Biggest takeaways of the NBA trade deadline: Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t going anywhere … for now
What have we learned from the NBA’s 2026 trade deadline.
Let us count the ways.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t going anywhere … for now
The deadline has passed, and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo remains a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, at least until the offseason, when he will almost certainly be dealt.
If you had been following, you would know this was always the likeliest outcome.
Antetokounmpo all but requested a trade in the weeks before the deadline, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Jan. 28 that the 31-year-old was “ready for a new home,” and the Bucks, at long last, were “starting to listen” to “aggressive offers” from “several teams.”
Among those suitors, we came to learn from multiple outlets, were the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. The Bucks, obviously, are reportedly eyeing a package of “blue-chip young talent and/or a surplus of draft picks.”
The Warriors may have had the picks — as many as four first-rounders, to be exact — but their offer, which reportedly included Jonathan Kuminga as a foundational figure, was not enough to convince the Bucks to part with Antetokounmpo at this juncture. So, instead, Golden State shipped Kuminga to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porziņģis’ expiring deal.
None of the Timberwolves, Knicks and Heat could match Golden State’s draft haul, at least not at the moment. New York and Miami — both thought to be attractive destinations from Antetokounmpo’s perspective — will have additional draft capital to offer in the offseason.
Which is precisely why it always made sense for the Bucks to wait on an Antetokounmpo deal. As more realistic trade partners enter the fray, offers will only get more competitive.
2. The league can’t stop paying James Harden
For a fourth time in five years, James Harden had a trade request granted, this time landing him on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have eyes for championship contention.
Only, with Harden in place of Darius Garland and a second-round draft pick, they appear no closer to a title than their second-round playoff exits from the previous two seasons.
Raise your hand if you think Harden will elevate the Cavaliers from their current standing, fourth place in the Eastern Conference, to a berth in the NBA Finals? We are still waiting and have been since he was a sixth man on the West champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
It has been 15 years since then, and Harden has come no closer. His Houston Rockets did make the 2018 conference finals, largely because he was benched in a Game 6 comeback. He has been no better in Game 7s. We have as much evidence of his playoff failures as we do his successes, if not more, and still the league cannot stop giving him tens of millions.
Harden reportedlyrejected a two-year, $103 million contract extension offer from the Rockets in 2020 and a three-year, $161 million extension from the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, seeking a four-year, $227 million offer in the summer of 2022, when he was to turn 32 years old. For myriad reasons, ranging from Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status to Harden’s hamstrings, that offer never came. Not from Brooklyn. Nor from the Philadelphia 76ers.
That is when Harden called Sixers executive Daryl Morey “a liar” and sought a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, who extended him twice, first for $34 million for the 2024-25 season, and then for an additional $39 million this season. He also owns a $42 million player option for the 2026-27 season, when at one point he could have been making north of $60 million.
This is so much money. Harden has been guaranteed almost half a billion dollars in salary, let alone what he has made in endorsements, and still he is chasing what he sacrificed by not signing one of those aforementioned extensions — some $50 million in lost earnings.
This is why he is in Cleveland now, for another extension, he surely thinks. And maybe he gets one. I do not begrudge anyone for prioritizing individual salary over team success; I just have never seen a superstar player so blatant about it. He is the greatest of all time at finding the next NBA owner to offer him as much money as possible, regardless of the fit.
Why it makes any sense for the Cavaliers is a separate matter. As I’ve mentioned before, they traded a 26-year-old two-time All-Star (Garland) for a 36-year-old future Hall of Famer (Harden), and used a small asset (their second-round draft pick) to do so. This is usually bad business but for the fact that Harden has been healthier than Garland in recent years.
What did that get the Clippers? A first-round playoff exit last season and a sub-.500 record this season. Yes, Harden has set a playoff floor for his teams, which may be good enough for some, but his ball-dominance and defensive deficiencies also set a sub-championship ceiling. And isn’t the point of the NBA to win rings? In the meantime, Harden will get paid.
3. So much of the trade deadline is financially driven
Speaking of the point of the NBA, which we thought was to win championships, why does it seem like so many deadline deals are more motivated by finances than they are winning?
This is why you cannot blame Harden for pursuing maximum money at all times.
Why were Trae Young and Anthony Davis moved to the Washington Wizards ahead of the deadline? Not because D.C. envisioned them as a championship contender but because the Wiz had to pay someone to play for them, and it may as well be a pair of ticket sellers.
You see, there is a salary floor and a salary cap. Teams must spend at least 90% of the salary cap, which for the 2026-27 season is projected to be $166 million. Teams must spend at least $149.4 million of it, or surrender the difference to every other team instead.
Teams can spend beyond the salary cap, to a point, before they incur penalties associated with the luxury tax ($202 million), first apron ($210 million) and second apron ($223 million). You will hear more about these aprons than you ever care to learn, but know this: Nobody wants to spend more than $223 million for fear of losing additional assets.
It is, in the end, why the Cleveland Cavaliers dumped Lonzo Ball’s $10 million contract, why the Minnesota Timberwolves shed Mike Conley’s $10 million salary, and why the Boston Celtics swapped Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vučević. All to save some cash and duck an apron. Follow the money, and you can almost always figure out why a deal went down.
Why did the Detroit Pistons trade Jaden Ivey to the Chicago Bulls for Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić? Same reason the Golden State Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga to the Hawks for Porziņģis’ expiring salary, and why the Bulls dealt Coby White to the Charlotte Hornets. Ivey, Kuminga and White are due contracts, their current teams did not want to pay them, so they found the next team that might ahead of the deadline.
