NBA trade deadline: 9 winners (James Harden escapes Clippers!) and losers

This year, NBA teams all over didn’t procrastinate until the actual NBA trade deadline.

Instead of waiting to unleash madness on lovers of the Association before the 3 p.m. Eastern deadline on Thursday, the meat of this year’s notable trades was all done Monday through Wednesday. Yes, some stunning deals like Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers were executed on the final day anyway, but they were at the point where they felt more like dessert than a genuine main course.

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To be sure, as a veritable hoops blogger, I appreciate everyone getting their homework done way in advance.

From an all-time guard getting a change of scenery again, to one of the best players in the world stuck in a romantic comedy, here are all the biggest winners and losers from the 2026 NBA trade deadline. Let’s unpack it all.

Winner: The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, for keeping their “will they, won’t they?” thing going

At this point in their relationship, everyone knows the Bucks and Giannis should probably call it quits. Yes, they love each other. Yes, they clearly care a great deal about one another. Yes, they have so much history. But they also have too many problems. They argue constantly. Neither can shake the inclination to be petty and hold grudges about the smallest slights from the past. The stars haven’t aligned for them. Yet, here we are. After weeks of teasing possible deals, Antetokounmpo will remain a Buck through the end of the season. Against all odds, they’re staying together for at least a few more months and seeing what happens. These two crazy kids are giving love a shot, gosh darn it.

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I can’t wait to scrub through all of their emotional baggage again in June.

Loser: Everyone on the outside of Milwaukee, for thinking Giannis and the Bucks would break up right now

On the flip side, this is what I detest about NBA coverage sometimes. We just spent so much time and energy waxing poetic about how a top-five player in the Association has outgrown Milwaukee, about how the Bucks have failed him while he simultaneously does them no favors. Shame on us for thinking someone would really pull the trigger here. Again, as a hoops fan, I can’t wait to be taken through the emotional wringer when everyone talks about trading Antetokounmpo in the summer only for him to remain in his famous No. 34 Milwaukee jersey.

How exhausting. How silly. What a productive and fruitful use of everyone’s time.

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Winner: James Harden, for escaping the still-stinking ship known as the L.A. Clippers

I’m not gonna pretend to know the whole story behind Harden’s unceremonious exit from the Clippers. There are always multiple sides to a story.

All I know is that their recent stretch of dominant play to turn around a lost season was probably fool’s gold. I would guess Harden likely felt the same way, particularly within the context of a stacked Western Conference. So, now he gets to play next to Donovan Mitchell on a Cleveland Cavaliers team that should be considered a serious contender in a weak Eastern Conference. And if the Cavaliers don’t make an NBA Finals run? Well, Harden is still going to get paid by someone and have his pick of the litter as a likely pending free agent. He played this perfectly.

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Loser: The Clippers, for investing in a younger, injury-prone point guard like Darius Garland as a piece for the future

At face value, acquiring a two-time All-Star, 26-year-old point guard like Garland should be considered a massive coup for Los Angeles. That’s someone you could theoretically build a franchise around, or at the very least have him act as a worthy sidekick to a real superstar. But if Garland is such a young, valuable asset … why did the Cavaliers trade him for a guy roughly 10 years older? What do they know about him that gave them pause to stay committed to his long-term career? A guess is that it’s related to his recent nagging big-toe injuries. Are those much worse than meets the eye?

Good luck to the Clippers for potentially buying damaged goods here. At least they’re used to doing such a thing.

Winner: The Washington Wizards, for acting like a serious basketball team by acquiring Anthony Davis

I’m not over the moon about Anthony Davis at this stage of his career. The 32-year-old has proven unreliable and inconsistent, even at his best. Nonetheless, he remains a singularly talented basketball player, the caliber of which the Wizards haven’t had for years. I don’t know if they consider him a piece for their foreseeable future, especially considering that they still hope to win this summer’s draft lottery for the rights to a genuine franchise talisman. But there’s no doubt that Davis should still bring a real air of professionalism to a young Wizards squad learning how to win in real time.

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The Wizards are starting to act seriously again. What in the world?

Winner: The Charlotte Hornets, for also acting like a serious basketball team by acquiring Coby White

Fun fact: The Hornets, yes, the Hornets, were No. 1 in both net rating and offensive rating in the month of January. In the last several weeks alone, they can boast wins over the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Denver Nuggets, and the San Antonio Spurs: arguably the league’s three best teams. If there were ever a time to build on white-hot momentum as an ascending young team, it was now.

Enter Coby White, the Hornets’ next likely sixth man and a worthy weapon in an increasingly deep Charlotte rotation. The East is wide-open, and the Hornets are going for it. Their success has been a long time coming.

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Loser: Steph Curry, for being resigned to a meaningless end of his iconic career

Here’s a quick recap of the Golden State Warriors’ trade deadline bonanza.

In a desperate bid to contend with late-stage Steph Curry, they tried (and predictably) failed to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo for a package of garbage. They responded by flipping that garbage package into Kristaps Porziņģis, a player who has always been more enticing in theory than in practice. He, for all intents and purposes, is the Warriors’ BIG move to save the Curry era and try to get him a fifth championship ring. Woof.

I don’t exactly feel bad for Curry, to be clear. He already has four championships, is wealthy beyond any reasonable measure, and is widely considered one of the most influential players in basketball history. He should be more than happy with what he’s already accomplished. But man, for a living legend ike him, it must really suck to realize you’re playing out the string of your career on a team with no chance of competing for long beyond the constraints of the regular season.

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Curry does deserve better. He’s not going to get it from Golden State.

Loser: Ja Morant, for also getting marooned on the moorless Memphis Grizzlies

To be clear, I also don’t feel all that bad for Morant. Aside from a history of injuries, all of his on and off-court drama in recent years falls squarely on him. Sorry, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. He, and he alone, is the main reason no one in the NBA wanted to trade anything of significance for him.

Plain and simple.

Still, it has to hurt watching ex-teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. get to move on to greener pastures in Utah. This, while Morant plays one of the saddest individual brands of basketball on a Grizzlies team unsubtly trying to tank. Morant is reaping what he sowed. And I can’t imagine he likes his crop at all.

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Loser: Jayson Tatum, who may or may not feel extra pressure to return to the surprisingly competitive Boston Celtics

Right now, Tatum is still working his way back into NBA shape after tearing his Achilles tendon last spring. I would venture to guess that he’s nowhere close to a return this season where he can be an elite player for a title contender. At least, you know, in a place where he’s comfortable with his body.

About that.

At the time of this writing, the Celtics are the No. 3 seed in the East. They just traded for a legit center to their frontline in Nikola Vučević. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the Celtics were gearing up for a deep playoff run, where they expect Tatum to eventually come back to their lineup this season. In a word: Yikes.

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Call me crazy, but I don’t think Tatum will risk the rest of his career by rushing back from a torn Achilles in less than one calendar year. If he hasn’t already made it clear to his teammates and coaches that he’s not coming back until October, he should probably have a quick chat with them before the noise inevitably grows.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NBA trade deadline 2026 winners and losers: James Harden, Steph Curry, Giannis