Now that a wild NBA trade deadline is in the books, who are the winners and losers?
If deadline week had featured only the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers swapping All-Stars James Harden and Ben Simmons as part of a five-player trade, it would have been league-shaking. That deal merely highlighted a series of other high-profile exchanges, some of which -- headlined by All-Star Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings and CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans -- took place prior to Thursday.
Some, including the Harden-Simmons trade, have been buzzed about for some time. Others, most notably the Dallas Mavericks sending Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards, seemed to come out of nowhere.
As we continue to sort through the fallout from the past week's barrage of trades -- just how many times have Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Tomas Satoransky changed teams again? -- let's take a look at the big-picture takeaways from an altered NBA landscape.
Here are my winners and losers from the trade deadline, starting with the pair of stars who got the trades they reportedly both wanted.
Winners: James Harden and Ben Simmons
It took nearly eight months and giving back a large percentage of his 2021-22 salary to date (over $19 million in fines, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne last week), but Simmons got the change of scenery he wanted after the untenable way the 2021 playoffs ended for him and the Philadelphia 76ers.
In Harden's case, it's less clear exactly how long he has wanted a trade after forcing his way to the Brooklyn Nets barely a year ago, but at some point along the way Kyrie Irving's ineligibility for home games and a disappointing regular season for the Nets led him to seek a way out.
A reunion with Philadelphia vice president of basketball operations Daryl Morey always made sense for Harden given their successful partnership with the Houston Rockets, and the two sides made it happen before the deadline.
The timing of the trade happening now sets up Harden to get a maximum extension this offseason without having to threaten the Nets that he'd leave in free agency and take less money to do it.
Losers: Small-market teams that hoped to get Simmons
Part of what made Simmons' trade request so unusual is that it came with more than three full years remaining on his contract, making him a more realistic option for teams in non-glamour destinations that can't typically add players of his ilk outside the draft. Alas, Harden's availability meant Simmons ended up going to a marquee team in Brooklyn.
Winner: Eastern Conference playoffs
Losers: Other East contenders
We might have to go back to the Chicago Bulls' second three-peat to find an East postseason this anticipated. Already, the East looked loaded with the top eight teams separated by a mere 5.5 games in the standings. (Contrast that to the West, where the first-place Phoenix Suns are 18 games up on the eighth-place LA Clippers.) Now, add the intrigue of the 76ers and Nets trying to incorporate star players on the fly with championship expectations.
I still think the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat, the current top two seeds, have the best chance of advancing out of the East. Nonetheless, that path would have been a lot easier with Harden unhappy in Brooklyn and Simmons on the sidelines. The road to the NBA Finals through the East got that much harder with Thursday's trade.
Winners: Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns
As eight of the top nine teams in the East made at least one trade of significance this week (the Bulls were the lone exception), there were relative tumbleweeds at the top of the Western Conference.
It's unclear the Mavericks strengthened themselves by dealing Porzingis for Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie, while the Utah Jazz added only unproven reserves Alexander-Walker and Juancho Hernangomez.
That's good news for the top two teams in the West -- particularly the Suns, who did make a pair of smaller moves that could pay off. I like Phoenix bringing back Torrey Craig as a defensive specialist in reserve at the cost of little-used Jalen Smith and a second-round pick.
Winner: The race for 10th in the West
More generally, you could say the play-in tournament, which has had the intended effect of making more teams competitive down the stretch. The big fireworks in the West came from below-.500 teams, with the Pelicans making an aggressive, win-now move for McCollum and the Kings following suit by dealing for Sabonis and later adding Donte DiVincenzo on Thursday. Barring a free fall from the Los Angeles Lakers, only one of those two teams will likely make the play-in tournament. The other is likely to be disappointed after loading up.
Winners: Members of the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder
Despite sitting on $30-plus million in cap space, Oklahoma City made only one deal at the deadline, adding the $1.8 million salary of forward KZ Okpala. That leaves the Thunder a historic $23 million shy of the minimum team salary (90% of the cap), better known as the salary floor, per my ESPN colleague Bobby Marks.
We've seen teams shy of the floor get there by signing creative contracts with future non-guaranteed seasons after the trade deadline, including Oklahoma City (Gabriel Deck) and the New York Knicks (Luca Vildoza) last season. Those counted a handful of million toward the minimum team salary. Although it's plausible the Thunder could get there this year, it will be a challenge. If not, the shortfall will be distributed by the NBPA among players on the Oklahoma City roster as an unexpected bonus.
Winners: Non-luxury tax teams
Teams also weren't as aggressive as expected in reducing their tax bills before the deadline. The Portland Trail Blazers got well out of the tax with their series of trades, while the Boston Celtics should avoid it unless Jaylen Brown achieves incentives for advancing deep in the playoffs. That leaves 23 non-tax teams splitting 50% of somewhere in the neighborhood of $480 million in taxes, meaning a distribution of more than $10 million per team.