2025 NBA Trade Deadline: Who Are the Biggest Winners?
The NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone and in its wake is a new NBA landscape that no one saw coming. The first trade sent the basketball world into a frenzy as the Lakers and Mavericks traded their superstars in a shocking move that will have major ramifications in the league for years. Other teams made moves for their short-term and long-term futures. Contending teams made moves to prepare for the playoffs and other teams made moves to try to get into playoff contention. So, which teams won during this wild trade season? Let’s dive in!
Lakers
The clear winners of the deadline have to be the Los Angeles Lakers. Being able to get a 25-year-old superstar in Luka Doncic came at the cost of having to trade away Anthony Davis. This move was made because the Mavericks had concerns about Doncic’s conditioning and did not want to pay him a supermax deal. Now, the Lakers have a superstar that they can build around in the post-Lebron James era. Doncic is averaging 28.1 points this season before suffering a calf injury on Christmas Day. It will be interesting to see how Doncic and James play together as they are both ball-dominant players; however, James was able to play with Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving so it is reasonable to believe he can find a way to play with the five-time All-Star. The Lakers were also able to get Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets, who has been flourishing since coming back from injury, in a trade. The Purple and Gold were in desperate need of a center and got a young player who is mobile and can be a lob threat for Doncic when he runs the offense.
Spurs
The Spurs wanted to add talent around Victor Wembanyama and were able to trade for De’Aaron Fox. The former Sacramento King is now Wembanyama’s best teammate and the two stars are now the future in San Antonio. Fox fits the Spurs' timeline by adding a young player who also might be the fastest player going from end-to-end with the ball in his hands. He is also one of the league’s top scorers in clutch minutes, the final five minutes in the fourth quarter, this season, and is the inaugural winner of the Jerry West Award, Clutch Player of the Year, in 2023. The Spurs currently sit at 12th in the Western Conference standings, but the addition of Fox could move the Spurs into play-in contention. The Spurs were able to keep their young talent as well as the majority of their draft picks so the future is very bright in San Antonio.
Warriors
The Warriors finally got what they wanted– another star to pair with Steph Curry and the Miami Heat got rid of their two-month headache. The addition of Jimmy Butler was something that Golden State thought they lost out on due to Butler’s unwillingness to sign an extension, he later signed a two-year, $121 million extension on February 5th, but now the Warriors get a player where if you get him into the playoffs he becomes a perennial star. Playoff Jimmy is real and it will be interesting to see how he fits into Steve Kerr’s system. The Warriors have been stuck in mediocrity since winning the 2022 NBA Finals and sit at 11th in the Western Conference Standings, one game out of the Play-In tournament. Butler’s presence could help the Warriors in their isolations and pick-and-rolls to help free up Curry. The Six-time All-Star is still a good defender and joins a top-10 defensive team anchored by Draymond Green. It should be fun to watch both Butler and Green play defense for the same team.
This year's trade deadline was fun to watch because it was fun to see all the interesting storylines that came out of it. Many of the players who were traded will play their former teams in the weeks to come in some pivotal matchups that will determine the playoffs this year. As the NBA approaches the All-Star break it will be interesting to see how these players adjust to their new teams. However, once the break is over fans will need to tune in for the wild ride the NBA and its stars are about to take them on.
