Ranking the Best Players Dealt at the NBA Trade Deadline Since 2020
The NFL has the Super Bowl in February, but the NBA often overshadows it with its annual trade deadline.
In-season blockbusters have become increasingly common in recent years. In 2025, the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers broke the internet with an out-of-nowhere three-team trade featuring Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis. One year later, Davis was on the move again to the Washington Wizards.
Davis wasn't the only star to relocate ahead of the 2026 trade deadline, though. Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., Darius Garland and James Harden all got moved as well.
They now join a growing list of stars who were dealt ahead of the NBA trade deadline in recent years. Not even the restrictive new collective bargaining agreement can stop teams from drastically shaking up the league's landscape.
Take a look back at the top players who've been moved prior to the NBA's midseason superstar shuffle since the calendar flipped to 2020.
15. Nikola Vučević (2026)
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The trade: Nikola Vučević and a 2027 second-round pick to the Celtics; Anfernee Simons and a 2026 second-round pick to the Bulls
The Chicago Bulls finally pulled the trigger on a long-overdue rebuild at the 2026 trade deadline, and not a moment too soon. They made seven total trades, most of which involved them sending out veterans on expiring contracts for second-round picks.
The most notable veteran whom they sent out at the deadline was Nikola Vučević. The Bulls sent the two-time All-Star and a 2027 second-round pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Anfernee Simons—who is also on an expiring contract—and a 2026 second-round pick.
The 35-year-old Vučević had no place in the Bulls' long-term plans, but he could be a major upgrade for a Celtics team that's been piecing its frontcourt depth chart together with duct tape all season. During his five-plus years in Chicago, Vučević averaged 18.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 made threes per game while shooting 49.9 percent overall and 34.9 percent from deep.
Vooch is not a great defender, to put it charitably. Even after adding him, the Celtics still figure to lean on Neemias Queta and Luka Garza, both of whom have been revelations for them. But he gives them a bona fide floor-stretching big man, which is a terrifying prospect for a team that's already among the league leaders in three-point volume.
Vučević isn't a game-changer on the same level as many of the other stars who've been moved at the deadline in recent years, but he could have a sneaky big impact in Boston nonetheless.
14. Kristaps Porziņģis (2022)
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The trade: Kristaps Porziņģis and 2022 2nd-round pick to the Wizards; Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Mavericks
Three years before cutting bait on Luka Dončić, the Dallas Mavericks abandoned ship on his co-star.
The Mavericks originally acquired Kristaps Porziņģis in a blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks in January 2019. They re-signed him that offseason in the hopes that he and Dončić could be the foundation of their franchise. Instead, injuries caused Porziņģis to miss 18 games in 2019-20 and 29 games the following season, and he and Dončić struggled to coalesce when healthy.
Ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, the Mavericks decided to cut their losses on Porziņģis. They traded him and a 2022 second-round pick to the Washington Wizards for a pair of role players (Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans), which was widely panned at the time.
Porziņģis' stint in the nation's capital didn't last long, but he resuscitated his trade value during his 82 games with the Wizards. The Boston Celtics wound up trading for him during the 2023 offseason, and he immediately proceeded to help them win an NBA championship.
Meanwhile, the failed Porziņģis tenure in Dallas was the first of many dominoes that wound up leading to Dončić's departure.
13. Ivica Zubac (2026)
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The trade: Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown to the Pacers; Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, one second-round pick to the Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers traded James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland two days before the 2026 NBA trade deadline, but they weren't done there. Shortly before the clock struck 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, they sent starting center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers for a package including two first-round picks.
One of the picks was straightforward—it's just the Pacers' fully unprotected 2029 first-round pick. The other one, not so much. The Pacers will send their 2026 first-round pick to the Clippers if it falls between 5-9. Otherwise, they'll owe them a 2031 fully unprotected first-round pick instead.
In essence, the Clippers are gambling on either a high-end outcome in the next few months or on the Pacers' demise a few years in the future. However, the combination of Zubac and Tyrese Haliburton could send those distant picks toward the bottom of the first round.
Zubac averaged a career-high 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds while shooting 62.8 percent from the field in 2024-25. His numbers in 2025-26 are down slightly (14.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 61.3 percent shooting), but he's still an ideal rim-running big to pair with a passing wizard like Harden or Haliburton.
Zubac isn't a unicorn big man who can bomb away from deep. He's much more of a conventional center who does most of his damage within 10 feet of the rim. But if his partnership with Harden is any indication, Zubac and Haliburton should fit like a glove together.
12. Domantas Sabonis (2022)
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The trade: Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick to the Kings; Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Pacers
When Tyrese Haliburton surprisingly slipped during the 2020 NBA draft, the Sacramento Kings stopped his slide at No. 12 and landed one of the steals of the night. The only problem? They already had a star point guard in De'Aaron Fox.
The Kings' backcourt got even more crowded the following season after they spent the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 draft on Davion Mitchell. They used the 2022 trade deadline as their opportunity to rebalance their roster, as did the Indiana Pacers.
While the Kings were too guard-heavy, the Pacers had a frontcourt conundrum of their own. Domantas Sabonis was fresh off back-to-back All-Star nods, but Myles Turner was far more productive whenever he played as the lone big in the Pacers' lineup. Indiana would have preferred to move Turner, according to Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star, but Sabonis had far more trade value.
The Pacers and Kings thus solved one another's problems by pulling off a six-player trade headlined by Sabonis and Haliburton. Sabonis gave Sacramento a new offensive hub in the frontcourt to pair with Fox, while Haliburton took over as the Pacers' full-time ball-handler.
Sabonis made the All-Star Game during his first full season in Sacramento, and he's been named to the All-NBA third team each of the past two years. He's led the league in rebounding for three straight seasons (including a career-high 14.4 boards per game this year), although it's fair to wonder whether his defensive shortcomings limit his team's ceiling.
Either way, the Kings now figure to build around him moving forward in the wake of the Fox trade.
11. Darius Garland (2026)
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The trade: Darius Garland and a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers; James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers were the only team above the second apron during the 2025-26 NBA season. They entered the season on the short list of championship favorites, but they came into the trade deadline sitting a distant fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Injuries played a large part in that. Darius Garland missed the start of the season to recover from offseason toe surgery on his left foot, and he went down in mid-January with a right big toe sprain that sidelined him for longer than expected.
Feeling the urgency to capitalize on their win-now window—particularly with Donovan Mitchell's upcoming extension negotiations looming—the Cavaliers traded Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, who's a full decade older than him. The Clippers, who later dealt starting center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers, decided to take advantage of this opportunity as a way to reset.
Garland is a two-time All-Star with career averages of 18.8 points, 6.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 made three-pointers per game. He's a career 38.6 percent shooter from deep as well. Getting a relatively young, high-upside player like that for a 36-year-old in Harden who didn't factor into the Clippers' long-term future could wind up being a heist for L.A.
"He's different from James, and we can play different with a faster pace," Clippers head coach Ty Lue told reporters after the trade. "We can play him off the ball more. It's going to be exciting. I've known DG for a while and having a young point guard under my tutelage, I think it's the first time I have had one since Kyrie [Irving]."
10. Jaren Jackson Jr. (2026)
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The trade: Jaren Jackson Jr., Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. to the Jazz; Taylor Hendricks, Walter Clayton Jr., Georges Niang, Kyle Anderson and three future first-round picks to the Grizzlies
During the 2025 offseason, the Memphis Grizzlies signed Jaren Jackson Jr. to a four-year, $205 million extension via a renegotiation. Seven months later, they traded him to the Utah Jazz for a package that included three future first-round picks.
The Grizzlies began their teardown when they traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic during the 2025 offseason. Once it became clear that they were also ready to move on from Ja Morant, it was only a matter of time before Jackson was on the move as well.
Jackson won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022-23 and has led the league in blocks twice. The two-time All-Star and three-time All-Defensive team selection is the quintessential modern-day unicorn: a big man who can both protect the rim and knock down three-pointers at an above-average clip.
Jackson has never been a prolific rebounder, and he has long been foul-prone as well. That makes him a fairly unique archetype to build around. The Jazz appear ready to go all-in on a supersized frontcourt featuring him, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, which could help cover up some of those weaknesses.
JJJ is more of a complementary star than a No. 1 option on a championship team, but he should be a defensive game-changer for Utah.
9. De'Aaron Fox (2025)
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The trade: De'Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to San Antonio Spurs; Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks, three second-round picks to Kings; Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and their own 2025 first-round pick (via SAS) to Bulls
While the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade came out of nowhere, De'Aaron Fox's recent departure from the Sacramento Kings was far more telegraphed.
In late December, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that the Kings had entered the "danger zone" with Fox, who bypassed the chance to sign a three-year, $165 million extension this past offseason. Fox's agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, met with the Kings' front office to suss out how they planned to turn the team into a title contender. Two weeks later, they fired head coach Mike Brown, which led to some collateral damage for Fox.
It thus came as no surprise when ESPN's Shams Charania reported in late January that the Kings were "expected to open up talks" to move Fox ahead of the 2025 trade deadline. Once word trickled out that the San Antonio Spurs were Fox's preferred destination, what came next was all but a formality.
The Kings sent Fox to the Spurs in a three-team trade that netted them Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks and three second-round picks. That's a reasonable haul for a former All-NBA point guard who's averaged at least 25.0 points per game in four of the past five seasons, although it might not help the Kings escape from the NBA's treadmill of mediocrity.
Fox made only one All-Star and one All-NBA team during his seven-plus years in Sacramento, although he did win the Clutch Player of the Year award in 2022-23. Now that he'll be playing alongside Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, he figures to have more league honors coming in his near future.
8. Pascal Siakam (2024)
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The trade: Pascal Siakam to the Pacers; Bruce Brown Jr., Kira Lewis Jr., Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to the Raptors
After winning the 2018-19 NBA championship, the Toronto Raptors began to slowly wither away. Rather than proactively breaking up their core at some point, they allowed both Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet to reach free agency. They managed to land Goran Dragić and Precious Achiuwa in a sign-and-trade for Lowry, but VanVleet signed with the Houston Rockets and left the Raptors empty-handed.
Team president Masai Ujiri finally learned from his mistakes following VanVleet's departure. In late December 2023, he traded OG Anunoby, Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a 2024 second-round pick. Two weeks later, the Raptors sent Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for three first-round picks and salary filler.
During his eight-plus year tenure in Toronto, Siakam won the Most Improved Player award in 2018-19 and was named both an All-Star and to the All-NBA team twice. He averaged at least 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game in every season from 2019-20 through when he got traded in January 2024.
Siakam was never a great three-point shooter in Toronto—he shot only 32.7 percent from deep on 3.2 attempts per game throughout his career with the Raptors—but his heady two-way play made him an excellent No. 3 option behind Lowry and Kawhi Leonard on the 2018-19 championship team. He was just miscast as a No. 1 option, particularly after the Raptors lucked their way into Scottie Barnes in the 2021 NBA draft.
Following his arrival in Indiana, Siakam helped the Pacers make a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. The Pacers re-signed him to a four-year, $189.0 million max contract this past offseason.
7. Trae Young (2026)
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The trade: Trae Young to the Wizards; CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Hawks
In 2021, Trae Young led the Atlanta Hawks on a Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The next season, he earned his second straight All-Star nod and his first All-NBA selection.
Five years later, the Hawks effectively salary-dumped him. Welcome to the NBA's new second-apron era.
The 34-year-old McCollum has played well for the Wizards, but he's on an expiring contract and does not figure to factor into Atlanta's long-term future. Kispert is in the first year of a four-year, $54 million contract, but he played only 19 games prior to the trade due to thumb and hamstring injuries.
That's hardly the return one would expect for a four-time All-Star with career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game. However, Young has been one of the NBA's worst defensive players since he made his debut in 2018, and questions persist about how much teammates enjoy his heliocentric playing style.
Young has a $49.0 million player option for 2026-27 that he was "increasingly expected" to pick up prior to the trade because of the uncertain market he'd face in free agency, according to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein. That drastic fall from grace is mostly a reflection of how the second-apron era has changed player valuations.
6. Kyrie Irving (2023)
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The trade: Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris to the Mavericks; Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, one first-round pick and two second-round picks to the Nets
Kyrie Irving's tenure with the Brooklyn Nets began with such promise, but it disintegrated into a tumultuous nightmare by 2023. His refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine caused him to miss a majority of the 2021-22 season, and the Nets suspended him for eight games early in the 2022-23 campaign after he promoted an antisemitic film on social media.
The Nets' Big Three era was already over by that point, as they sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2022 trade deadline for a package headlined by Ben Simmons and two future first-round picks. Once it became clear that Simmons was a shell of his former self, the Nets decided to cut bait on both Irving and Kevin Durant.
Given the off-court headaches that Irving had caused over the past few seasons, the Nets wound up selling low on him at the 2023 trade deadline. They shipped him and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian-Finney Smith, one first-round pick and two second-round picks—which is nearly the same package that the Mavericks got for Kristaps Porziņģis one year earlier.
Irving averaged 27.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 20 games with the Mavericks after the 2023 trade deadline, but they still wound up missing the play-in tournament. That wound up being a blessing in disguise, as it allowed them to keep their top-10-protected first-round pick, which they'd later spend on Dereck Lively II. Irving and Lively proceeded to help the Mavericks go on a surprise run to the NBA Finals last year.
Ironically, buying low on Irving might have laid the foundation for the Mavericks to trade Luka Dončić two years later. Landing a star point guard at a bargain-basement price allowed them to gamble on flipping Dončić for Anthony Davis and a first-round pick in pursuit of more two-way balance.
5. Tyrese Haliburton (2022)
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The trade: Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Pacers; Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick to the Kings
Three years after this trade, it's fair to say that the Pacers got the better end of it so far.
Following his arrival in Indiana, Haliburton took an immediate leap. During the 26 games he played after the 2022 trade deadline, he averaged a career-high 17.5 points, 9.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 percent overall and 41.6 percent from deep.
The following season, Haliburton earned his first All-Star nod while averaging a career-high 20.7 points, 10.4 assists and 2.9 triples per game. He was one of only three players that year to average at least 20 points and 10 assists, joining James Harden and Trae Young, although the Pacers still finished 11th in the East at 35-47.
At the beginning of last season, Haliburton looked like a viable MVP candidate. Although a midseason hamstring strain slowed him down, he still wound up earning his second straight All-Star nod and a spot on the All-NBA third team after leading the league with 10.9 assists per game. The Pacers finished above .500 for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign, and he helped guide them to the Eastern Conference Finals.
A back injury caused Haliburton to get off to a slow start this season, but he's begun to ramp back up over the past few weeks. Across 12 appearances in January, he averaged 20.0 points, 8.7 assists and 3.2 treys per game while shooting a sizzling 51.5 percent overall and 44.7 percent from distance.
While the Kings have begun to self-destruct in the three years since acquiring Sabonis, the Pacers added reinforcements for Haliburton in Pascal Siakam. Advantage, Indiana.
4. James Harden (2022, 2026)
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The trade (in 2022): James Harden and Paul Millsap to the 76ers; Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry and two first-round picks to the Nets
The trade (in 2026): James Harden to the Cavaliers; Darius Garland and a second-round pick to the Clippers
When James Harden forced his way to the Brooklyn Nets to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in January 2021, it looked like they'd be the NBA's next great superteam. Instead, that trio played only 16 games together and won only one playoff series.
That caused Harden to head for the exits in Brooklyn. He seemingly grew tired of carrying the team by himself, as he originally joined forces with Durant and Irving so all three could take on a lighter load.
Harden wanted to be traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, although he didn't make a formal trade request "out of fear of the public backlash," according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The Sixers happily obliged to end their months-long standoff with Ben Simmons.
Harden wound up leading the league with 10.7 assists per game in 2022-23, his first full season in Philadelphia, and his two-man chemistry with Joel Embiid helped the big man win the MVP award that year. He expected the Sixers to reward him with a hefty long-term contract during the 2023 offseason, but a communication breakdown in the days leading up to free agency resulted in his third trade request in three years.
The Sixers eventually traded him to the Clippers, where he spent two-and-a-half years. But once it became clear that he wasn't in their long-term plans, he again headed for the exits, this time to Cleveland.
3. Anthony Davis (2025, 2026)
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The trade (in 2025): Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick to the Mavericks; Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers; Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks to the Jazz
The trade (in 2026): Anthony Davis, Jaden Harden, D'Angelo Russell, Dante Exum to the Wizards; Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Tyus Jones, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks and three second-round picks to the Mavericks; Malaki Branham to the Hornets
When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Anthony Davis in a blockbuster trade during the 2019 offseason, he immediately rewarded their faith by helping to guide them to a championship the following season. He finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year race that season while earning a first-team All-NBA nod and his seventh All-Star selection.
Davis proceeded to miss at least 25 games in each of the next three seasons, although he continued to play at an All-Star level when healthy. In 2023-24, he played a career-high 76 games and earned All-Star and All-NBA nods after averaging 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
With LeBron James inching closer to retirement, he spent a few years trying to pass the torch to Davis as the Lakers' future cornerstone. However, the Lakers weren't interested in signing the injury-prone 32-year-old big man to another extension, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
Instead, they flipped him as the centerpiece of a package for Luka Dončić, who's now poised to become the latest in a long line of Lakers legends.
In explaining his rationale for the controversial decision to trade Dončić, then-Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison told reporters that he and head coach Jason Kidd have "a vision and the culture that we want to create." He added that they believe "defense wins championships, and we're bringing in one of the best two-way players in the league."
Nine months later, Harrison was unemployed as it became increasingly clear that this was one of the worst trades in NBA history. The Mavericks cut bait on Davis a few months after firing Harrison, shipping him to the Washington Wizards for a package including two mediocre first-round picks and three second-rounders.
2. Kevin Durant (2023)
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The trade: Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren to the Suns; Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Juan Pablo Vaulet, four first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and two second-round picks to the Nets; Jae Crowder to the Bucks; George Hill, Serge Ibaka, Jordan Nwora and three second-round picks to the Pacers
After James Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn at the 2022 trade deadline, Kevin Durant tried to do the same four months later. Hours before free agency began, Durant requested a trade from the Nets, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Two months later, Durant rescinded his trade request, but that proved to be short-lived. Once the Nets shipped Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, Durant again requested a trade, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst.
This time, the Nets acquiesced, pulling off a four-team blockbuster that landed them Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, four future first-round picks and a first-round pick swap. They proceeded to ship Bridges to the New York Knicks this past offseason for another five first-round picks, so they've effectively turned Durant into nine first-round picks and counting.
It's easy to see why the Phoenix Suns were willing to give up such a haul for Durant. Pairing his scoring prowess with Devin Booker gave Phoenix two of the league's most lethal three-level bucket-getters. However, the Suns' ensuing trade for Bradley Beal during the 2023 offseason parked the Suns right back into NBA purgatory.
Although the Suns continue to scuffle, that isn't a reflection of Durant's play. He earned a second-team All-NBA nod and his 14th career All-Star appearance last season after averaging 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He's headed for his 15th All-Star trip this season and also figures to make an All-NBA team again as long as he clears the mandatory 65-game threshold.
1. Luka Dončić (2025)
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The trade: Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers; Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick to the Mavericks; Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks to the Jazz
Players like Luka Dončić rarely (if ever) get traded in the NBA.
The 25-year-old made the All-NBA first team for five straight years prior to his departure from Dallas. As ESPN's Tim Bontemps noted, he's one of only five active players with five All-NBA first-team nods under his belt, joining LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden and Kevin Durant.
Harden and Durant have been no stranger to midseason moves in recent years, but both are well on the wrong side of 30. Dončić is just entering his prime, and he was fresh off guiding the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals before he got dealt.
Dončić averaged a league-high 33.9 points, 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game in 2023-24. He's the only player in NBA history to post those marks across an entire season. Oscar Roberston is the only other player in league history to match his career averages of 28.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists across his first seven seasons.
Had the Mavericks opened up a bidding war on Dončić instead of negotiating exclusively with the Lakers, one NBA executive told Howard Beck of The Ringer that they likely could have gotten "the biggest haul in NBA history." Instead, they weren't even able to wrangle both of the Lakers' tradable first-round picks because they kept talks so clandestine.
According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks "were motivated to move Dončić because of his constant conditioning concerns." Had they not traded him, he would have become eligible for a five-year, $345.3 million supermax extension this offseason, which they seemingly had reservations about handing him.
This trade sent unprecedented shockwaves around the league. David Aldridge of The Athletic, who's been covering the NBA for nearly 40 years, said the deal caught everyone off guard. According to Bontemps, the "unanimous reaction from anyone outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in the early hours of Saturday morning was that the Lakers had won the trade—and that they couldn't understand it."
The main takeaway? As always, Lakers exceptionalism wins again.
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