Four Biggest Winners, Losers Of Hectic 2025 NBA Trade Deadline

Just when it seemed as though teams and superstars — besides Jimmy Butler — were content with their standings, everything changed in the final five days heading into Thursday afternoon’s 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline.

Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis set the tone and immediately flipped the switch with the trade nobody could’ve seen coming. This wasn’t a measly role-player-centered deadline with minimal impact. Star power was at the forefront, several organizations improved their futures significantly and one fan base was shattered in pieces.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver watched the league, which had previously experienced a collapse in viewership and interest, catapult during Super Bowl week. Rumors surrounding Kevin Durant and LeBron James left everyone on the edge of their seats, clenching their phones for the next trade to surface.

Now that the dust has settled, and there’s no time left for front offices to construct the next blockbuster, it’s time to reflect. Here are the four biggest conquerors and failures of the 2025 NBA trade deadline:

Los Angeles Lakers: A+
This should go without saying.

The Lakers went from an offseason ruled by nepotism to a midseason ruled by the biggest trade (arguably) in professional sports history. Los Angeles swapped Davis, a 31-year-old All-Star center with injury concerns, plus Max Cristie and a 2029 first-round pick in exchange for Doncic, a 25-year-old generational talent. No talks involved anyone else besides the Lakers, as the Mavericks felt charitable this time of year and struck an insanely ridiculous move that’ll jeopardize their future.

Doncic’s three-team trade could’ve been all of LA’s efforts, and the Lakers still would’ve aced the deadline. But general manager Rob Pelinka wasn’t content keeping the team’s center spot vacant. So, the Lakers added 7-footer Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick.

Cleveland Cavaliers: B+
Only one question will surround the No. 1 seed Cavaliers following All-Star Weekend: can Donovan Mitchell and the crew keep it up?

Cleveland has been phenomenal, raising its bar following an early Eastern Conference semifinals exit to the Boston Celtics last season. Mitchell has ascended, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are All-Stars and the front office addressed the team’s biggest concern — size — in the closing hours of deadline day.

The Cavaliers acquired forward De’Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two swaps, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. This immediately strengthened Cleveland’s first-seed status and sent the rest of the conference the message that the Cavaliers are going all-in this season.

San Antonio Spurs: B
Maybe Gregg Popovich hasn’t made his last NBA Finals appearance after all?

The Spurs improved their franchise future’s vision by pairing once-in-a-lifetime cornerstone Victor Wembanyama with All-Star guard De’Aron Fox. San Antonio landed Fox as part of a three-team trade with the Sacramento Kings and the Chicago Bulls, which included seven players and seven draft selections — and sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento.

Moving forward, the Spurs have an elite duo. They can now enter next offseason in recruitment mode to find the next pieces that’ll get San Antonio back in the contender’s circle of the Western Conference.

Jimmy Butler: A+
In terms of individual victories, nobody should feel better than Butler.

The Golden State Warriors saved Butler from the ongoing, toxic saga with the Miami Heat that netted the six-time All-Star as many suspensions (three) as career wins in the Finals — and that wasn’t all. Golden State immediately signed Butler to a two-year, $121 million, according to Charania. So, contrary to popular belief, sometimes it does pay to burn down bridges and flee to Stephen Curry’s arms.

Now… the miserable losers.

Dallas Mavericks: D-
It’s hard not to give the Mavericks a well-deserved F+ but for the sake of giving Kyrie Irving and Davis a fair shake, Dallas gets a D- until further notice.

Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison made the dumbest bold move in trade deadline history by giving up on Doncic, who was on track to becoming the greatest Dallas player in franchise history. If that wasn’t unforgivable enough, Harrison didn’t even consider exploring the market and examining what other teams would’ve sacrificed for Doncic, which screams idiotic collusion.

Dallas fans, moving forward, should be cheering for Harrison to lose his job and never step foot in another front office to hijack another fan base’s hopes and dreams ever again.

Philadelphia 76ers: D
Did the Sixers waive their surrender flag and officially accept defeat?

Philadelphia dumped forward Caleb Martin in a trade with the Mavericks on Tuesday and then traded guard Reggie Jackson, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for guard Jared Butler. Nothing major and nothing game-changing, and that would’ve been fine had the Sixers not been undergoing a nightmarish campaign.

Joel Embiid and Paul George have been non-factors, leaving Tyrese Maxey to do everything amid the team’s so-far 20-30 run as the 11th seed in the East.

Golden State Warriors: C-
Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy wore desperation like Cinderella’s glass slipper.

Golden State had enough of watching Curry suffer under the pressure of double and triple-team coverage, and Dunleavy — with no hesitation — slipped $121 million into Butler’s pocket before the 36-year-old even arrived. It’s not a bad move, but it’s also not that much of a needle-mover either, considering Butler is a slightly upgraded version of Andrew Wiggins. So, how much better did the Warriors truly get?

It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities that Butler turns drama queen again, and Golden State is shopping that luxury-priced contract in the market next year.

Trae Young: F
If not getting selected for the All-Star Game wasn’t bad enough, the next few months of the season should add salt to the wound for “Ice Trae.”

Young, who’s averaging a career-high and league-leading 11.5 assists for the Hawks, watched as the franchise traded 27-year-old Hunter to the conference-rival Cavaliers. Granted, Atlanta has been among the most mediocre teams in the league this season, going 23-28 as the No. 9 seed in the East.

Yet, while the ninth seed sounds awful, only three games separate the Hawks from the No. 5 seed Heat. So there wasn’t some improbable deficit in Atlanta’s way from making a strong post-All-Star Weekend push, but now that task has grown even taller, and it’s unlikely that Young’s 6-foot-1 stature can make up for it.