Biggest Winners and Losers from the 2026 NBA Trade Deadline

Thursday itself wasn't packed with trade-related fireworks, but the NBA's trade deadline week lit up the internet like Independence Day.

Even if Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't move, several other big names did. A handful of teams may have gotten closer to being able to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder. Others leaned into rebuilds and got worse.

Some of the moves were obvious. Some were surprising.

And altogether, this week gave us plenty of winners and losers.

Loser (For Now): Milwaukee Bucks

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The writing has been on the wall for the Milwaukee Bucks for years.

They haven't been past the second round since the 2021 Finals. They haven't been past the first round since 2022.

They have a $22.5 million cap hit on their books this season, and for each of the next four, thanks to the Damian Lillard waive-and-stretch move that allowed them to sign Myles Turner, who's currently outside the top 140 in 2025-26 wins over replacement player.

Most of their future picks have already been spent in trades that didn't pan out.

They're 12th in the woeful Eastern Conference right now. And even in games Giannis plays, they're just an even 15-15.

In other words, the picture is more than bleak enough to justify a Giannis trade and a full-scale rebuild. It has been for a while, but Antetokounmpo is still in Milwaukee, nursing another calf injury and on a team unlikely to make the playoffs.

There's a very real argument that the Bucks should've ripped the band-aid off this week. They could've justified doing it sooner. Now, the likeliest result of their lack of action is a few more months of rumors about Giannis' next team and an early exit from the 2025-26 campaign.

The talk about Antetokounmpo trades isn't going to wait till the summer. It's going to be the primary Milwaukee talking point from now until news breaks that he either has or hasn't signed an extension in the offseason.

Of course, narratives can shift quickly and dramatically in the NBA. And, if the organization is clear-eyed about its future, it should be the side that drives a Giannis trade when he's once again eligible to be moved.

Several teams will be able to offer more this summer (when some picks become unencumbered and contracts come off the books), and the Bucks should reengage with all of them.

Winner: Indiana Pacers

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The Indiana Pacers are knocking this gap year out of the park.

They're very much in the mix for the top pick in the 2026 draft. That means one of Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or AJ Dybantsa could be on the way. They still have Pascal Siakam, who's headed to the All-Star game, despite his team's struggles. And after Thursday, they've turned Bennedict Mathurin's impending restricted free agency into Ivica Zubac.

Yes, one of those picks is from the upcoming lottery, but it only goes to the Los Angeles Clippers if it's anywhere between the fifth and ninth picks. Right now, it has a better than 50-50 chance of staying in the top four (and thus, staying with Indiana).

If that happens, and the Pacers come back for 2026-27 with starting lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, one of those top picks, Siakam and Zubac, they'll be right back in the hunt for Finals appearances.

Loser: Memphis Grizzlies

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When you look at the Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. trades in the aggregate, it looks pretty darn good. Altogether, they fetched seven first-round picks and another first-round pick swap.

But they're still losers at this specific deadline for a couple reasons.

The 2031 first from the Phoenix Suns could end up being plenty valuable, but the other two that the Utah Jazz sent to Memphis for JJJ probably won't be.

One is a top-four protected 2027 first from the Los Angeles Lakers, who have Luka Dončić and a new ownership group that has proved willing to spend during its time running the Los Angeles Dodgers. Another is the most favorable of the 2027 first from the Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, all of whom will be trying to win next season.

You have to get kind of nitpicky to really hate that trade, though. If that Phoenix pick pans out and Walter Clayton Jr. develops, it'll look fine in hindsight.

The real issue is that Memphis wasn't able to move Ja Morant. At this point, it would've made sense to simply salary-dump him somewhere.

Now, there's a chance such a deal never materialized. It could be that the rest of the league truly had no legitimate interest in taking him on, but Morant makes no sense for this team anymore. It should be looking to develop and build around younger talent like Cedric Coward, Zach Edey and whatever draft picks join the organization over the next few years.

Winner: Dallas Mavericks

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If you can divorce the Dallas Mavericks' trade of Anthony Davis from last season's still inexplicable Luka Dončić deal, it's not hard to spin this week as a win for the organization.

It's been clear, almost painfully so, for the duration of this season that Anthony Davis simply did not make sense for a team built and developing around Cooper Flagg.

It's also been clear, perhaps even more painfully so, that Davis couldn't have possibly had a lot of trade value around the league.

He turns 33 in March. He's hurt all the time. His game is not modern. His contract runs through 2027-28, when he has a $62.8 million player option. And he wants another big, long contract after that one expires.

If any organization was going to be willing to give up a single first-round pick for AD, Dallas would've had to think about doing the deal.

The Washington Wizards, even if you can nitpick how good each of the assets will ultimately be, were willing to give up more than that.

This move takes AD and his eventual extension negotiations off the Mavs' hands. AJ Johnson is an intriguing young talent. Those picks are, at the very least, extra bites at the draft apple.

And maybe as important as anything, the trade itself fully aligns the organization with Flagg and his development. That in itself is a win.

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers

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After their 6-21 start to this season, the Los Angeles Clippers have won 17 of their last 23 games. They were one of the hottest teams in the league, which made Tuesday's trade of James Harden (or the whispers of it that started a day earlier) a genuine surprise.

The Ivica Zubac deal was a little easier to wrap your head around, given the departure of Harden, but it still wasn't something that was on anyone's radar a few days ago.

Taken together, it's shocking to see the Clippers, almost immediately after engineering a dramatic in-season turnaround, tear down their team with two rebuild-friendly deals.

Having Darius Garland on the roster could age much better than having James Harden, but he's currently hurt. And there's a chance that the picks L.A. received from Indiana will lead to big-time Clippers.

But this week's deals make it far less likely that they'll be in the playoffs this season, and their 2026 pick is headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The likeliest outcome now is Kawhi Leonard putting up MVP-like numbers for a losing team, and the reward for the losing going to the best team in the NBA.

In the short term, that's a disaster.

Winner: Washington Wizards

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We already broke down the issues with AD and how they affected his trade value, but those didn't make him an albatross for every team in the league.

A handful could justify taking the risk, and the Washington Wizards were among them.

Yes, there was an argument to embrace a slow build around all the players on their rookie contracts. Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George have all shown varying degrees of upside.

But here's the thing: All of them (plus several others) are still on the team. And though it can be nice to know you have some cap space coming at some point down the road, Washington isn't exactly a free-agency hot spot.

Buying low on both AD and Trae Young, whose games complement each other almost perfectly, is shrewd and could have the Wizards back in the playoffs as soon as next season.

With Davis and Young being injured, these moves don't necessarily hurt the team's pursuit of a top pick in 2026 either. There's a very real chance Washington will start Young, Johnson, a top-three pick, Sarr and Davis in 2026-27.

Loser: Sacramento Kings

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No team in the league is in more dire need of a full-fledged teardown and rebuild than the Sacramento Kings.

They entered the season expecting to win, with four veterans who make little to no sense together in Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook, and they're 12-40.

Unloading all of the above for pretty much anything should have been the aim this week. And maybe it was. But the dreadful Kings have mostly the same roster they've had for the duration of this season that can't end soon enough for their fans.

The only difference is that they've traded Dennis Schröder (their prized acquisition from last summer) and Keon Ellis (maybe the only real asset on the roster) for De'Andre Hunter, who's nowhere near good enough to change the team's long- or short-term prospects.

Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers

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James Harden is 10 years older than Darius Garland, but he's been significantly better (and more available) this season. And one of his primary strengths—spoon-feeding big men and supercharging their efficiency—should go a long way toward helping a team with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

But Cleveland being a winner isn't entirely tied up in the Garland (and a second-round pick)-for-Harden deal.

The Cavs never replaced what they lost when Ty Jerome left in free agency. And though Schröder and Ellis may not completely make up that gap, they're far more likely to than Hunter and Lonzo Ball were.

Cleveland may have gotten off to a slow start this season, but this rebuilt supporting cast around Donovan Mitchell makes the Cavaliers real title contenders.

Shrug: Chicago Bulls

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Taken together, it's hard to find a single coherent vision behind the flurry of moves the Chicago Bulls made this week.

Nikola Vučević, Kevin Huerter, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are all gone. A whole bunch of guards, Guerschon Yabusele and Nick Richards came back.

Even with those last two names, the roster is suddenly and wildly out of balance.

But unloading veterans was probably smart. And though Anfernee Simons and Collin Sexton may not be long for the team, getting a shot at Jaden Ivey (and his restricted free agency) may eventually make all of this worth it.

Winner: Oklahoma City Thunder

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There aren't enough roster spots on an NBA team for the Oklahoma City Thunder to use and sign all their future first-round picks.

So, it felt like a near-foregone conclusion that they would use some of those picks to make an opportunistic trade.

This week, they did exactly that.

Jared McCain has struggled to rediscover the magic of his rookie campaign, but he's headed to the team that may be best equipped to help him do that.

The Thunder are masters of identifying and developing talent. They're almost certain to maximize McCain's career. And all it took for them to get this opportunity was some picks that weren't likely to play for them anyway.

Loser (For Now): All the Giannis Suitors (but Mostly the Warriors)

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Any team that was in pursuit of Giannis this week has to feel a little stung.

Several of the game's most prominent outlets and news-breakers, as well as maybe the Bucks themselves, made it seem like Antetokounmpo was very much in play. The lack of a trade suggests he might not have been.

That means teams like the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat have to finish this campaign without him. Assuming they want to reengage Milwaukee this summer, they'll probably have more competition for Giannis, too.

The Los Angeles Lakers are an example of just one team that will have access to more tradable picks this summer.

No one's failure to get a deal done looks worse than the Golden State Warriors', though.

With Stephen Curry turning 38 in March and Jimmy Butler recovering from a torn ACL, they don't really have time to wait till the offseason. There's no guarantee they'll get another year with Curry playing at this level. They need to make the most of every All-NBA-level season he has left.

Landing Giannis would've qualified as making the most of 2025-26. Trading Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga for Kristaps Porziņģis, whose availability is severely limited by injuries and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome is not.

Golden State, even after the KP trade, doesn't seem any closer to contention than it was last week.

And even if it has a shot to land Giannis in the offseason, there are enough other serious suitors to classify that shot as an awfully slim one.