Alright, everyone take a deep breath. What was arguably the most memorable NBA trade deadline in history (and one that may never be duplicated) has come to an end, and we’re still in the process of retrieving our jaws from the floor after Luka Doncic somehow ended up alongside LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers. Man, it still doesn’t sound right.
The crazy part about this year’s deadline is that the Doncic trade made what would otherwise be massive moves seem pedestrian by comparison. Jimmy Butler is on the Warriors. De’Aaron Fox is teamed up with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. Brandon Ingram is moving north of the border. The hits just kept on coming, not to mention all the relatively minor deals that we kept track of for you in this neat little package.
Now that we know who’s headed where, it’s time to think about how it affects the hierarchy of the league as a whole. So instead of our usual Power Rankings, we decided to break up all 30 NBA teams into tiers based on title contention. Obviously the moves made at the deadline shifted the landscape for multiple teams in one direction or the other, so these will look quite different than they would have, say, a week ago.
The trade deadline always invigorates the NBA season — which is more than halfway done, believe it or not — and this year’s moves should get you particularly pumped up for the remaining couple of months. Here’s a look at where teams stand after the flurry of activity.
Tier 7: Capturing the Flagg
As the wise Gloria Clemente once said in White Men Can’t Jump: “Sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win.” That pretty much sums up the members of this group, who are all trying their best to lose enough games to earn the right to draft Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey or any of the coveted prospects at the top of the 2025 draft.
Every one of these teams was a seller at the trade deadline, sending players like Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Mark Williams on their merry way in exchange for assets. Utah didn’t deal any veteran players, but found themselves picking up picks here and there to act as facilitator.
Fun little tidbit from this group — the teams with the three worst records at the end of the season all have the same chance to earn the No. 1 pick (14%), and you’ll notice that there are four teams in this tier. That could lead to some wild tank-off matchups toward the end of the season. You all better be LOCKED IN for that Wizards-Hornets melee on March 1.
Tier 6: Rebuilding… but with some wins
They’re not tanking like the Wizards are tanking, but we can call them tank-adjacent. Despite piling up the losses, each of these teams has significant reason to be excited about the future. Toronto made some noise by acquiring Brandon Ingram from New Orleans, which gives the Raptors a nice little core of him, Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett.
Portland was conspicuously quiet at the deadline, and the team has been on a hot streak on the court. Scoot Henderson is starting to come into his own, and Deandre Ayton could be putting together a mini-resurgence (when he’s healthy). Ultimately they may end up trading off some pieces this summer, but Chauncey Billups has found a way to make it work for now.
And then there are the Nets, whose front office seems to be trying its best to lose games, but the coaches and players just won’t comply. They’ve thrown out some truly head-scratching lineups this season and have managed to keep fighting. They also elected to hold onto Cameron Johnson and Nicolas Claxton at the deadline, which makes them a better team. Cam Thomas has been the difference when healthy, as the Nets are 8-11 with him and 9-23 without him.
Tier 5: Play-In or bust
You might as well pencil these two teams into the Eastern Conference Play-In every season, and they sort of picked a direction at the deadline. The Hawks sold off De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but their ceiling is still relatively high compared to the outright tanking teams — even with Jalen Johnson out for the season — because of Trae Young and an emerging Onyeka Okongwu in the middle.
The Bulls were also active at the deadline, though our Jasmyn Wimbish wasn’t too excited about what she saw. Trading Zach LaVine was a good start, but holding onto Nikola Vucevic and a smorgasbord of guards keeps them firmly where no NBA team wants to be: the middle.
If you’re a Hawks or Bulls fan, just purchase your Play-In Tournament tickets now.
Tier 4: Playoff runs (and play-in exits) are possible
A few of these teams will likely make the Play-In Tournament. Some of them may miss the postseason altogether. But what separates them is that they all have legitimate reasons to believe that they can contend if things break the right way.
Obviously the two teams that stand out the most in terms of the trade deadline are the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, who each bumped themselves up a notch with their moves. De’Aaron Fox gives Victor Wembanyama a legitimate second scorer — something the Spurs have craved all season — while Jimmy Butler does the same for Steph Curry and Golden State, along with requisite grit and postseason pedigree.
Since these teams are all bunched up around .500, it’s hard to imagine them making a run toward the top of their respective conferences. But if they catch lightning in a bottle and get the right draw, it wouldn’t be CRAZY to see them win a playoff round or two — and in some cases, maybe more.
NBA trade deadline grades for every team: Lakers, Spurs ace moves, Mavericks among three teams with an ‘F’
Sam Quinn
Tier 3: Fringe contenders
On paper, either by record or by the names on the roster, all of these teams should be considered title threats at this point in the season. But there’s just something holding each of them back. For Minnesota, it’s Julius Randle’s fit issues. For the Clippers, it’s Kawhi Leonard’s health and James Harden’s historic postseason woes. For Indiana it’s the defense, currently 19th in the NBA. For Milwaukee, it’s the lack of depth and any kind of consistent offense outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard — perhaps swapping out Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma before the deadline will do the trick.
Oh, what’s that? We left somebody out? Why, did something happen with the Mavericks over the past week? In the short term, Dallas didn’t necessarily get that much worse by trading away Luka Doncic. Anthony Davis is a hell of a player, and at this point is probably underrated, but he’s yet to prove that he can be the best player on a championship team. Same goes for Kyrie Irving. You know who was the best player on a Finals team just last year? Luka Doncic. If the Mavs still had him, they would certainly be considered a legit contender. Without him, we’re just going to have to wait and see, but the ceiling has to be lower for now.
Tier 2: Legit contenders
About a month ago you probably would have found the Lakers in the “mediocre” or “fringe” group, but a hot streak paired with the acquisition of a 25-year-old generational basketball talent has vaulted them into legitimate contender status. Adding Mark Williams raises their ceiling even more, because when healthy he’ll be the perfect lob threat for Doncic and James to utilize. LeBron and Luka on the same team. What a world.
We couldn’t rank them too highly, however, since we haven’t actually seen it work yet. Ahead of them are teams who have earned their stripes all season long, and have been able to win despite injuries and bumps along the road. The biggest quibble here was the order of the Knicks and Grizzlies, but ultimately Ja Morant being unable to play in more than five straight games all season is a bit worrisome. Tom Thibodeau is criticized for playing his starters 40-plus minutes, but they’ve mostly been available. Both are incredible teams, though.
Tier 1: The Favorites
The Celtics are really trying to get demoted from the “favorites” tier, but they’re not quite there yet. They’re still third in the league in net rating and their ceiling is probably the highest in the league. Whether they can get there is another question, and they better if they want to compete with the Cavs and Thunder.
Cleveland only improved its stock by adding De’Andre Hunter at the deadline, parting ways with Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. That gives them a top seven (yes, that includes Ty Jerome) that is going to be an absolute nightmare for opponents come playoff time. If not for what we saw from the Celtics last postseason, the Cavs would be the clear favorites to come out of the East.
The unquestioned favorite from the West is the Thunder, who didn’t need to do anything at the deadline because they did all their work in the offseason by bringing in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. They already have the league’s best record, and they’re about to see the return of Chet Holmgren, who’s missed all but 10 games this season. OKC has a plus-13 net rating, narrowly trailing the 72-win Chicago Bulls for the best in NBA history. They’ve certainly earned the right to be the favorite to win it all.
Read the full article here
