The NBA trade deadline is one of the most fun days on the sports calendars, as in recent years, it has been jam-packed with moves from all teams across the league. Last season’s trade deadline even saw the most players moved on deadline day since the NBA started tracking such a thing.
This year, the NBA trade deadline is at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 8. There have already been some big moves, including the trades that involved James Harden, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby at varying points in the season. The actual deadline day is always the busiest for trades, though, and this year will likely be no different.
As teams make the final push before the All-Star break, season trajectories become more clear. Contenders want to add the missing pieces for a playoff run while struggling teams often want to jumpstart their rebuild by trading contributors for future assets like draft picks, young players, and expiring contracts. While some of the players moved at the deadline throughout NBA history obviously ended up making little impact, there have been a number of massive moves with widespread implications. Because of that, we decided to rank the most impactful NBA trades at the trade deadline over the last 10 years, which is about the time that trade deadline deals started picking up with more regularity.
Many of the players involved in these deals were superstars, but this ranking is not necessarily a ranking of the best players moved. Instead, this ranking is meant to show which deals were the most impactful on the entire league. Massive deals like Tyrese Haliburton’s trade to the Indiana Pacers and Kyrie Irving’s move to the Dallas Mavericks were huge deals, but they happened a couple of days before the actual trade deadline and, therefore, don’t count for this list, as NBA.com only counts deadline deals as the deals that actually happened on the final day to trade players.
15. Dwyane Wade heads back home, 2018
Heat acquire: Dwyane Wade
Cavaliers acquire: Conditional second-round pick
Dwyane Wade is a Miami Heat legend, so many fans have forgotten that the Hall-of-Famer spent one and a half seasons with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. Wade’s production dropped, and many fans felt he should have never left the team that he was synonymous with. Miami’s front office felt the same way, and they reacquired Wade in 2018. Wade’s return to the Heat wasn’t life-changing for the rest of the NBA, but it just felt right.
Additionally, he had a little bit of a resurgence with the team. Wade averaged 12 points and 15 points per game over the next two seasons with the Heat, which was an improvement over his time elsewhere. His return to Miami saw him break a number of records, and it was best that those moments came in a Heat jersey.
14. Former Rookie of the Year is traded to the Bucks, 2015
76ers acquire: First-round pick
Bucks acquire: Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee
Suns acquire: Kendall Marshall, Brandon Knight
The mid-2010’s Philadelphia 76ers underwent a rebuild unlike anything the NBA has ever seen. The team-building philosophy was coined “the process,” and it saw the team trade a number of solid players for future draft picks. A prime example of their unprecedented strategy saw them trade Michael Carter-Williams for a first-round pick.
Carter-Williams was a promising young player, as he had won the Rookie of the Year Award only the year before. Carter-Williams ended up underperforming for the Milwaukee Bucks, so this trade didn’t necessarily turn the NBA world on its head. It was still impactful, though, because of how surprising it was.
The 76ers process has popularized tanking and the trading of players for draft picks, as no team has made more NBA trade deadline deals than the 76ers over the last decade, but deadline deals are more popular than ever largely because of the precedent that Philadelphia set.
13. Will Barton starts a long career with the Nuggets, 2015
Nuggets acquire: Will Barton, Thomas Robinson, Victor Claver, conditional first-round pick
Trail Blazers acquire: Aaron Afflalo, Alonzo Gee
Will Barton was only a role player for the Denver Nuggets, but he was an important one for the team after they traded for him in 2015. Barton was there for the team during their rebuilding years, and he eventually turned into an important veteran presence and a player with bucket-getting abilities as the team got better.
Barton even became the longest-tenured player on the Nuggets, but unfortunately, he didn’t stick around long enough to win a ring with the team. His eventual trade to the Washington Wizards landed the Nuggets Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and helped the team win the NBA Finals.
12. Kristaps Porzingis is moved again, 2022
Wizards acquire: Kristaps Porzingis, second-round pick
Mavericks acquire: Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans
Kristaps Porzingis is the rare star who has been moved on multiple occasions. Despite being only 28 years old, the big man has been traded three times in his NBA career. Only one of those was at the trade deadline, though. The implications from this trade weren’t huge.
Porzingis only played 82 total games for the Washington Wizards, and both Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans were traded from Dallas not long after they were acquired. Still, it is a big deal anytime a star is traded during the middle of the season.
11. Former number one pick is traded, 2019
Magic acquire: Markelle Fultz
76ers acquire: Jonathon Simmons, protected first-round pick, second-round pick
When a former number-one overall pick is traded from the team that drafted him early in his career, it is usually fair to call him a bust. While Markelle Fultz’s tenure with the 76ers definitely didn’t go to plan, he has actually been a solid player since being traded to the Orlando Magic. Injuries have still been a problem for Fultz, but when he is healthy, he has performed as a starting-caliber player for Orlando.
His trade from Philadelphia also marked the unofficial end of “the process.” On top of that, the first-round pick that the 76ers added ended up turning into Tyrese Maxey, who is looking like the Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2023-24 season while averaging over 26 points per game.
10. Two contributors join the Cavaliers, 2018
Lakers acquire: Channing Frye, Isaiah Thomas, conditional first-round pick
Cavaliers acquire: Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr.
With the potential for LeBron James to leave in the ensuing offseason, the Cavaliers had a busy trade deadline in 2018 with the goal of winning one more championship in mind. The team wasn’t able to do that, but they came close, and the acquisitions of Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. helped the team reach the NBA Finals.
9. D’Angelo Russell heads to Los Angeles, 2023
Lakers acquire: D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt
Jazz acquire: Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, 2027 first-round pick
Timberwolves acquire: Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, three second-round picks
Two of the deadline deals on this list involved D’Angelo Russell. The trade that landed him in Los Angeles ranks lower on the impact scale because it is still playing out, although it has already been a very impactful trade. The Lakers didn’t look like a playoff team for much of last year.
They were able to add three key pieces at the NBA trade deadline, though. D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt helped the team have the best defense in the NBA after the All-Star break, and it led to the Lakers making an unexpected run all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Russell Westbrook just wasn’t working as a member of the Lakers, and the team hopes the first-rounder they gave up won’t become too valuable by 2027.
While it has turned out to be a solid move for the Lakers, it was an even better move by the Minnesota Timberwolves. By adding Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Timberwolves are looking like one of the biggest winners from last year’s trade deadline. Minnesota is now the two-seed in the Western Conference.
8. Goran Dragic is traded to the Heat, 2015
Heat acquire: Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic
Suns acquire: Danny Granger, John Salmons, two first-round picks
Pelicans acquire: Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton, Shawne Williams
After being traded to the Heat, Goran Dragic spent parts of seven seasons with the team. He was consistently a solid player with the team, and he even went to one All-Star Game as a member of the Heat. Dragic averaged 16.2 points per game for Miami, and he even appeared in the NBA Finals for the team.
7. Bulls trade for Nikola Vucevic, 2021
Bulls acquire: Nikola Vucevic, Al-Farouq Aminu
Magic acquire: Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., two first-round picks
When the Chicago Bulls traded for Nikola Vucevic, they added another piece for what they thought could form an eventual championship-contending big three. The pairing between Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine hasn’t panned out the way the Bulls hoped, though. Still, it was a massive trade at the time, and Vucevic has still been a productive player in Chicago.
The trade has had more impact on the league because of what it did for the Magic, though. Although he usually misses a good chunk of the season with injuries, Wendell Carter Jr. has been great for the Magic when he has been healthy. His contract is arguably the biggest bargain in the league, and he provides great rim protection for a team that is defensive-minded. The Magic also added two important picks in this trade.
While the Bulls were supposed to be a playoff team, they have instead given Orlando two lottery picks. Those picks turned into Franz Wagner and Jett Howard. Wagner looks like a future All-Star, and while Howard hasn’t played much as a rookie, he does provide three-point shooting, which will be vital on a Magic team going forward that struggles in that area.
6. Marc Gasol is traded to a contender, 2019
Raptors acquire: Marc Gasol
Grizzlies acquire: Jonas Valenciunas, CJ Miles, Delon Wright, second-round pick
There is almost nothing more impactful to the NBA than being a player who contributes to an NBA Finals victory. That is the reason the Toronto Raptors traded for Marc Gasol, and that is exactly what they got out of the rim-protecting and great passing big man. The Raptors were desperate to win the championship in what could have been (and was) Kawhi Leonard’s only season with the team. Gasol helped the team do just that.
5. Andrew Wiggins and D’Angelo Russell are swapped, 2020
Warriors acquire: Andrew Wiggins, first-round pick, second-round pick
Timberwolves acquire: D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans, Omari Spellman
As a number one draft pick, Andrew Wiggins was a disappointment to Timberwolves fans. He showed flashes and put up decent scoring totals in Minnesota, but it was inefficient and didn’t lead to winning. The Golden State Warriors got a different player, though. Surrounded by stars, Wiggins embraced more of a three-and-D role, and it led to both a season as an All-Star starter and a championship victory. Wiggins hasn’t been the same since the Warriors won the NBA Finals, but it doesn’t matter since he was instrumental in helping the team win it all.
At the time of this trade, Russell was still viewed at as a promising young player. So much so that the Timberwolves even had to give up a first-rounder on top of Wiggins to make this trade happen. Russell was solid in his tenure with Minnesota, but he has never reached the heights he had as a young All-Star with the Brooklyn Nets. Russell can get buckets and be a playmaker for his teammates, but his lack of defense and his inconsistent offensive game have soured the opinion of him as a player recently.
4. Aaron Gordon finds a perfect fit, 2021
Nuggets acquire: Aaron Gordon, Gary Clark
Magic acquire: Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton, first-round pick
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have always had an excellent two-man game, and Michael Porter Jr. has been one of the best shooters since entering the NBA. The Denver Nuggets’ offense excelled because of this, but the team was lacking the defensive players to get them over the edge. They found that in Aaron Gordon. Gordon can guard any position, and his leaping ability out of the dunker spot is a perfect fit alongside a passer like Jokic.
The results were evident from day one after Denver made this trade, although a championship run had to be put on hold because Jamal Murray tore his ACL. A healthy Denver team put it all together in 2022-23, though, and they couldn’t have won the championship if it weren’t for what Gordon brings to the table. The Nuggets clearly won this trade, as Gary Harris and R.J. Hampton haven’t done much for the Magic, and the draft pick still hasn’t been conveyed.
3. Isaiah Thomas blossoms in Boston, 2015
Celtics acquire: Marcus Thornton, first-round pick
Suns acquire: Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Thomas’ run with the Boston Celtics was special and was an era that will be remembered in the NBA for a long time. A 5-foot 9-inch player can’t fit in any system, but he was perfect for the Celtics. His offense (28.9 points per game in 2016-17) made him a two-time All-Star and MVP candidate. Thomas hasn’t found much success outside of Boston, but his time with the Celtics was iconic.
2. James Harden requests a trade, 2022
76ers acquire: James Harden, Paul Millsap
Nets acquire: Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks
James Harden requesting trades has become a regularity in recent seasons, but he was only moved at trade deadline day once. That trade was the one that ended the Nets’ big three and saw Harden join the 76ers. Harden teamed up with Joel Embiid, and the duo was most definitely dynamic. The 76ers couldn’t get past the second round, though, and Harden only created more problems than solutions. His time with the 76ers was filled with drama, and he was eventually traded again, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Similar to how the Nets needed to move on from Harden, the 76ers were ready to part ways with Ben Simmons. Swapping the two stars made perfect sense, but the trade hasn’t worked out the way either team thought it would. Simmons has continued to deal with injury problems, and he has only played in 50 games for Brooklyn.
While still impactful on the rest of the league, it is fair to say this trade wasn’t as impactful as most thought it would be, due to the limited production that Harden and Simmons had on their new teams in comparison to expectations. Still, superstar trade requests are relatively rare (although they are becoming more common), and they are even more rare at the trade deadline.
1. Kevin Durant is moved in blockbuster deal, 2023
Suns acquire: Kevin Durant, TJ Warren
Nets acquire: Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Juan Valuet, four first-round picks, first-round swap option, two second-round picks
Pacers acquire: Serge Ibaka, Jordan Nwora, George Hill, three second-round picks
Bucks acquire: Jae Crowder
Kevin Durant’s trade to the Phoenix Suns was not only arguably the biggest NBA trade deadline deal ever, but it was one of the biggest trades in NBA history, period. Durant is one of the best players ever, so it took a massive package for the Suns to acquire him. Durant dealt with injuries in his first year in Phoenix, but the team will be a title contender as long as he is in town. At 28.3 points per game, Durant is having an excellent 2023-24 season, and the Suns are starting to put things together.
While the Suns will likely be title contenders for the foreseeable future, the Nets are also set up well going forward. Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson have stepped up their games since joining the Nets, and the team added up to five first-rounders from this deal. Brooklyn hasn’t been great this year, but with the amount of assets they acquired, it is fair to say they will be a threat in the NBA sooner rather than later.
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