NBA trade deadline: The 5 most interesting teams to watch, including — who else?

Deadlines tend to bring action, the truism goes, and with the 2026 NBA trade deadline now just a week away, 30 NBA teams have the opportunity to show us — not tell us — where exactly they think they are in the grand scheme of the league, and what exactly they feel they need to get where they want to go.

Those who fancy themselves contenders might enter this final week searching for one last piece to complete the puzzle, fortifying their chances of playing into June. For teams living a bit lower in the standings, the deadline offers a shot at one last transactional closing kick that can separate them from the middle of the pack, avoid the play-in tournament and maybe even land home-court advantage in the first round.

For others, it’s a chance to keep matriculating the ball down the field on your in-process rebuilding project by trying to snag some future picks or prospects on the outskirts of larger, more present-tense-focused deals. And if you’ve got nothing much else going on, maybe you can at least cut down your luxury tax bill and save your owner a few million bucks. (The Nets and Jazz, the two teams with more than $10 million in salary cap space still available, and the Wizards, who are nearly $30 million under the luxury tax line, will be more than happy to take those teams’ calls and assist … provided you pony up some of those aforementioned picks and prospects.)

Whatever game they’re playing, front offices across the NBA are working overtime trying to find the help they want at the price they need. Let’s take a look at the five most interesting teams — to me! — in the NBA as we approach the deadline, starting — where else? — with the current center of the NBA universe: The Good Land.

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

“I can’t wait until all the deadlines and stuff pass, because we’re rumor central,” head coach Doc Rivers told reporters Tuesday before his Bucks lost in Philadelphia — their sixth loss in the last seven games. “It’s unbelievable. Some true, some not true. I don’t know what half of it is true, but it’s a distraction, at times, for sure.”

Well, yeah. When arguably the greatest player in franchise history makes it clear that after years upon years of rumblings, he would welcome a trade — sorry: that he’s “ready for a new home” — maybe that distracting stuff was a little more than half true, and maybe it wasn’t ever all that unbelievable.

That Giannis’ much-discussed ongoing evaluation of the state of the Bucks has reportedly left him unconvinced that the only franchise he’s ever known can build another championship contender around him should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched Milwaukee this year. The Bucks are 3-12 in the 15 games — and counting — that Antetokounmpo has missed this season, and have been outscored by 11.4 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions without him on the floor. The worst team in the NBA, the 11-34 Washington Wizards, gets outscored by 10.9 points-per-100.

This is not a team that is One Weird Trick That They Don’t Want You To Know About away from suddenly vying for the top spot in the East. It is a lost team in desperate need of a dramatic infusion of talent — and, of course, of a dramatic improvement in the health and structural integrity of Giannis’ calves — just to try to squeak past the likes of the Hawks, Bulls and Hornets into a play-in spot. It is also a team that has precious few chips left to play to procure said talent.

For years, general manager Jon Horst has taken big, bold, win-now swings at seemingly every opportunity. Eric Bledsoe in 2017, Jrue Holiday in 2020, Damian Lillard in 2023. Four second-round picks for Nikola Mirotić; five seconds for Jae Crowder. Donte DiVincenzo for Serge Ibaka in 2022 (yikes); last February’s move to swap Khris Middleton (on a $33.3 million expiring contract that would probably be pretty handy right about now) for the ill-fitting Kyle Kuzma (owed $20.3 million next season, which is, um, considerably less handy). Last summer’s stunning stretch of the remainder of Lillard’s contract, and the subsequent four-year, $107 million signing of center Myles Turner.

Whether the moves worked or not, taken together, they laid out an organizational philosophy: We will, at every turn, double down in an attempt to craft a winner around the best player we’ve had in half a century. That completely defensible ideology has left the Bucks with one first-round pick available to trade (either 2031 or 2032, but not both), with no movable second-round picks, with an immovable $22.5 million dead money roster charge on their books every year through 2030 from the Dame stretch, with only four players (Antetokounmpo, Turner, Kuzma and Bobby Portis) making more than $5.2 million this season, and with no young prospects of note aside from pleasant-surprise guard Ryan Rollins.

Not exactly a bumper crop of assets. More of a bummer crop, actually.

Maybe it’s still enough to shake some action. Maybe the markets for Kuzma and Portis, which Milwaukee has reportedly been gauging for weeks, are more robust than we think. Maybe Horst can turn that one tradable first into multiple picks, like the Suns did last year; maybe that gets the Bucks in the mix for someone like Miles Bridges, in whom they’ve reportedly shown interest, and for whom Charlotte’s reportedly seeking a first (if not more).

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Maybe Milwaukee instead goes the other way, shedding whichever vets it can (Gary Trent Jr., Gary Harris, Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey) for whatever second-rounders they might return, steering into the skid of another month and a half or so without Giannis in pursuit of a plunge down the standings. Remember: While the Hawks are in line to get the better one of the Bucks’ and Pelicans’ 2026 first-round picks, thanks to the trade that landed Derik Queen in New Orleans, the Bucks will still get the worse pick … which could still be a very good pick if both the Pelicans and Bucks stink.

Maybe, in what’s projected to be one of the strongest top-of-the-draft classes in recent memory, that lands the Bucks a high lottery pick who might help revitalize the franchise, a la VJ Edgecombe in Philly. Maybe that kind of shot in the arm strengthens the case Horst can make this offseason, when he offers Giannis the four-year, $275 million maximum-salaried contract extension he becomes eligible to receive on Oct. 1 — the kind of deal that would hopefully convince the two-time MVP to scrap all this “new home” talk in favor of staying in Milwaukee for good.

Maybe Giannis doesn’t find that case particularly compelling and decides against signing that extension. In which case: Well, Horst did everything he could, and now it’s time to sift through the best offers everyone can make when there’s more cap space, more draft picks, more opportunities — more, more, more.

Or, maybe, all this is moot. Maybe Wednesday’s “we’re open for business” report nets an offer good enough for the Bucks to take right now — and maybe the balance of power in the NBA shifts drastically, dramatically, immediately.

That’s a lot of “maybes.” That’s why we’re all talking about you guys, Doc, and why everybody’s waiting on you. Sorry for the distraction.

Three and a half months ago, with Jayson Tatum in the early stages of his recovery from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, the C’s trade deadline path seemed clear. Continue the work that personnel chief Brad Stevens did this offseason when he dealt Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņġis, let Al Horford and Luke Kornet walk, and got Boston’s payroll to within $4 million of getting under the first apron and within $12.1 million from getting out of the luxury tax entirely. Re-route new arrival Anfernee Simons (and his $27.7 million expiring contract) or move sharpshooting forward Sam Hauser (making just over $10 million in the first year of his extension).

Save the owners, old and new, some scratch. Reset the clock on the repeater tax. Give yourself some financial flexibility, maybe add a draft pick or two, and put yourself in position to return to the top of the East once Tatum’s healthy enough to return in 2026-27.

A funny thing happened on the way to that balance-sheet-driven approach, though: Boston just … stayed at the top of the East.

Boston, MA - October 22: Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum sits on the bench with guard Anfernee Simons in the first quarter at TD Garden on October 22, 2025. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

How will the uncertainty of Jayson Tatum’s return impact Boston’s thinking at the trade deadline? (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

(Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Celtics went 15-4 from late November through early January, with Jaylen Brown looking like an All-NBA First Team selection and Derrick White earning All-Star buzz (from certain irredeemable nerds, anyway). Simons has gone from placeholder to potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate, averaging 15 points in 25.2 minutes per game over his last 20 appearances, shooting 41.1% from 3-point range on more than seven attempts per game. Hauser has rebounded from a frigid first month to start scorching, shooting 44% from deep in his last 30 games. A frontcourt rotation of Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza and Amari Williams has looked better than anybody outside TD Garden had any right to believe. The player with the single best on-court/off-court splits in the NBA this season (minimum 500 minutes played) is rookie wing Hugo González.

A week out from the deadline, Joe Mazzulla’s club is tied for second in the East, with the league’s second-best offense, and a better point differential than anybody besides the Thunder, Pistons and Rockets. Everything’s going about as well as it possibly could have; the vibes, broadly, have been immaculate. The Celtics can look any team in the East in the eye without blinking; they’ve lost three of four to the first-place Pistons, but I don’t think Boston would be scared of that matchup in the playoffs.

Particularly if “once Tatum’s healthy enough to return” comes a bit earlier than anticipated.

Despite tearing his Achilles in May, Tatum has refused to rule out a return this season, pushing hard in rehabilitation and workouts (some of which have been public), with each video and cryptic caption stoking hopes that the comeback might come sooner rather than later. In a recent appearance on “The Pivot Podcast,” Tatum made multiple mentions of a hypothetical return 50 or 60 games into the season — which, with the Celtics at 29-18, wouldn’t be too far off:

But Tatum also said the prospect of him disrupting the flow the team’s found in his absence, with Brown as the unquestioned No. 1 option and everyone else understanding the complementary roles they’ve slotted into around him, is something he’s contemplating “every single day.” Sure enough, Chris Haynes of Prime Video and NBA TV reported Wednesday that the five-time All-NBA selection is now “re-evaluating his situation,” and that a return this season is “up in the air.” Tatum confirmed that to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne later Wednesday, saying he “wants to get it right the first time, so it’s just a lot to think about.”

It’ll be interesting to see how much — if at all — the uncertainty surrounding Tatum’s status gives Stevens and Co. to think about heading into the deadline. If Tatum’s not as ready as he hoped he’d be at this stage, and he’s unlikely to be able to give the Celtics much by the postseason, will they stick to that presumed preseason plan by trying to sell high on Simons, duck under the apron and the tax, and live to fight another day? (For what it’s worth, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported earlier this month that the Celtics “are under no pressure to reduce their current luxury tax bill […] but wouldn’t mind going below the tax for the right deal.”)

On the other hand, if they feel confident that Tatum will be back in uniform before season’s end, might they adopt a more aggressive posture — either letting it ride by hanging on to Simons, looking for a smaller move to add another big man to bolster their rebounding (they’re reportedly one of a handful of teams who’ve shown an interest in New Orleans center Yves Missi) or potentially looking to use Simons’ expiring contract for a big swing on the kind of player who could both help the C’s chances of winning a down East this year and fortifying the roster around Brown, White and a full-strength Tatum in the years ahead?

Which path the Celtics take next week could tell us a lot about the likelihood of seeing Tatum back in uniform this spring — which, in turn, could go an awful long way toward shaping the state of play in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Speaking of which …

Last Wednesday, the Knicks were in the doldrums, with a blowout loss to the short-handed Dallas Mavericks marking their fourth straight loss and their ninth in 11 games — the nadir of their post-NBA Cup swoon. What a difference a week makes: New York has now won four straight, zooming back into a tie with Boston for second place in the East after knocking off the Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday, behind a dominant second half that saw them outscore the Raps 64-26 over the final 20 minutes of the game.

This was the Knicks team that opened the season 23-9 and won the NBA Cup: sharing the ball, moving with purpose, flying around on defense, creating turnovers, pushing the pace in transition, and bringing the kind of energy that can overwhelm even good competition, even without key reserves Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride, in the second game of a back-to-back, on the road. That’s the version of the team that led owner James Dolan to go on New York radio and proclaim that the Knicks “should win the Finals” — a version of the team that, frankly, hadn’t been seen often, or at all, since mid-December.

The question: Does Leon Rose believe that team is well and truly back, and sticking around? Or did the last six weeks shake his confidence in the foundation of last year’s Eastern Conference finalist enough that he believes it’s time for a new foundation — like, for example, a great big Greek one?

If it’s the former, the Knicks could be in line for smaller moves, with a package of fringe pieces — like offseason acquisition Guerschon Yabusele, who hasn’t worked out, lightly used former first-round pick Pacôme Dadiet, and some future second-round picks — aiming to return new, better-fitting bench pieces to bolster New York’s rotation for the postseason. Reported targets have included the Pelicans’ Missi and Jose Alvarado, and Sacramento’s Keon Ellis.

If it’s the latter, though? Well, then, Rose will have his work cut out for him, because pulling together the sort of package that Milwaukee is reportedly seeking for Antetokounmpo — “a blue-chip young talent and/or a surplus of draft picks” — will require assets that the Knicks don’t currently have. Which would mean turning the things the Knicks do have — like the slumping Karl-Anthony Towns, who says he’s unconcerned by his recent presence in trade chatter but who’s reportedly had “hard feelings” about popping up in Giannis rumors before the season, or starting wings OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges — into the kind of picks-and-prospects package that Horst seeks.

That would require a hell of a lot of movement over the next few days, potentially looping in multiple teams: Jake Fischer and Marc Stein have both connected dots between any Knicks-Bucks talk and the Trail Blazers, who employ ex-Giannis teammate and potential Knicks target Jrue Holiday, and who also control three future Bucks first-round picks dating back to the trade that sent Lillard to Milwaukee. And if, at the end of it, the Knicks have traded away 60% of their starting lineup and multiple reserves to try to get a currently injured Antetokounmpo onboarded, up to speed and in sync with Jalen Brunson in time for April … well, is that juice worth the squeeze for New York? Is the devil the Knicks know — KAT, with all his flaws, still leading the league in rebounding and playing hard despite errant shooting and decreasing minutes; Bridges, with his tendency to lean away from contact and disappear at times, still in the midst of the best all-around season of his career; Anunoby, his handle sometimes shaky and his aggression intermittent, still one of the premier 3-and-D+ players in the NBA — better than the devil they don’t?

The glass-half-full view: Toronto’s flirting with a 50-win pace, blowing away preseason expectations, thanks to an All-NBA-caliber two-way performance by Scottie Barnes; strong complementary scoring and playmaking from Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley; a tone-shifting bench led by Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jamal Shead; and the NBA’s No. 6 defense. That’s a damn good foundation — one that should allow the Raptors to return to the playoffs for the first time in four years, and should give them a real chance to advance beyond the opening round for the first time since 2020.

The more pessimistic view, though, comes on a night like Wednesday, when Barnes, Barrett and Quickley shoot a combined 12-for-35 from the floor, when Toronto gets outscored by 21 points from the 3-point line, and when the Raps score a dismal 82 points per 100 possessions in the second half — some real Process Sixers/7-59 Bobcats business. (As Eric Koreen of The Athletic put it, “When it looks hard for the Toronto Raptors, it looks really hard.”)

The Raptors have been in trade rumors involving star players. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

(Emilee Chinn via Getty Images)

For the season, the Raptors rank 17th in points scored per non-garbage-time possession, 14th in half-court scoring efficiency, 24th in the share of their shots that come from 3-point range, and 26th in team 3-point accuracy, according to Cleaning the Glass. Five Raptors average double-figure points — six, if you’re feeling charitable enough to round up ailing center Jakob Poeltl’s 9.7 points per game — but none scores more than Ingram’s 21.7. Eight Raptors average at least two assists per game — Toronto ranks fourth in the league in helpers and 10th in passes per game — but none more than Quickley’s 6.1. Seven Raptors make at least one 3-pointer per game — eight if your charity extends to Gradey Dick’s 0.9 — but only two members of their rotation (Mamukelashvili and Quickley) shoot better than league-average from distance.

Toronto is a team built to win with high-pressure defense — by forcing mistakes (fifth in opponent turnover rate) and punishing them (No. 1 in both transition frequency and fast-break points per game) — and with an egalitarian offense that winds up amounting to more than the sum of its parts. It is not a team with overwhelming individual offensive talent, save perhaps for Ingram’s midrange mastery, or a surplus of shooters. It’s fair to wonder if that’s a recipe for regular-season wins, but an early playoff exit.

Which is probably why, in recent weeks, Toronto has been mentioned in connection with virtually every big name that’s come on the trade block, with multiple reports suggesting the Raptors have looked to gauge the markets for Quickley, Barrett, Poeltl and reserve wing Ochai Agbaji, among others.

The Raptors were reportedly at least somewhat in on Anthony Davis (before his injury) and Ja Morant (before his injury). They reportedly remain in on Domantas Sabonis — “a man increasingly out of time,” as Tom Ziller recently described him, for his inability to protect the rim and space the floor, but also a high-IQ offensive connector who would immediately be Toronto’s best playmaker. He would also give the Raps an actual center-sized center, which they’ve largely lacked with Poeltl missing significant time due to a back injury, leading to Collin Murray-Boyles — an absolute ace of a defender, but also a 6-foot-7 rookie — punching up in weight class at the 5.

Sabonis wouldn’t solve the shooting problem, though, and finding someone who would is probably going to cost a pretty penny; the Pelicans are said to be looking for a “Desmond Bane-type offer” to even consider entertaining calls about Trey Murphy III. The Raptors do have all of their own first-round picks to deal, plus at least six tradable seconds, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac. Are they willing to pony up that kind of package to try to pry loose the sort of wing who could help decongest that half-court offense? Just a game out of second in the East, do they feel like the time is right to push some of their chips to the middle for that kind of swing? Hell — do they decide to push all of them in, getting in on the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes in pursuit of a bet-on-yourself deal reminiscent of the trade that made Kawhi Leonard a short-term Canadian and the Raptors all-time champions?

More likely, the Raptors decide to slow-play things, nibbling on the edges in search of a deal that returns a backup big — they’ve been connected with Missi and Phoenix’s Nick Richards — while offloading enough salary (like Agbaji’s $6.4 million) to duck below the luxury tax line, which they’re currently less than $1 million over. (Sportsnet’s Michael Grange recently called such a move a “seeming certainty.”) In a market where there might not be many difference-makers moving, though, a Raptors team that is pretty good with young talent and all of its draft picks could be in position to upend our expectations once again.

The Kings aren’t the worst team in the NBA at the moment, but they might be the most purposeless.

The Wizards have pulled together a young core of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson, reorienting their salary structure to have significant cap space this summer even after trading for Trae Young. The Nets took five prospective playmakers in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, got paid an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to take on Michael Porter Jr. and let him cook his way into All-Star consideration, and are developing an identity under Jordi Fernandez.

The Jazz have Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Ace Bailey and (when healthy) Walker Kessler, and they’re playing the game to try to get themselves one more bite at the top-of-the-lottery apple. The Pacers only stink because Tyrese Haliburton can’t play right now. The Pelicans stink for myriad reasons, and may well do so into the future, but they drafted Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen to go with Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones and, from time to time, Zion Williamson.

It’s probably too charitable to say that all of these bad teams know what they’re doing, but you get the sense, at least, that they know what they’re trying to do.

What are the Kings trying to do? What’s the goal of what Sacramento — 12-36, with the NBA’s fourth-worst offense and third-worst defense — has put together, under the eighth head coach and fifth lead front office executive of Vivek Ranadivé’s checkered ownership tenure?

Job No. 1, as general manager Scott Perry recently told ESPN’s Anthony Slater, is to “get younger as a team” … which, considering the five highest-paid players on his roster are between 27 and 36 years old, seems like a recipe for a fire sale. (It’s at least kind of funny that the Sacramento player who reportedly has the frothiest market — ace-defending fourth-year guard Keon Ellis, about whom Marc Stein recently reported “an estimated 14 teams have registered varying degrees of trade interest” — just turned 26 and could absolutely be part of a longer-term solution in Sacramento … if it wasn’t for the part where Doug Christie only plays him like 18 minutes per game.)

It’s reasonable to wonder, though, what kind of markets there realistically might be for the likes of Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Dennis Schröder — all of whom have guaranteed money on the books next year (or, in the case of LaVine, a $49 million player option that seems highly likely to get picked up).

All of those players have skills that could play up in the right context: Sabonis’ passing, rebounding and interior scoring; LaVine’s high-volume 3-point shooting; DeRozan’s seemingly unyielding and ageless ability to create his own shot and drop 20 from the midrange; Monk’s instant-offense scoring and 3-point shooting off the bench; Schröder’s quickness, ability to get downhill and play tough two-way basketball, as he did for Detroit last season during their playoff series against the Knicks. If sticker shock results in paltry offers coming back, though, will Perry just bite the bullet and take whatever picks and projects he can get, betting on his front office being able to do a better job of evaluating young talent in the draft, and of Christie being able to do a better job of developing it, than their predecessors?

And if what winds up coming back is of a significantly lower wattage than what goes out — if those multiple former All-Stars mostly bring back a passel of late-first and second-round picks — will Ranadivé really be willing to keep his hands off the wheel and let Perry steer Sacramento through what could, and frankly should — be a protracted rebuild?

“Obviously, he’s passionate about his team,” Perry told Slater. “But we are aligned on the vision, and we both understand that there could be some short-term pain in order for some good long-term gain.”

It’s easy to buy the bit about more pain coming to Sacramento. How long it lasts, and whether it’ll amount to anything, will depend on whether Perry’s able to sketch out an actual long-term plan, and whether he’s able to spend the next week turning those vets who aren’t going to be part of it into picks and/or prospects who might be.

NBA trade deadline: The 5 most interesting teams to watch, including — who else? — the Bucks and Knicks

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