By John Hollinger | The Athletic, 2026-02-06 10:00:39
NBA 交易截止日这一周已经结束，如果这让你感觉像是一场旋风，我完全同意。但更确切地说，这更像是一场“诡异之风”。从多个维度来看，这都是一个反传统、反常态的截止日。
在经历了整个赛季直到 1 月底只有一笔交易的冷清之后，NBA 在截止日前的一周内炮制了 28 笔交易。根据 NBA 的官方数据，这打破了 2018-19 赛季创下的 21 笔的纪录。73 名球员被交易，这同样创下了纪录；联盟 30 支球队中有 27 支参与了交易（只有休斯顿火箭、圣安东尼奥马刺和迈阿密热火在这一周作壁上观），共有 44 个选秀权易主，其中包括 35 个次轮签（全部流向了芝加哥公牛）。
基本上，我们可以将这些交易归为四类，而这正是事情变得诡异的地方。
第一类是 清理薪资空间 。我们每年都能看到这类交易，但这次尤为突出，因为有 14 支球队在这一周开始前处于奢侈税区间（工资总额超过 1.879 亿美元）。到周四下午，波士顿凯尔特人、费城 76 人、丹佛掘金、菲尼克斯太阳、多伦多猛龙和奥兰多魔术都成功脱身。此外，克利夫兰骑士摆脱了第二土豪线 (the second-apron threshold)（工资总额超过 2.078 亿美元）的束缚，明尼苏达森林狼则通过两笔削减薪水的交易大幅降低了税单。甚至一向挥金如土的洛杉矶快船也削减了支出，尽管老板史蒂夫·鲍尔默 (Steve Ballmer) 展示了他对这个概念是多么不在意——他的球队最终仅比奢侈税线高出 100 多万美元，这既触发了超级奢侈税 (the repeater tax)，又让球队在未来几年继续面临这一税项。
第二类交易可以被称为 “预备自由球员期”交易 ，即球队通过获取即将成为自由球员者的伯德权，希望在可能续约的同时更容易地管理薪金空间。这同样不是新概念。夏洛特黄蜂收购科比·怀特 (Coby White)、明尼苏达森林狼拿下阿约·多松姆 (Ayo Dosunmu)，以及金州勇士交易得到克里斯塔普斯·波尔津吉斯 (Kristaps Porziņģis)，都属于这一范畴。
然而值得注意的是，第三类交易在今年几乎销声匿迹。在争冠球队“放手一搏”方面，我们只有一个明显的例子，那就是骑士用詹姆斯·哈登 (James Harden) 换回了达柳斯·加兰 (Darius Garland)……除此之外，就只有洛杉矶湖人交易得到卢克·肯纳德 (Luke Kennard)、纽约尼克斯拿下何塞·阿尔瓦拉多 (Jose Alvarado) 以及底特律活塞得到凯文·赫尔特 (Kevin Huerter) 了。哎。俄克拉荷马城雷霆得到杰里德·麦凯恩 (Jared McCain) 勉强也算，如果你仔细观察，波特兰开拓者的维特·克雷伊奇 (Vít Krejčí) 也能勉强入围。
由于土豪线约束、奢侈税负担，以及大多数争冠球队早在很久以前就交易掉了选秀权，大多数争冠阶层都在减税，而不是在冲刺。他们显然没有能力为首发级别或全明星球员做出强有力的举动。相反，全心投入交易的是犹他爵士、华盛顿奇才和印第安纳步行者。什么？ 截至截止日，战绩排在联盟倒数六名的三支球队？他们竟然是那些推入全部筹码的人？
是的，这就把我们带到了今年看到的第四类交易，事实上，这也是本次截止日的核心主题： 姗姗来迟的交易 。
从来没有这么多球队因为过度权衡而导致回报寥寥。令人惊讶的是，本周被交易的这么多球员本该在几个月前甚至几年前就被送走，结果现在换回的回报仅相当于“一折甩卖”。
特雷·杨 (Trae Young) 是今年第一个倒下的交易多米诺骨牌，也是亚特兰大老鹰琢磨了多年要送走的人，结果换回的基本上是到期合同以及悄悄清理掉的科里·基斯珀特 (Corey Kispert) 的续约合同。
达拉斯独行侠本该在赢得库珀·弗拉格 (Cooper Flagg) 状元签那天就交易掉安东尼·戴维斯 (Anthony Davis)；无论今年夏天他们能用他换回什么，肯定都比“薪资宽减加上选秀第 30 顺位”要多。唉，在告别戴维斯之前，独行侠需要用一些更有远见的东西来取代尼科·哈里森 (Nico Harrison) 的“视野”。他们所做的只是在半年内赢下了太多的比赛，同时看着戴维斯的交易价值日渐萎缩。
反过来，这解释了奇才为什么会去追求这些球员；他们几乎没付出什么代价。最大的开支可能就是因为奇才为了保住其前八顺位保护的首轮签，而可能在 3 月和 4 月的比赛中让这些球员因“背部痉挛”休战而面临的罚款。
在其他地方，还记得勇士曾为了乔纳森·库明加 (Jonathan Kuminga) 的交易与国王就首轮签保护方案讨价还价吗？那是很久以前的事了。在最终与亚特兰大的库明加交易中，金州勇士最终没得到任何选秀权，只得到了波尔津吉斯的伯德权，同时还甩掉了如果明年不留巴迪·希尔德 (Buddy Hield) 就要支付给他的 300 万美元保证金。（至少库明加的肥皂剧现在结束了；这笔交易赢得了 2026 年度“本·西蒙斯纪念：谢天谢地终于结束了”奖。）
然后就是公牛队。唉。芝加哥终于在赢下太多比赛、以至于不太可能在天才云集的选秀中获得前四顺位签之后，才转入彻底重建。他们等了太久才交易掉多松姆、怀特、亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso)、德玛尔·德罗赞 (DeMar DeRozan)、扎克·拉文 (Zach LaVine) 和尼古拉·武切维奇 (Nikola Vučević)，令人震惊的是，他们竟然一个首轮签都没换回来。等到怀特和多松姆的合同只剩下两个月时才交易尤其过分；他们的自由球员倾向早在一英里外就能看清。
顺着这个主题，公牛似乎准备在未来两个赛季疯狂摆烂……恰好赶上了许多球探认为多年来最弱的 2027 和 2028 届选秀。目前仍不清楚为什么公牛不尝试在 2025 和 2026 届选秀时摆烂，而是非要去争夺附加赛席位。
别急，还没完：我们还有那些根本没被交易走的人。抛开扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) 不谈，我们可以挖得更深。在交易的海洋中，不知何故，贾·莫兰特 (Ja Morant)、多曼塔斯·萨博尼斯 (Domantas Sabonis)、安德鲁·维金斯 (Andrew Wiggins)、卡姆·托马斯 (Cam Thomas) 和德罗赞都没有换队……因为送走他们的时机早已过去，他们的价值已经萎缩至零。
孟菲斯灰熊未交易莫兰特最为引人注目。莫兰特曾经被认为是孟菲斯的非卖品；现在全联盟都认为他是不可触碰的，但仅仅是因为他太“烫手”了。讽刺的是，正如孟菲斯资深专栏作家杰夫·考尔金斯 (Geoff Calkins) 本周在社交媒体上指出的那样，莫兰特的不可靠迫使灰熊交易掉了他们两个可以依靠的人（德斯蒙德·贝恩 (Desmond Bane) 和小贾伦·杰克逊 (Jaren Jackson Jr.)），并彻底推倒重建。这就是为什么爵士能在这个奇特时刻投入筹码（即使爵士为了继续摆烂而拥有自己的前八顺位保护签），并乘虚而入收购了小贾伦·杰克逊。
顺便提一句，孟菲斯灰熊仍然需要弄清楚如何送走莫兰特以及他本赛季结束后剩下的两年 8700 万美元的合同，即使目前根本不清楚他们如何在余下的赛季中进行软性摆烂的同时，还能提升他的交易价值。
然而，这次交易截止日的压轴戏，截止日圣代（或者是周四？）顶部的樱桃，是布鲁克林篮网在截止日后立即裁掉了托马斯。在过去的五年里，他们有多少机会用他换回一些筹码？
所以，是的，你永远不想过早交易一名球员。但太晚交易他们，真的会付出沉重的代价。
说到这里，让我们来看看我的一些其他交易截止日之最：
最佳及时止损决定：费城 76 人
俄克拉荷马城雷霆交易得到麦凯恩是精明的；由于未来几个赛季面临巨额税单，雷霆需要一名处于新秀合同、成本可控且能命中空位投篮的球员。很容易想象他们会将麦凯恩放入以赛亚·乔 (Isaiah Joe) 扮演过的“76 人弃将之替补神射手”的角色，并送走乔和其他一两名老将来缓解税收负担和即将来临的人员拥挤。他们需要腾出位置来消化未来的首轮签。
尽管如此，费城还是做出了正确的选择。麦凯恩在 76 人的价值永远不会再高了，因为他是排在泰瑞斯·马克西 (Tyrese Maxey)、VJ·艾奇库姆 (VJ Edgecombe) 和昆汀·格莱姆斯 (Quentin Grimes) 之后的第四后卫，即使格莱姆斯以自由球员身份离开，他也会一直被压在那两人之后。此外，联盟普遍不看好身材偏小的双能卫进攻型球员；从这个角度来看，用麦凯恩换回一个首轮末位签和三个优质次轮签是一份相当扎实的回报。只要他留在费城，他的交易价值只会下降。
安芬尼·西蒙斯 (Anfernee Simons) 前往芝加哥是波士顿本赛季削减成本的重要组成部分。(Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
最佳逃离奢侈税动作：波士顿凯尔特人
波士顿做了三笔交易，将自己彻底从奢侈税中解救出来——凯尔特人最终将以微弱的优势避税——其中包括一笔与犹他爵士非常具有创意的交易。凯尔特人用安芬尼·西蒙斯换来了武切维奇，将 1200 万美元的超额开支削减了大约一半，真正的重头戏就在此时开始了。送走乔什·米诺特 (Josh Minott)、泽维尔·蒂尔曼 (Xavier Tillman) 和克里斯·布歇 (Chris Boucher) 的底薪合同并不复杂，但如何填补这些空缺才是关键。
联盟要求球队在任何时候都必须拥有至少 12 名球员，并且在赛季除去 14 天以外的所有时间里拥有 14 名球员。因此，凯尔特人留下了三个空位需要填补；签下老将会让他们直接重新回到奢侈税线之上。即使签下落选秀，在联盟的奢侈税计算中成本也是一样的。
然而，有一个例外，那就是所谓的 “选秀新秀” ——指处于联盟底薪合同第一年的选秀球员。在奢侈税计算中，这些球员占据的份额仅为老将的一半。如果波士顿能以某种方式填补所有三个位置，哪怕只是短期内填补，它也能勉强避税。
其中两名新秀阿马里·威廉姆斯 (Amari Williams) 和麦克斯·舒尔加 (Max Shulga) 已经在阵中，两人目前都签下了双向合同。但波士顿需要第三个。于是就有了将布歇送往犹他，换取 2025 年选秀第 53 顺位双向球员约翰·通杰 (John Tonje) 签约权的交易。
通杰打球到底行不行几乎无关紧要；关键在于他给了凯尔特人另一个“选秀新秀”名额。为了送走布歇并换回通杰，凯尔特人付出了一个未来次轮签，但现在波士顿已经摆脱了奢侈税，并且可以保持下去；事实上，一旦通杰在第 14 人位置上以低成本消耗了一些时间，凯尔特人甚至可以在本赛季晚些时候的买断市场上签下一名老将。
如果凯尔特人明年也能避开奢侈税，他们将重置超级奢侈税的计算周期；即使不能，他们今年也成功避开了高额的超级奢侈税，且没有对篮球队的实力产生重大影响。
最突兀的离队：詹姆斯·哈登
休斯顿、布鲁克林、费城、快船。你看到规律了吗？哈登再次跑路了，这一次是在洛杉矶快船正处于 17 战 14 胜的火热势头时离开。相反，他看中了克利夫兰更广阔的前景，在那里他可能更有机会赢得总冠军，而且肯定更有可能获得续约。
哈登下赛季 4300 万美元的球员选项给了他一定的保障；尽管其中只有 1300 万美元是受保障的，但考虑到他本赛季的表现，快船不太可能裁掉他。尽管如此，选择跳出合同并在今年夏天与克利夫兰签约（他之前不具备续约资格）似乎是他的首选。如果他在 2026-27 赛季接受更少的薪水，并以此诱导多诺万·米切尔 (Donovan Mitchell) 延长自己的合同（米切尔拥有 2027-28 赛季的球员选项），这对克利夫兰也有好处。
例如，一份给哈登的三年 1.1 亿美元合同，可能会让骑士保持在第二土豪线以下（从而解冻将于今年 6 月冻结的 2033 年首轮签），而无需对核心轮换阵容伤筋动骨。此举将让哈登与米切尔一起留在克利夫兰 直到他也放弃他们为止，直到 2028-29 赛季，届时哈登将满 39 岁。
对于骑士队来说，唯一的疑问是，在加兰和哈登的互换中增加了 10 岁的年龄风险，代价是否过大。有人问这是否符合那句老话：“如果你手里只有锤子，看什么都像钉子。”在双方都有土豪线限制的情况下，哈登几乎是全联盟唯一一个能与加兰进行直接对位交换且运作成功的优质后卫。而当人们回顾哈登的季后赛历史时，关于他能提升球队上限的论点就显得有些苍白。
但正面的理由似乎更充分。骑士想要 活在当下 ，争取夺冠，而他们不能指望加兰保持健康。此外，哈登可能更适合这套阵容。虽然没人觉得他是个防守尖兵，但他的身材和力量抵消了骑士拥有两名矮个后卫且在防守端总是试图隐藏他们的难题。克利夫兰只需要他在两个赛季里成为队内第三好的球员，这听起来是可行的。
最佳免费引援：亚特兰大的乔克·兰代尔
由于波士顿克里斯塔普斯·波尔津吉斯的伤病隐患以及第三中锋恩法利·丹特 (N’Faly Dante) 的赛季报销，老鹰急需大个子。不知何故，亚特兰大通过空降进入了爵士与灰熊关于小贾伦·杰克逊的交易，并带走了高效中锋乔克·兰代尔 (Jock Landale)。在险胜爵士队的比赛中，他立即贡献了 26 分、11 个篮板、5 次助攻和 4 次盖帽（说到摆烂，爵士这真是走了一步深奥的三维象棋）。令人惊讶的是，老鹰付出的仅仅是极少量的现金补偿。
最烂续约的有力证明：雅各布·珀尔特尔
如果猛龙今年夏天没有给雅各布·珀尔特尔 (Jakob Poeltl) 一份三年 6200 万美元的新增保障金续约，他们会有多少操作空间？猛龙每一次改善前场的尝试基本上都遇到了同一个阻碍：没有球队想要珀尔特尔的合同；在土豪线时代，你根本无法承受连续几个赛季有 2600 万美元的垃圾合同。令人担忧的是，如果 30 岁的珀尔特尔已经表现成这样，他 33 岁时会是什么样子？
如果珀尔特尔留在原合同（本赛季拥有 1900 万美元的球员选项），多伦多很可能可以进入市场，用他换来伊维察·祖巴茨 (Ivica Zubac) 或萨博尼斯，或者另一位优质中锋，从而巩固其令人惊喜的现有阵容。相反，珀尔特尔现在已经成为了全联盟最难被交易走的球员之一。
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Why the too-late NBA trade deadline was a weird one, and the best and worst of it all
Why the too-late NBA trade deadline was a weird one, and the best and worst of it all
NBA trade deadline week is over, and if that felt like a whirlwind, I can’t argue. But it was more like a weirdwind, too. In so many ways, this was an unorthodox, atypical deadline.
After having just one trade the entire season up until the end of January, the NBA cooked up 28 in the seven days preceding the trade deadline. That shatters the record of 21 set in 2018-19, according to the NBA. Seventy-three players were traded, another record; 27 of the league’s 30 teams made a trade (only the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat sat the week out), and 44 draft picks were exchanged, including 35 second-rounders (all of which went to the Chicago Bulls).
Basically, we can sort things into four types of trades, and here’s where things really get weird.
The first are the money dumps. We see them every year, but they were more prominent this time around because 14 teams entered the week in the luxury tax (payroll over $187.9 million). By Thursday afternoon, the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic all had wriggled out. Additionally, the Cleveland Cavaliers got out of the second-apron threshold (payroll above $207.8 million), and the Minnesota Timberwolves sharply cut their tax bill with two salary-cutting trades. Even the profligate LA Clippers cut money, although governor Steve Ballmer showed just how little he cares about this concept by having his squad finish a mere $1 million and change over the tax line, both triggering the repeater tax and keeping it in play for more years ahead.
The second type of trades are the type that we might call “pre-agency,” where teams acquired a free-agent-to-be’s Bird rights in hopes of making it easier to manage their salary cap while potentially re-signing them. Again, not a new concept. The Charlotte Hornets’ acquisition of Coby White, Minnesota’s pickup of Ayo Dosunmu, and the Golden State Warriors’ trade for Kristaps Porziņģis all fall under this category.
Notably, however, the third type of trade was virtually invisible this year. In terms of contenders “going for it,” we had one obvious example in the Cavs trading Darius Garland for James Harden … and then all we had was the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Luke Kennard, the New York Knicks getting Jose Alvarado and the Detroit Pistons getting Kevin Huerter. Woof. The Oklahoma City Thunder getting Jared McCain arguably qualifies, too, and if you squint, you can make a case for Vít Krejčí in Portland.
Between tax aprons, the tax itself and the fact that most of the league’s contenders already traded their draft picks a long time ago, most of the contending class was shedding money rather than going for it. They certainly weren’t in a position to make emphatic moves for starting-caliber or All-Star players. Instead, the teams that went all-in were the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers. What? The teams with three of the bottom-six records in the league as of the deadline? Those were the ones pushing in their chips?
Yes, and that takes us to a fourth type of trade we saw this year, which, in fact, was the overarching theme of the deadline: The too-late trade.
Never have more teams overplayed more hands for less return. It’s amazing how many players who were traded this week should have been moved months or years earlier and instead brought back 11 cents on the dollar.
Trae Young, the year’s first trade domino and one the Atlanta Hawks had been noodling over moving for years, went for basically expiring money and a stealth salary dump of Corey Kispert’s extension.
The Dallas Mavericks should have traded Anthony Davis the day they won the Cooper Flagg lottery; whatever they got for him this summer, it surely would have been more than “salary relief and the 30th pick in the draft.” Alas, the Mavs needed to replace Nico Harrison’s “vision” with something less blindered before they could move on from Davis. All they did was win too many games for half a year while watching his trade value wither.
That, in turn, explains how the Wizards could go in for those players; it barely cost them anything. The biggest expense might be the fine for potentially holding them out of March and April games with “back spasms” while the Wizards keep their top-eight protected first-round pick.
Elsewhere, remember when the Warriors were haggling with the Kings over first-round pick protection on a Jonathan Kuminga trade? That was a time. Golden State ended up with no draft picks and only Porziņģis’ Bird rights out of the eventual Kuminga swap with Atlanta, along with dumping $3 million of guaranteed money to Buddy Hield if they weren’t going to keep him next year. (At least Kuminga’s saga is now over; this trade wins the Ben Simmons Memorial Thank-Goodness-This-Is-Finally-Over Award for 2026.)
And then we have the Bulls. Sigh. Chicago finally pivoted into a hard rebuild right after the Bulls had already won too many games to make it likely to get a top-four pick in a loaded draft. They also waited so long to trade Dosunmu, White, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević, and they amazingly received zero first-round picks for them. Waiting until White and Dosunmu only had two months left on their deals was particularly egregious; you could see their free-agency train coming a mile away.
In keeping with the theme, the Bulls do seem positioned for a hard tank the next two seasons … just in time for 2027 and 2028 draft classes that many scouts think are some of the weakest in years. It remains unclear why the Bulls didn’t try to be bad for the 2025 and 2026 classes as well, instead of chasing the Play-In Tournament.
But wait, there’s more: We also have the guys who weren’t traded at all. Forget Giannis Antetokounmpo, we can go way deeper. In a sea of trades, somehow Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, Andrew Wiggins, Cam Thomas and DeRozan didn’t change teams … because the time to move them had long passed, and their value had shriveled to zero.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ non-trade of Morant stood out most. Morant was once considered untouchable in Memphis; now the rest of the league considers him untouchable, but only because he’s radioactive. Ironically, as longtime Memphis columnist Geoff Calkins pointed out on social media this week, Morant’s lack of reliability forced the Grizzlies to trade the two guys they could count on (Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr.) and completely start over. That’s how Utah could push chips in at this odd moment (even with its own top-eight protected pick to keep tanking for) and take advantage to acquire Jackson.
Memphis, by the way, still has to figure out how to move Morant and the two years and $87 million left on his deal after this season, even if it’s not at all clear how they can soft tank the rest of this season and still improve his trade value.
However, the pièce de résistance, the cherry on the trade deadline sundae (or Thursday?) was the Brooklyn Nets cutting Thomas immediately after the deadline. How many chances did they have to get something for him in the last five years?
So yeah, you never want to trade a player too soon. But there’s a real cost to trading them too late.
With that said, let’s get to some of my other trade deadline superlatives:
Best decisions to cut bait: Sixers
Oklahoma City’s trade for Jared McCain was shrewd; with a huge tax bill coming in future seasons, the Thunder needed a cost-controlled player on a rookie deal, and one who can make open shots. It’s easy to imagine them putting McCain into Isaiah Joe’s role as Designated Sixers Castoff Bench Shooter and moving off Joe and one or two other vets to ease their tax burden and impending roster crunch. They need spots just to absorb their future first-round picks.
Nonetheless, Philly made the right choice. McCain’s value was never going to be higher as a Sixer, because he was the fourth guard behind Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes, and even if Grimes left as a free agent, he’d always be stuck behind the other two. Additionally, the league has frowned in general on smallish, combo-guard offensive players; acquiring a late first-rounder and three good seconds for McCain is a pretty solid return in that light. As long as he was in Philly, his trade value was only going to decline.
Anfernee Simons heading to Chicago was a big part of Boston’s in-season cost cutting. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Best rappel out of luxury tax: Celtics
Boston made three trades to extricate itself all the way out of the tax — the Celtics will end up clearing it by just a few dollars — including a particularly inventive one with Utah. The Celtics traded Anfernee Simons for Vučević to cut their $12 million overage roughly in half, and that’s when the real fun began. Swapping out the minimum deals of Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher weren’t complicated maneuvers, but figuring out how to replace them was.
The league requires teams to carry at least 12 players at all times and to have 14 for all but 14 days of the season. So the Celtics were left with three empty roster spots to fill; signing a veteran into those spots would have carried them right back over the tax. Even signing an undrafted rookie would have cost the same in the league’s tax calculation.
The exception, however, is something called a “draft rookie” — a drafted player who is in his first season at the league minimum. Those players count against the luxury tax for barely half the amount that a veteran does. If Boston could somehow fill all three spots with “draft rookies,” at least for a short time, it would just barely skirt the tax.
Two of those rookies were already on hand in Amari Williams and Max Shulga, both of whom are currently on two-way deals. But Boston needed a third. Enter the trade of Boucher to Utah for the rights to two-way John Tonje, the 53rd pick in the 2025 draft.
Whether Tonje is actually any good at basketball scarcely matters; the key was that he gave the Celtics another draft rookie. It cost them a future second to unload Boucher and get Tonje back, but now Boston is out of the tax and can stay out; in fact, the Celtics can even add a veteran in the buyout market later this season once Tonje has burned some clock with a low-cost presence in that 14th spot.
If Boston stays out of the luxury tax again next year, the Celtics will reset the clock on the repeater tax; even if they don’t, they avoided a stiff repeater tax this year without materially impacting their basketball team.
Most abrupt exit: James Harden
Houston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, the Clippers. Are you seeing a pattern? James Harden bailed again, this time exiting LA just as it was in a stretch of winning 14 out of 17. Instead, he eyed greener pastures in Cleveland, where he’d possibly be more likely to win a title and certainly would be more likely to get an extension.
Harden’s $43 million player option for next season gave him some security; even though only $13 million of it is guaranteed, it’s unfathomable that the Clippers would cut him after the year he’s having. Nonetheless, being able to opt out and sign a new deal in Cleveland this summer (he was not extension eligible) seemed his preference. It could help Cleveland, too, if he takes less money in 2026-27 and also entices Donovan Mitchell to extend his own deal (he has a player option of 2027-28).
For instance, a three-year, $110 million deal for Harden would likely allow the Cavs to stay below the second apron (and thus unfreeze the 2033 first-round pick that will get frozen this June) without needing to inflict too much pain on the rest of the roster. Such a move would allow Harden to stay with Mitchell in Cleveland until he quits on them too until the 2028-29 season, when Harden would be 39.
The one question for the Cavs is whether they took on too much age risk by going 10 years older in the Garland-Harden swap. It’s fair to ask if this was the adage that, “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Harden was virtually the only quality guard in the entire league where a straight-up swap with Garland worked despite tax apron restrictions on both sides. And arguments about Harden as a ceiling-raiser fall a bit flat when one looks at his playoff history.
But the positive case seems stronger. The Cavs are trying to contend right now and just couldn’t count on Garland to stay healthy. Also, Harden may fit this roster better. He’s hardly anyone’s idea of a great defender, but his size and strength negate the Cavs’ issue of having two small guards and constantly trying to hide them on defense. Cleveland just needs him to be its third-best player for two seasons. That feels doable.
Best pickup for free: Atlanta’s Jock Landale
Desperate for size due to Porziņģis’ lack of availability and a season-ending injury to third center N’Faly Dante, Atlanta somehow parachuted into the Utah-Memphis trade for Jackson and came away with productive center Jock Landale. He immediately delivered 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in a close win over that same Jazz team (when it comes to tanking, that is some serious three-dimensional chess by Utah). Amazingly, all it cost the Hawks was minimal cash considerations.
Best confirmation of a terrible extension: Jakob Poeltl
How many moves would have been available to the Raptors if they had simply not extended Jakob Poeltl for three years and $62 million in additional guaranteed money this summer? Every entreaty by the Raptors to improve their frontcourt basically hit the same roadblock of no team wanting Poeltl’s contract; in the apron era, you simply can’t have $26 million in nonperforming money across multiple seasons, and the concern is that, if Poeltl is already this at age 30, what is he going to look like at 33?
If Poeltl had just stayed on his original deal, with a player option for $19 million this season, Toronto likely could have been in the market to flip him for Ivica Zubac or Sabonis or another quality center to cement its otherwise pleasantly surprising roster. Instead, Poeltl has become one of the league’s most untradeable players.
By John Hollinger, via The Athletic