Through Monday night, this was an exceptionally boring trade deadline, but the action heavily increased to a feverish pace beginning on Tuesday morning and through the Thursday afternoon deadline, seeing several all-stars and several intriguing role players change hands, along with a small army of draft picks.<\/p>\n
As we know, the Knicks were able to effectively flip Guerschon Yabusele and two second-round picks for Jose Alvarado<\/a> by using the Chicago Bulls as an intermediary<\/a>, sending Dalen Terry to New Orleans. The move, while not only adding a rotation player, allows the Knicks to participate in the buyout market immediately.<\/p>\n And, yes, a lot of the action this week involved Western Conference teams, but plenty of moves were made by teams in the East as well. We\u2019ll be checking in on all of the teams in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, plus one or two more that could be relevant for one reason or another.<\/p>\n Added: Kevin Huerter, Dario Saric<\/p>\n Jaden Ivey, at one point a white whale for the Knicks\u2019 front office in the 2022 draft, is in the final year of his rookie contract, and the Pistons did not want to pay him with the several major injuries he\u2019s suffered in the last two seasons. He\u2019s shown flashes, but he was shipped to Chicago in a three-team trade.<\/p>\n What they do add is shooting. With Malik Beasley currently trying to stay out of jail and Tim Hardaway Jr. in Denver, they\u2019ve needed shooting, and they get it with one-time Knick killer Kevin Huerter. The 27-year-old is shooting a career-low from three, but is over 37% for his career. It\u2019s a casual deadline for the East\u2019s top dog.<\/p>\n Subtracted: Anfernee Simons, Chris Boucher, Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman Jr.<\/p>\n The surprisingly stout Bostonians made a big 1-for-1 move with the Bulls, finally replacing Kristaps Porzingis (and Al Horford) by adding a pure stretch five in Vucevic, who should\u2019ve been dealt years ago. Simons was kind of redundant with all the guard talent, and Boston needed an upgrade over Luka Garza and Neemias Queta. If the 35-year-old from Montenegro can show up anywhere, it\u2019s in the Mazzulla system.<\/p>\n Boucher, Minott, and Tillman Jr. were salary dumped to three different teams to duck the luxury tax. Since the offseason, Brad Stevens has saved his new bosses a staggering $350 million in luxury tax penalties and has built a Celtics team that, if Jayson Tatum returns, could come out of the East in a gap year.<\/p>\n Added: James Harden, Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder<\/p>\n Subtracted: Darius Garland, De\u2019Andre Hunter, Lonzo Ball<\/p>\n The Cavs have steadied the ship after hovering around .500 into January and have solidified themselves in the East\u2019s top six, but they still sit several games behind the Knicks and Celtics, who are tied for the No. 2 seed. The stagnation, especially after flaming out early last year, has caused them to take a sledgehammer to the \u201cCore Four\u201d.<\/p>\n Garland is gone, freeing up future cap flexibility for the NBA\u2019s lone second apron team. In comes future Hall of Famer James Harden, who remains one of the league\u2019s premier scoring threats even past his 36th birthday. Can he and Spida co-exist? Can the Cavs avoid another flameout that will cause Spida to look elsewhere?<\/p>\n They also banished Hunter to Sacramento, accepting defeat from a disappointing trade last February, and Ball to Utah in a pure salary dump. Keon Ellis was a highly coveted pesky guard, and Schroder will play for his *checks notes* 11th team. It\u2019s his 10th different team<\/a> in eight seasons. They\u2019re absolutely deeper at guard now, but does this move the needle?<\/p>\n Subtracted: Jared McCain, Eric Gordon<\/p>\n For a team with an aging, injury-prone superstar, the Sixers really didn\u2019t have any urgency to go for it this year, even with Paul George on the shelf due to a PED suspension.<\/p>\n They ducked the luxury tax thanks to a tax credit from the suspension and trading away McCain and Gordon. Trading away the second-year guard who showed so much promise as a rookie is baffling to me. Players always play worse right off a severe knee injury. What\u2019s with the impatience? Was the package of three seconds and a late 2026 first-rounder too enticing?<\/p>\n Added: Chris Paul (will be waived), Trayce Jackson-Davis<\/p>\n The Raptors were very public about wanting an upgrade at center, fishing in the Domantas Sabonis and Anthony Davis markets. They settle for an undersized TJD, but he\u2019s at least a rotation-caliber big in a rotation that is giving center minutes to Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili.<\/p>\n Chris Paul still has never played a game in the East and will likely not do so for the Raptors. This will be the second time he is shipped to an Eastern Conference team and immediately redirected or waived.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a good look when, in a year where you pushed all your chips to the center of the table, you\u2019re not only a likely play-in team, but you\u2019re only deadline move is a salary dump. They attached two second-round picks to get Jones off their books.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll be players in the buyout market, but they\u2019re going to have a hard time getting on track with the injuries, inconsistent shooting, and regression on defense. This was a year where they had to show some progress, because it\u2019s their last before the bill comes due. As of right now, they\u2019re projected to be a second apron team<\/a> in 2026-27 with two open roster spots and a quickly dwindling asset pool. It\u2019s bleak in Orlando.<\/p>\n Despite being in on a star every single offseason and trade deadline, the Heat continue to do nothing. They reportedly wanted Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant; they got neither. Here is every<\/a> single player the Heat have traded for since bringing in Jimmy Butler in July 2019:<\/p>\n Jae Crowder, Solomon Hill, Andre Iguodala (February 2020)Trevor Ariza (March 2021)Victor Oladipo, Nemanja Bjelica (March 2021)Kyle Lowry (August 2021)Terry Rozier (January 2024)Pelle Larsson (June 2024, draft rights)Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell (February 2025)Simone Fontecchio, Norman Powell (July 2025)<\/p>\n He went 2 and a half years without trading for a single player. While there are multiple flashy names on here, aside from Powell, who\u2019s seriously contributed? Complacency and continuity mean something when you\u2019re competing for titles, but the Heat just aren\u2019t anymore, and I don\u2019t understand why every deadline looks like this.<\/p>\n Added: CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Jock Landale, Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Gabe Vincent, Duop Reath (waived)<\/p>\n Subtracted: Trae Young, Vit Krejci, Luke Kennard, Kristaps Porzingis<\/p>\n The Hawks are finally conceding. After years of mediocrity and attempts to retool around Trae Young, they\u2019re finally committing to something a bit bigger. They\u2019re not totally bottoming out (mostly because they can\u2019t<\/a>), but they\u2019ve changed timelines. Jalen Johnson is the future now and they\u2019re going to build around him and whoever they get from the Pelicans\u2019 pick.<\/p>\n Trae and Tingus Pingus are out the door. They get some veteran fliers in McCollum, Hield, and Landale (who had the game of his life<\/a> Thursday) and some young talent. Can they unlock Kuminga? What about Kispert? One criticism I have of their deadline is getting essentially no draft compensation, but hey, beggars can\u2019t be choosers.<\/p>\n Added: Coby White, Malaki Branham, Xavier Tillman Sr., Mike Conley (may be waived)<\/p>\n Subtracted: Mason Plumlee, Collin Sexton<\/p>\n What on earth are you doing here?<\/p>\n The Hornets have won eight in a row and are currently in the play-in. After years of what-ifs, they\u2019re finally realizing their potential. They, though, smartly approached this deadline.<\/p>\n Would I have fielded calls for people like Grant Williams? Sure, but they didn\u2019t have to. They also got Coby White for three seconds, which can be an absolute steal if they extend him. They also picked up some seconds along the way, scooping up one from OKC to eventually ship Ousmane Dieng to Chicago (who then went to Milwaukee), while doing something similar with Tyus Jones in redirecting him to Charlotte.<\/p>\n It\u2019s startling how hot they are. How high can they climb?<\/p>\n Added: Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton, Guerschon Yabusele, Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, Nick Richards<\/p>\n Subtracted: Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Coby White, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips<\/p>\n Well, it\u2019s three years too late, but the Bulls finally accepted they need to tank. Sure, they got off DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine last year, but they still held onto hope for no real reason.<\/p>\n They have a lot of guards now, so that\u2019ll be interesting. There\u2019s potential in Ivey and Simons, both expiring contracts that now get a 30-game audition. Yabusele is now a pure rental, too, after waiving his player option.<\/a> They also picked up eight second-round picks, only trading away a pick swap.<\/p>\n Added: Nigel Hayes-Davis, Ousmane Dieng<\/p>\n Subtracted: Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey<\/p>\n Giannis is still in Milwaukee, which is the wise move for the Bucks. No matter what the Warriors, Wolves, or Heat offer you now, you will definitely get more in June. Just tell your social media team to stop being delusional<\/a> for a sec, okay?<\/p>\n As for what they did\u2026 essentially nothing. They got no picks, neither player they got moves the needle, and it just felt like they wanted to say they did something.<\/p>\n Added: Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Jaden Hardy, D\u2019Angelo Russell, Dante Exum<\/p>\n Subtracted: CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Khris Middleton, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, AJ Johnson<\/p>\n Is this a MyLeague rebuild? Why the hell are the Wizards acquiring two all-stars at the deadline?<\/p>\n Neither Davis nor Young will play a game for the rest of the season, but as long as they keep their pick (please keep winning, we\u2019d appreciate it<\/a>), they have an interesting foundation.<\/p>\n Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington, a top-five pick.<\/p>\n Just saying, maybe they\u2019re a sleeper next year.<\/p>\n Added: Josh Minott, Hunter Tyson, Ochai Agbaji<\/p>\n Subtracted: A singular second-round pick<\/p>\n You had one job: selling off Michael Porter Jr. after an all-star caliber first 50 games. You failed.<\/p>\n