Very good, everyone breathes deeply. What could be said the most memorable? NBA Commerce deadline in history (and one that You may never double) It has come to an end, and we are still in the process of recovering our floor jaws after Luka Doncic ended up with LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers. Man, it still doesn’t sound good.
The crazy part of this year’s deadline is that Doncic’s trade did what would otherwise be massive movements seemed pedestrians compared. Jimmy Butler is in the warriors. De’aaron Fox is associated with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. Brandon Ingram moves north of the border. The successes continued to come, not to mention all the offers relatively lower than us A follow -up for you in this small orderly package.
Now that we know who goes where, it is time to think about how the league hierarchy affects as a whole. So, instead of our usual power classifications, we decided to break the 30 NBA teams at levels based on the containment of the title. Obviously, the movements made on the deadline changed the landscape for multiple equipment in one direction or another, so they will look quite different from what they would have, for example, a week ago.
The exchange deadline always invigorates the NBA season, which is more than halfway, create it or not, and this year’s movements should make you excite particularly during the remaining months. Here is a look where the teams are found after the burst of the activity.
Level 7: Capture flagg
As the wise Gloria Clemente once said in White men can’t jump: “Sometimes, when you want, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really earn.” That summarizes more or less the members of this group, who are doing everything possible to lose enough games to win the right to write Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey or any of the coveted perspectives at the top of the draft of the draft of 2025.
Each of these teams was a seller on the exchange deadline, sending players like Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Mark Williams in exchange for assets. Utah did not treat any veteran player, but found himself collecting selections here and there to act as a facilitator.
Fun fun of this group: the teams with the three worst record at the end of the season have the same chance to win the selection No. 1 (14%), and notice that there are four teams in this. level. That could lead to some wild clashes at the end of the season. They are better to be locked so that the bornets melee wizards on March 1.
Level 6: Reconstruction … but with some victories
They are not sinking how the magicians are tanking, but we can call them adjacent to the tank. Despite accumulating losses, each of these teams has significant reasons to get excited about the future. Toronto made some noise by acquiring Brandon Ingram from New Orleans, which gives the Raptors a small pleasant nucleus of him, Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett.
Portland was remarkably calm on the deadline, and the team has been on a hot streak on the court. Scoot Henderson is beginning to enter his account, and Deandre Ayton could be organizing a mini resurgence (when he is healthy). Ultimately, they can end up exchanging some pieces this summer, but Chaunley Billups has found a way to make it work for now.
And then there are Nets, whose main office seems to be doing everything possible to lose games, but coaches and players will simply not comply. They have thrown some truly scratched alignments in the head this season and have managed to continue fighting. They also chose to hold on to Cameron Johnson and Nicolas CLxton on the deadline, which makes them a better team. Cam Thomas has been the difference when he is healthy, since the networks have 8-11 with him and 9-23 without him.
Level 5: Play-in or Bust
They could also launch these two teams to the East Conference play each season, and chose an address on the deadline. The Hawks sold De’andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but their roof is still relatively high compared to open teams, even with Jalen Johnson for the season, due to Drinks Young and an emerging Onyaka Okongwu in the middle.
The bulls were also active on the deadline, although our Jasmyn Wimbish I wasn’t too excited about what she saw. Zach Lavine’s trade was a good start, but clinging to Nikola Vucevic and a heterogeneous mixture holds them firmly where no NBA team wants to be: the medium.
If you are a Hawks or Bulls fan, just buy your tickets for the game tournament now.
Level 4: Possible playoff races (and game outings) are possible
Some of these teams will probably make the game tournament. Some of them can miss the postseason completely. But what separates them is that everyone has legitimate reasons to believe that they can sustain if things break the right path.
Obviously, the two teams that stand out more in terms of the exchange deadline are the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, who each rose to a higher level with their movements. De’aaron Fox gives Victor Wembanyama a second legitimate scorer, something that the spurs have yearn for the whole season, while Jimmy Butler does the same for Steph Curry and Golden State, along with the pedigree of the grain and the post -supported pedigree necessary
Since all these teams are grouped around .500, it is difficult to imagine that they run towards the top of their respective conferences. But if they catch lightning in a bottle and get the correct raffle, it would not be crazy to see them win a round of playoffs or two, and in some cases, perhaps more.
Grades of the NBA exchange deadline for each team: Lakers, Spurs Ace Moves, Mavericks between three teams with an ‘F’
Sam Quinn
Level 3: Marginal contenders
On paper, either by record or by the names of the list, all these teams should be considered title threats at this time of the season. But there is something that retains each of them. For Minnesota, they are Julius Randle’s adjustment problems. For the clippers, they are the health of Kawhi Leonard and the historical problems of James Harden’s postseason. For Indiana it is the defense, currently 19 in the NBA. For Milwaukee, it is the lack of depth and any type of offense consistent outside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, perhaps exchanging Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma before the deadline is the trick.
Oh, what is that? Do we leave someone out? Why did something happen with the Mavericks during the past week? In the short term, Dallas did not necessarily get so worse by exchanging Luka Doncic. Anthony Davis is an infernal player, and at this point he is probably underestimated, but he has not yet shown that he can be the best player in a championship team. The same goes for Kyrie Irving. Do you know who was the best player in a team of late last year? Luka Doncic. If the MAVs still had it, they would certainly be considered a legitimate contender. Without it, we will only have to wait and see, but the roof has to be lower for now.
Level 2: Legitimate contenders
Approximately a month ago, you would probably have found the Lakers in the “Mediocre” or “Marginal” group, but a hot streak matched with the acquisition of a generational basketball talent of 25 years has accumulated them in a legitimate contender status. Add to Mark Williams raises his roof even more, because when he is healthy it will be the threat of perfect Lob for Donc and James to use it. LeBron and Luka on the same team. What world.
However, we could not classify them too much, since we have not yet seen it work. Before them there are teams that have earned their stripes throughout the season, and have been able to win despite injuries and potholes along the way. The greatest objection here was the order of the Knicks and the Grizzlies, but ultimately, Ja Morant could not play in more than five consecutive games throughout the season is a bit worrying. Tom Thibodeau is criticized for playing his headlines for more than 40 minutes, but they have mostly been available. However, both are incredible teams.
Level 1: Favorites
The Celtics are In fact Trying to be degraded from the “favorite” level, but they are not there yet. They are still third in the league in the net qualification and its roof is probably the highest in the league. If they can get there it is another question, and better if they want to compete with the cavs and thunder.
Cleveland only improved his stock by adding De’andre Hunter on the deadline, separating from Caris Levert and Georges Niang. That gives them a top seven (yes, which includes Ty Jerome) that will be an absolute nightmare for opponents at the time of the playoffs. If it were not for what we saw from the Celtics the last postseason, the cavs would be the clear favorites to get out of the east.
The unquestionable favorite of the West is the Thunder, who did not need to do anything on the deadline because they did all their work in the low season by bringing Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. They already have the best record of the league, and are about to see the return of Chet Holmgren, who has lost all except 10 games this season. OKC has a Net Plus-13 rating, behind the 72 victories of Chicago Bulls for the best in the history of the NBA. They have certainly won the right to be the favorite to win everything.