This year’s trade deadline was filled with crazy moves and blockbuster trades. Now that the trade season is officially over, it’s time to go over which teams put themselves in the better situation to succeed and which teams set themselves back.

Winners

Los Angeles Clippers

I know this is a hot take. The Clippers definitely got worse at the deadline, no doubt about that. They downgraded from James Harden to an injured Darius Garland. Then they traded one of the best centers in the league (Ivica Zubac) for Benedict Mathurin, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick. On the surface, this looks horrible for the Clippers since the Thunder owns their first-round pick. But in reality, their roster as constructed wasn’t nearly good enough to compete for a championship, so there was no point in giving up even more future assets to win now. Plus, it’s not like these trades are going to make them worse than the Pelicans, Kings, Grizzlies, or Mavericks anyway. As long as Kawhi Leonard stays healthy, the Clippers will be good enough to the point where it won’t extremely benefit the Thunder. But now they have some building blocks that will help them compete in the future.

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards bought low on Trae Young and now Anthony Davis. For both of them combined, they gave up the Thunder’s first-round pick this year, which will probably be 30th, a heavily protected 2030 first-round pick via Golden State, and three second-round picks. Even if this new duo doesn’t pan out, it’s not the end of the world because they barely gave up anything to get them. But if they click, they could be a scary team for many years to come. Not only do they have Anthony Davis and Trae Young, but also amazing young players like Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers were not looking like the championship contenders we all thought they would be. But now, they could be the best team in the East outside of Detroit. They traded someone who’s missed half the season (Darius Garland)for someone who you can rely on to play every day (James Harden). This will give Donovan Mitchell a secondary scorer who can go off for 30 points whenever Donovan Mitchell is having an off night. They also traded for one of the league’s premier defenders in Keon Ellis. Their starting backcourt of Harden and Mitchell is non-existent on defense. Ellis will provide that perimeter defense whenever they need to get a stop.

Minnesota Timberwolves

If you saw my article on what I thought each Western Conference team should do at the deadline. I said that the Timberwolves needed another point guard who could run the offense and could play defense. I stated that Ayo Dosunmu would be the perfect fit, and that’s exactly who they went out and got. 

Losers

Warriors

There was only one way the Warriors were going to save their season, and that was by trading for Giannis. Something they weren’t able to accomplish. And I’m sure if the Warriors put all their chips on the table, the Bucks would have taken their offer. They could’ve traded Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, a salary filler, and up to six first-round picks. Instead, they decided to trade two guys who are consistently healthy for someone who isn’t able to play 10 games in a row without getting injured.

Rockets

The Houston Rockets are one of the few contenders in the NBA who had a glaring hole that needed to be filled… point guard. And they did nothing to address that issue. Now they have nobody to set up their best players. Amen Thompson isn’t a natural point guard, and him playing that position is diminishing what he’s fully capable of. When the playoffs roll around, and they’re playing heavy isolation basketball, it’s going to be easy for opponents to stop them. Just like it was in the James Harden era.

Bulls

What’s with the Bulls’ obsession with guards and second-round picks? They were already overloaded with backcourt players, so they decided to get more guards by trading for Anfernee Simons and Jaden Ivey. On top of that, the Bulls traded three of their best players and didn’t get a single first-round pick for any of them. Instead, they opted to trade Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Nikola Vucevic for control of seven second-round picks. Most, if not all, the players they select with those picks are never going to be rotation players.