NBA's Biggest Winners and Losers from March Include Warriors, Sixers and MVP Favorite

Now that the dust has settled from a wild NBA trade deadline, the month of March has provided plenty of answers about both teams and individual players alike.

There's been a tremendous fallout from the Jimmy Butler trade, both for the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat alike. The Philadelphia 76ers may have thrown in the towel, but there's been one winner on the roster.

It's time to take a look at the biggest winners and losers from March 2025.

Winner: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP Odds and the Oklahoma City Thunder

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Death, taxes and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 30-plus points in an Oklahoma City Thunder win. 

It was another good, nay, great month for the 26-year-old All-Star point guard, as Gilgeous-Alexander has led all players in scoring (35.3 points per game) while the Thunder have the NBA's best record (14-1) in March.

OKC wasn't in any danger of blowing the No. 1 seed in the West (currently 13.5 games up on the No. 2 Houston Rockets) yet did need to keep winning to secure home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs. Thanks to a recent four-game losing streak by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Thunder now have a 2.5-game lead on the Cavs and the right for a potential Finals match to begin in OKC.

Despite Nikola Jokić putting together one of the best seasons we've seen in NBA history (29.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 41.2 percent from three), the MVP race may now be over.

Thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander's torrid scoring this month and the Thunder continuing to dominate, SGA has now moved to -5000 odds to win the 2024-25 MVP, according to FanDuel.

Gilgeous-Alexander (71 games played) has already met the minimum requirement for postseason awards and could essentially take the next few weeks off and still win MVP.

It's been a great month, and year, for SGA and the Thunder.

Loser: Philadelphia 76ers

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The Philadelphia 76ers looked like a title contender coming into the season, yet injuries and a predictable decline from Paul George now have Philly out of the play-in tournament altogether.

The Sixers have gone 3–14 in the month of March, looking unrecognizable most nights as the team has prioritized tanking rehabbing its core from various injuries.

This was a roster that was supposed to win now.

Paul George will turn 35 in May. Joel Embiid is 31 but may have the knees of someone twice his age while Andre Drummond (31), Eric Gordon (36) and Kyle Lowry (39) all signed one-to-two-year contracts in an effort to win a title immediately.

Playing for a high draft pick in a talented 2025 draft is all that Sixers fans have to look forward to, yet they may not even get one.

Philly only gets to keep its pick if it falls in the top six spots. If not, the Oklahoma City Thunder (who else?) will make the selection. At 23-52, the 76ers have the fifth-worst record in the NBA.

There's a real chance that Philadelphia will end this season with no playoff trip and no first-round pick, a disaster scenario for the franchise.

Winner: Quentin Grimes

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Not all has gone wrong in Philadelphia this month, as newly-acquired shooting guard Quentin Grimes has enjoyed all of the minutes and shots his heart has desired playing for an injury-riddled 76ers team.

Grimes, brought over from the Dallas Mavericks along with Philly's own 2025 second-round pick in exchange for Caleb Martin, has thrived with this new opportunity.

Among all players who suited up in 10 games or more in March, Grimes ranked tied for ninth overall in scoring average (26.6 points per game), even ahead of guys like Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young and many others.

Beginning with a 44-point outburst on March 1 against the Golden State Warriors, Grimes is up to 26.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.9 steals and is shooting 50.4 percent overall and 40.3 percent from three in 14 games.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon, the Mavs traded Grimes partly due to not wanting to pay him a full mid-level expectation-type salary (around $12.8 million per year).

This looks like a bargain now, as Grimes has put up numbers in March that would typically draw two or three times as much in salary. The 24-year-old is a restricted free agent, so the Sixers can match any offer he receives as a free agent. Philly is already projected to be just $21 million below the second apron for next season, however, potentially limiting what it can pay him.

The Sixers may be losers in March, but Grimes has been one of the biggest winners.

Loser: Pat Riley and the Miami Heat

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Putting out a statement to declare you weren't going to trade Jimmy Butler only to trade Jimmy Butler just weeks later wasn't a good look for Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.

Everything since the deal has gone even worse for Miami, as the franchise has now slumped to 5-11 overall in March.

The Heat offense has been ice-cold, ranking 24th overall with a lowly 110.7 rating, When Butler was on the floor for Miami this season, this offense recorded a rating of 119.6.

Less than two years removed from a trip to the NBA Finals, the 33-41 Heat will likely finish ninth or 10th. Even if they secure a playoff berth in the play-in tournament, they'll likely get trounced by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.

Riley and the Heat made a rare error. They should have traded Butler last offseason when there was a lack of stars available, a move that would have netted them a much larger return than simply Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell and the projected 21st overall pick in the draft.

This has become a lost season for the Heat, a team that's become synonymous with spring success over the past two decades.

Winner: Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors

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A two-year, $110.9 million extension may not age well, although the Golden State Warriors should be thrilled with how well the trade for Jimmy Butler has transpired thus far.

The Warriors have gone 11-4 in March (third-best record in the Western Conference) and are now 17-2 when both Butler and Stephen Curry play.

A starting lineup of Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Butler and Draymond Green has a net rating of plus-20.0 with a defensive rating of 97.7 (93rd percentile, via Cleaning the Glass).

Golden State's recent defense has been so impressive that Green is now the betting favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, an award he hasn't won since the 2016-17 season.

This trade couldn't have worked out better for the Warriors, who only sacrificed a single first-round pick, one that's becoming less valuable by the day as their wins stack up.

Things usually don't end well for Butler and his teams (see Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia and now Miami), yet for now the Warriors and their new star are easily big winners of March.