The NBA’s trade deadline passed last Thursday, and, as usual, organizations across the league made many last-minute decisions that have altered the landscape of the rest of the season.
Los Angeles Clippers point guard James Harden led the headlines after his surprising trade to the championship-contending Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs have followed their 64-18 season from last year with a current 33-21 record (as of Feb. 10), and have been 8-2 in their last ten games. Harden joins the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on what is now his sixth team as he continues to search for an organization that can get him his first championship.
Setting his questionable team loyalty aside, Harden has been great this season. He’s fourth in the league in assists and averages a respectable 25.4 points per game. But, with his departure, the Clippers seem to have lost out on what could have been a promising season.
Another noteworthy trade was the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to move on from Anthony Davis, establishing an end to the infamous Luca Dončić trade from last February. Davis had seen scattered playing time since arriving in Dallas, and that pattern will continue after the Washington Wizards announced that Davis would be sidelined until much later in the season.
“The plan for [Davis] right now is to go back to Dallas and finish his rehab,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said. “During the All-Star break, [he’ll take] another visit to a doctor. And that’s a big appointment for us to see where his progress is at.”
Dallas’ move also presented a theme that ran rampant throughout the trade deadline: cash dumps. By dumping players with less-than-desirable salaries ($6,000,000 for Jaden Hardy, $5,685,000 for D’Angelo Russell and $3,303,774 for Dante Exum), the Mavs created space in their salary cap, even if it did set back their roster for the time being.
Teams like the Wizards (who now carry a 14-38 record) have also benefitted from this front office technique. All the way back in January, Washington used their free cap space to acquire Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, an all-star with a $46,394,100 contract this year. For a team like the Wizards, which is in possession of the favorable first-round pick in 2026, this is a desirable outcome following the deadline.
And yet, one of the most notable outcomes of the trade deadline was the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not trade their star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. The antics between Milwaukee and Antetokounmpo have been ongoing for some time now, but they signal the Bucks’ commitment to their star player, even at a low point.
Antetokounmpo has been off the court with a right calf injury he sustained on Jan. 23, and Bucks head coach Doc Rivers informed media that Antetokounmpo would be out for the next four to six weeks.
“This calf keeps coming up, and it’s concerning,” Rivers said. “I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him and there’s something there. It keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”
One of the losers of the deadline was the Golden State Warriors, who traded away shooting guard Buddy Hield and point forward Jonathan Kuminga to the aforementioned Hawks in order to gain point forward Kristaps Porzingis.
The move brought an end to the Kuminga era in the Bay, and it wasn’t for all that much value. Porzingis’ stats don’t move the needle much for Golden State’s playoff chances, presenting the case that the trade largely served emotional purposes over logistical purposes.
The Pistons, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 38-13 record, were silent at the trade deadline, while the current leaders in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, made three trades before the deadline, most notably scooping up Jared McCain from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Ultimately, the trade deadline doesn’t change the entire backbone of a team, but it does provide some insight into where a front office’s head is at in terms of playoff runs and big-picture roster building. The NBA All-Star break begins on Feb. 13, and the regular season concludes on April 12. Until then, fans around the country can sit back and let the game work itself out as postseason basketball begins to round the corner.