Is it really Super Bowl week? Hardly felt it because of all the craziness that happened in this year’s NBA trade deadline. The attention was shifted entirely from the NFL to the NBA. League stars were tossed around from team to team like role players. Much of the craziness can be attributed to the new CBA they agreed upon a few years back, though.
One big reason that’s not talked about by many is that teams were wary about the second apron hitting them because of the harsh financial penalties it brings. As a result, they had no choice but to unload assets—even superstars—to other teams while trying to stay relevant in their quest to improve their roster and win that elusive Larry O’Brien trophy.
Still, the magnitude of what has happened was immeasurable. It’s not often that you see tier-one stars getting dealt midseason in this league. Needless to say, this is the most shocking trade deadline in NBA history.
There will always be winners and losers because no trade is ever equal. After all the fiasco, who are the top five winners and five losers after the NBA trade deadline?
Who won big, and who went bad after this year’s NBA trade deadline?
Winner: Rob Pelinka and The Los Angeles Lakers
Let’s start with the obvious one here.
This is the three-team trade that started all the buzz: The Mavs’ Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round draft pick. The Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino and a couple of second-rounders.
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It would be an understatement to say that the Lakers won this one. This is arguably the biggest win in NBA trade deadline history for any team. Luka Doncic teams up with LeBron James in La La Land, all in the quest of bringing the Larry O’Brien trophy back in LA.
As we all know, Luka Doncic is the kind of superstar who carries the narrative that it’s a matter of ‘WHEN’ he’ll win a title, not ‘IF.’ Only a few have that aura. Even though Pelinka’s trade to get Hornets big man Mark Williams was rescinded due to a failed physical, the Lakers are still massive winners in the trade deadline.
The Lakers are contenders again. Not just this season but for the next five to ten years. What a scoop for this famed franchise!
Loser: Mavericks GM Nico Harrison and Mavs Fanbase
The phrase “it all started with a coffee” may go down as one of the most infamous lines in Dallas Mavericks history. Trading a yet-to-hit-his-prime star like Luka Doncic will haunt this team for decades. What’s baffling is how the talks were kept within the shadows, and not one rumor about it came out despite the trade being discussed for over three to four weeks between Pelinka and Harrison.
Could the Mavs have gotten more assets by making Luka’s availability public? That’s a resounding YES. Was getting Anthony Davis and Max Christie plus a first-rounder the best deal they could have gotten for Luka? Emphasis on the NO. As a result, Mavs GM Nico Harrison was brutally ridiculed for it, more than Cowboys owner Jerry Jones perhaps. Inarguably, he’s the most hated man in Dallas right now.
If you have a tweet coming from the league’s top NBA insider, Shams Charania, being questioned by multiple NBA players about his account being hacked regarding the absurdity of this trade, you know well you’ve done something monumentally bad.
And for the Mavs fans? They were livid, comparing it to losing a loved one or a bitter heartbreak. Luka was their guy. He was supposed to stay with the Mavs forever, like Dirk Nowitzki. A memorial was held outside their home arena to mourn the trade of Luka to the Lakers. If you’re into X.com, you’d know how much they despised losing their Wonder Boy.
Picture this: The Dallas Cowboys are the most popular team in Dallas, but Luka Doncic was the face of the city. You get it. The Mavs probably lost most of their fans in Slovenia and Europe, as their Instagram account followers went down hard following the trade. Conspiracies have run wild about why this trade happened. It’s truly bizarre.
The only way all this hate will quell is if the Mavericks win a title within the next few years with their new-look roster. Can Nico do a 360 and win the trust of the fanbase if the Mavs somehow win it all? People are skeptical, and rightfully so.
Winner: Pat Riley and The Miami Heat
Exchanging the disgruntled Jimmy Butler to Andrew Wiggins is a win in my book. While no one will argue that Jimmy is the better player compared to Wiggins, the Heat emerged as winners as they got rid of an aging, oft-injured star who has caused a lot of drama inside the locker room since their exit in the playoffs almost a year ago.
As we may all forget, Andrew Wiggins was the second-best player in the Warriors’ surprising title run in 2022. Plus, he is five years younger than Butler. It’s safe to say that his potential as a player was never fulfilled, but there’s no doubt that coach Eric Spoelstra will put him in a position to succeed in Miami.
Do you know how much Miami wants to move on with Jimmy? Reports confirmed that Andrew Wiggins will wear Butler’s famous number 22 as a member of the Heat. I guess they won’t retire Jimmy’s number in the future, for sure.
Loser: The Aging Golden State Warriors
Adding Jimmy Butler to this aging Warriors core isn’t that bad. The Warriors’ offense thrives on shooting and quick cuts to the basket to score, and Butler is a hell of a good cutter, arguably one of the best in the league. Why the Warriors are losers in the NBA trade deadline, you say? It’s because they now have an aging core with limited assets going forward.
In addition, they pushed hard to reunite Suns forward Kevin Durant with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, only to be rebuffed because Durant was unwilling to play for the Warriors again. Ouch. Draymond and Jimmy on the same team? With both notorious reputations on board, will they co-exist or end up throwing fists?
Curry will turn 37 before this season ends, Green will be 35 by then, and Jimmy is 35 years old. They are slowly turning into a version of the old Utah Jazz in the early part of the 2000s. Nobody wants to see that, honestly. But hey, maybe they have one last run within them. Who knows?
Winner: San Antonio Spurs Adding De’Aaron Fox
The Spurs fully know that they have a generational player in their hands – Victor Wembanyama. With him as good as advertised, there’s no doubt from the Spurs brass that they need to provide him with an all-star player to hasten their rebuild. Enter De’Aaron Fox. Fox was deemed untouchable earlier this season, but after Sacramento’s sudden firing of coach Mike Brown, the team made the star guard available before the NBA trade deadline.
What’s the cost of getting the Kings’ guard to the Spurs? A bunch of role-players plus three future first-rounders. It was a three-team trade, after all. Still, at 27 years old, the Spurs now have Fox, who is entering his prime years as a player, to lead them alongside Wemby into playoff contention for years to come.
If all goes well, don’t be surprised to see the Spurs become contenders sooner rather than later.
Losers: Kevin Durant and The Phoenix Suns
Have you seen Kevin Durant’s reaction when the Luka Doncic trade broke out? From that moment until the end of the NBA trade deadline, the superstar forward had no idea that his name would be dragged along the fiasco for a few days. No, he wasn’t traded. The Warriors made a hard push, with Stephen Curry reportedly trying to convince KD to team up again with him and Draymond Green.
Durant wasn’t moved because he had no desire to return to Golden State, a team where he had arguably his best years as a player. As a result, the trade talks fell. Still, his name was constantly dragged throughout the trade deadline. One team allegedly made a hard push for his services, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It must have been a whirlwind week for KD and the Suns. How they dangled his name in trade talks must have irked something inside him moving forward. They eventually made a trade, shipping Jusuf Nurkic and a first-rounder to the Hornets for Vasilije Micic and Cody Martin. While their roster has remained mostly intact, the Suns still have a long way to go before being considered legitimate contenders in the league this season.
Winner: De’Andre Hunter Goes To The Cleveland Cavaliers
The biggest hole in this Cavs team is the small forward spot. Despite having a ridiculously great regular season, this team knows that they have to get a solid wing in order to have a legitimate shot at a title this year and the next. De’Andre Hunter fell out of favor with the Hawks and was relegated to a sixth man/seventh man off-the-bench role after drafting Zaccharie Risacher as the number-one overall pick in last June’s draft.
Despite playing less than his usual career minutes, the 27-year-old forward emerged as one of the best bench players in the NBA this season.
In Cleveland, Hunter will be guaranteed to start at the small forward spot throughout the rest of the year. He is averaging a career-high 19.0 PPG in just 29 MPG off the bench. He provides elite spacing and shooting for the Cavs, especially in the postseason.
Loser: Khris Middleton Is No Longer A Buck
If a team like the Milwaukee Bucks gets a chance to upgrade in the NBA trade deadline, they should pounce on it. However, the price might be a little steep in return for a player who was reportedly happy playing a starring role in a lowly franchise like the Wizards in recent years.
Khris Middleton is headed to the Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma. While the trade exchange was somehow much more profound than those two names, the reality is that Middleton is no longer a Buck. From the Bucks’s perspective, this was a no-brainer. Kuzma is younger and should emerge as the third scorer for this team moving forward. As great as Middleton was with Milwaukee, he has missed 100 games over the last three seasons.
The Bucks’ front office needs this team to win a title soon before the holes in their ship drags them down into the depths. This is value over loyalty. Giannis and Dame want to win a title, and failing to do that this season will generate some serious questions about this roster and the team’s direction by the time the 2025 offseason rolls in.
But dealing a beloved figure like Khris Middleton to the lowly Wizards? That’s nasty work, Milwaukee.
Winner: Sacramento Kings Gets Zach LaVine Plus Multiple Picks
Despite losing De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs, somehow, the Kings finessed their way to get three first-rounders and three second-rounders, plus Zach LaVine at the NBA trade deadline. LaVine is reunited with his former Bulls co-star, DeMar DeRozan. Malik Monk slides into the point guard spot while LaVine and DeRozan will play the two and the three. You might as well call them the Sacramento Bulls(just kidding).
On paper, this could work well for Sacramento. While LaVine isn’t a playmaker, the former all-star does shoot the three better than Fox, giving them additional spacing on the floor whenever DeRozan attacks the rim. In addition, they plucked out Jonas Valanciunas from the hapless Wizards to join his fellow Lithuanian basketball national teammate, Domantas Sabonis, in Sacramento.
The Kings may not be instant contenders, but they might have enough to play as the gate crashers in the loaded Western Conference.
Loser: Nikola Vucevic and The Chicago Bulls
Really, Chicago?
How can you hold on to Zach LaVine for years but not manage to get a single draft compensation when you decide to trade him away at the NBA trade deadline? Not a single one, really? Only the Chicago Bulls have the answer to that.
Even though Nikola Vucevic’s name was dangled for the last couple of seasons, the Bulls still opted not to trade him. When are you all planning to go for a full rebuild? DeMar DeRozan is gone. Zach LaVine is gone. You could’ve gotten at least a first-rounder for Vucevic or the underwhelming Patrick Williams.
Worst of all, they might make the play-in with how the Eastern Conference has played out this season. That means losing a top-five selection in the loaded 2025 NBA Draft. No desire to get franchise-altering prospects like Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, or Dylan Harper?
After the NBA trade deadline has passed, the Chicago Bulls are still hesitant to go on a full-scale rebuild. Sorry, Bulls fans. At least Matas Buzelis looks like a stud.
