So much for a quiet trade deadline.
The NBA had plenty of fireworks this week ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, which saw multiple teams decide to rebuild their rosters while others made deals strictly to avoid an expensive luxury tax bill.
When the dust settled, the biggest prize available remained in Milwaukee.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo ultimately stayed with the team despite the front office listening to offers for the best player in franchise history and reportedly sending counteroffers to interested teams.
Antetokounmpo, who is currently out with a calf strain, spoke to both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Athletic earlier this week and indicated he wants to stay with the Bucks for the rest of his career, but added that the team needs to improve the roster for that to happen.
“I want to be here, but I want to be here to win, not fighting for my life to make the playoffs,” Antetokounmpo said to The Athletic. “I’m not used to inconsistent basketball. I’ve played so many years of consistent basketball, I am not used to it anymore.”
Trading Antetokounmpo in-season was always going to be a chore. His high salary—$54 million this season—is hard to match and get the best return from, especially while working on a deadline. It’s why the Suns ultimately traded Kevin Durant to the Rockets in July 2025 instead of at last year’s deadline.
The Bucks will get the least favorable first-round pick between their own and the Pelicans, which is projected to land in the lottery of June’s loaded NBA draft. Milwaukee could tank the rest of the season to try and add a young and talented player alongside Antetokounmpo. Or the team could trade him over the summer with more time to get the best deal and when teams have more draft picks at their disposal.
Tax Savings Galore
Numerous teams made trades that saved them millions by getting under the luxury tax.
On Thursday, the Nuggets traded Hunter Tyson and a 2032 second-round pick to the Nets for a 2026 second-round pick that got the team out of the luxury tax threshold by $1.8 million and $5 million below the first cap apron.
The Magic did the same by trading Tyus Jones and his $7 million contract to the Hornets. Charlotte rerouted Jones to the Mavericks, whose decision to trade Anthony Davis to the Wizards got the organization completely out of the tax. The Wizards now have $59 million in cap space before hitting the first apron next season.
Paul George’s 25-game suspension for a performance-enhancing substance cost him nearly $12 million, shaving that amount off the Sixers’ payroll, and reducing their tax bill by $5.8 million. The Sixers traded Jared McCain to the Thunder. Combined, the two saved the Sixers $10 million to get out of the luxury tax and create enough cap space to convert two-way player Dominick Barlow into a standard NBA contract.
Phoenix traded Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis as part of a three-team trade with the Bulls and Bucks that got the Suns out of the luxury tax for the first time since 2021–22. The Suns have paid $265 million combined the past three seasons in tax penalties, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Rebuilds Underway
Two teams pressed the reset button on their current situations by trading away some of their best players for draft capital and young players. One was a surprise, the other was overdue.
The Clippers, who started the season 6–21 and have gone 17–6 since Dec. 20, traded away James Harden and Ivica Zubac a week ahead of hosting the All-Star Game, all but ending the Kawhi Leonard era. The team is now ninth in the Western Conference standings and will be a longshot to miss the playoffs.
The decision to start over in Los Angeles comes as the team awaits possible NBA punishment over allegations the team used failed environmental startup Aspiration to pay Leonard additional compensation and circumvent the salary cap. The reigning NBA champion Thunder own the Clippers 2026 first-round pick, which could now fall in the lottery.
In Chicago, the Bulls traded away Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Nikola Vučević to the Timberwolves, Hornets, and Celtics, respectively, ending years in NBA purgatory. The Bulls were neither rebuilding nor in contention in recent years. The team acquired nine future second-round picks at the deadline and will now try to climb in the lottery standings.
