The NBA trade deadline: Big winners, bigger losers

The NBA trade deadline came and went in what felt like a blur. Players we viewed as unequivocally untradeable were dealt. Certain teams made runs at superstars, but to no avail. Some franchises’ futures look remarkably different than they did two weeks ago. Here are my winners and losers of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. 

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers’ future was looking pretty bleak. They were, by my guess, going to ride out the LeBron James-Anthony Davis pairing until the end of next season and see what happens from there. Davis will be 32 soon with a rich injury history. But they’ve been thrown a bone in the form of 25-year-old Slovenian phenom Luka Dončić, a consensus top five talent in the NBA (top three by my estimation). L.A. has a generational offensive talent to build around, assuming he signs an extension to play beyond the year and a half left of his current contract. 

Loser: Phoenix Suns

The Suns were in the rumor mill quite a bit around the deadline. Phoenix was supposedly Jimmy Butler’s destination of choice, but what ultimately did them in was Bradley Beal. Beal is a solid player who can contribute to a good team, but he isn’t worth north of $50 million a year, which he’s currently making. The hope was to execute a three-team trade that brought in Butler, dealt Beal to a suitor and sent Durant to Golden State. Instead, Phoenix is stuck with Beal’s pricey contract and Durant now knows the team was willing to move off of him.

Winner: San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs went out and acquired star point guard De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings, giving their unicorn big man Victor Wembanyama his first star teammate. This doesn’t make the Spurs legit title contenders just yet, but they’re trending upward. In their first game together against the Atlanta Hawks, Fox put up 24 points with 13 assists, and Wemby scored 24 and grabbed 12 rebounds. This point guard-center duo could be a lot of fun in years to come. 

Loser: Chicago Bulls

As part of the Fox trade, the Bulls sent star wing Zach Lavine to Sacramento and netted Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones and their own first-round pick back without protections. Lavine was having a great year, and this seems like a small return for a player of his talent. But Chicago remains in this middle ground where they’re bad enough to miss the playoffs but too good to get a great draft slot. They still have assets like Nikola Vučević and Coby White, and just signed point guard Lonzo Ball to a two-year, $20 million extension. The Bulls remain in mediocrity without wanting to fully commit to a rebuild and prep for the future. If you’re not going to commit to a rebuild, why not just keep Lavine? 

Winner: Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry needs some help, and they’ve provided some aid with the acquisition of Jimmy Butler. In an ESPN article written by Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst, it was revealed that Golden State’s No. 1 target was Durant. But Durant was averse to a reunion in the Bay, so the Warriors had to look elsewhere. Butler would only agree if Golden State agreed to extend him. The Warriors submitted and Butler inked a two-year, $112 million extension that keeps him under the contract through the 2026-27 season. Does Butler make them title contenders? I’m not really sure. But Curry has been too instrumental to the franchise to not give him some help and at least try to make one last title push or two before he’s gone. 

Loser (and I’m worried Dallas will riot if they don’t win a title in the next 3-4 years): Dallas Mavericks

Trading a talent like Dončić is crazy in itself. It’s unprecedented to trade a player of his caliber at the age of 25. And all they got back for him was Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick. Durant, at the age of 34, was traded for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a pick swap. Rudy Gobert, a defensive specialist at the age of 30, was traded for Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley and Leandro Bolmaro, four first-round picks and a pick swap. 

The Mavericks traded the second most gifted offensive player in the NBA for one first-round pick, a serviceable guard in Christie and a star six years older than Dončić (Davis). Supposedly, the main concern about Dončić is his fluctuating weight and lack of conditioning, despite the fact that an out-of-shape Dončić carried the Mavs to an NBA Finals appearance just nine months ago. For the sake of argument, let’s say Dallas is in the right for wanting to trade Dončić. The part that’s absolutely unforgivable is that Mavs general manager, Nico Harrison, didn’t try to shop Luka. If you’re going to trade him, fine, but make it abundantly clear he’s on the market. Get a massive haul with four or five first-round picks along with players who can contribute now. Instead, Harrison only talked to the Lakers. 

Dallas mortgaged the future of their franchise and the next icon of Dallas – the man who was supposed to be the next Dirk Nowitzki – for 31-year-old Davis, Christie and ONE first-round pick. Players like Luka Dončić only fall into your lap every so often; this trade better work out, because it’s left everyone in the basketball world up in arms.