The 10 Biggest winners and losers of the NBA trade deadline

The Trade Deadline is a holiday for NBA nerds like me, and we celebrate by refreshing Woj’s Twitter page from the moment we wake up till the 3:00 PM buzzer. The deadline has passed and we now have over 16 trades to think about. Of course, not all of those moves are the most exciting, so in this article, I’ll be looking at some of the biggest deals that went down and deciding the winners and losers of those trades.

Winner: Phoenix Suns

Talk about a new owner making a splash. Mat Ishbia had his introductory press conference yesterday, and at 1:06 AM ET, he traded for who will become the best player in franchise history, Kevin Durant. 

At 30-26, Phoenix has had a disappointing season, at least by their standards. The Suns won 64 games last season and made a run to the finals the year before. While this might not have been the perfect time to make a huge acquisition as the Suns were no longer on the rise, their front office saw an opportunity to contend in a wide-open Western Conference, and they took it, acquiring one the best players of our generation.

It’s fair to say Phoenix is the favorite in the West. They certainly aren’t unbeatable, considering the roster is a bit top-heavy and one of their best players, Deandre Ayton, is the definition of an X-factor. Still, the Suns turned from second-round hopefuls to title contenders with this move. That’s a win in my book.