, AJ Johnson
Is this a MyLeague rebuild? Why the hell are the Wizards acquiring two all-stars at the deadline?
Neither Davis nor Young will play a game for the rest of the season, but as long as they keep their pick (please keep winning, we’d appreciate it), they have an interesting foundation.
Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington, a top-five pick.
Just saying, maybe they’re a sleeper next year.
Added: Josh Minott, Hunter Tyson, Ochai Agbaji
Subtracted: A singular second-round pick
You had one job: selling off Michael Porter Jr. after an all-star caliber first 50 games. You failed.
Maybe one of these three can shine with the opportunity down the stretch. I doubt it. At least you rid yourself of Cam Thomas?
Added: Ivica Zubac, Kobe Brown
Subtracted: Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, potentially a top-10 pick
I really like this move for Indiana, on one condition.
Zubac is a great big man and will feast when Tyrese Haliburton is healthy next season. They’re shaping up to contend for another Finals berth next year with him, and all it cost them was two firsts and an expiring Mathurin, who will get an opportunity out west.
Here’s the thing. They traded their 2026 first-round pick, but heavily protected. If the pick falls between 5 and 9 only, it goes to the Clippers. Even if the Pacers lost out, they’d have only a 52% chance of keeping the pick. Their best odds of keeping the pick would actually involve trying to win down the stretch to get the 10th-best odds, but it would heavily lower their odds of getting a potentially game-breaking talent that the top of this loaded draft class provides.
Is all of this worth potentially losing a top-10 pick in a loaded draft? That’s up to them to decide.
