NBA Trade Deadline Winners and Losers: Cavaliers, Stephen Curry, Lakers, Trae Young, Nuggets and More

The NBA trade deadline has passed, and now it's time to take a look at the winners and losers from a wild past week of trades.

After diving into the fantasy impact of things in several stories, I'm going to assign winners and losers based on real life things now. Let's go!

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Winners

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers are a winner because they are the only Eastern Conference contender who made a big move. The Celtics and Knicks mostly kept their rosters intact, although both are likely to add in the buyout market.

Getting De'Andre Hunter from the Hawks filled one of the few weak spots the Cavaliers had. They didn't give up any big assets for this season, and then definitely moved their championship needle in a positive direction.

Cleveland could also be active in the buyout market, so they could really win the deadline with an addition or two more.

Stephen Curry

The Warriors were desperate for a star and finally got one with the Jimmy Butler trade.

I don't know if adding Butler is enough for the Warriors to be true contenders in the West, but at the very least, Curry has a running mate now. Just having Butler around should open some things up for Curry.

Golden State should be able to add more buyout players, so I think it will help the Warriors at least make the playoffs, at which point not many teams are going to want to face Curry and company.

Los Angeles Lakers

The trade of Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis was a shocking one, but once the dust settled, the Lakers looked like big-time winners. Davis was a vital part to what the Lakers have accomplished over the past few seasons, but getting Mark Williams from the Hornets in another deal will keep the Lakers in the mix this season.

The Lakers are really winners because of getting Doncic for the long haul. LeBron James is going to retire at some point, but the team knows it will still be a force to be reckoned with with Doncic around for the next decade plus.

Los Angeles is kind of playing with house money this season, with next year being the more reasonable time to expect LA to win it all. But with LeBron and Luka leading the charge come playoff time, I can bet not many Western Conference teams are going to want to face them.

Miami Heat

Even though they lost Butler, I see the Heat as winners of the trade deadline.

By acquiring Andrew Wiggins, they can still compete in a weak Eastern Conference this season. Getting a first-round pick and Davion Mitchell too helps for the long-term value of the team.

As long as Erik Spoelstra is the coach, I expect the Heat to be a tough out from the postseason. With them set up for the future too, Miami isn't likely to go anywhere either.

Sacramento Kings

It's not often a team can lose one of its top players and come out a winner. Sacramento is another team that accomplished that though.

They lost De'Aaron Fox, but got Zach LaVine back in the same deal, along with picks to set them up better for the long haul. The Kings also got Jonas Valanciunas and Jake LaRavia at the deadline.

Sacramento should still be a playoff contender, and has enough talent to make some noise in the postseason if they put it all together. 

Victor Wembanyama

Speaking of the Spurs, Wembanyama is a trade deadline winner because he's got a great player (Fox) alongside him now.

San Antonio has more work to do in order to become a contender, but with Wemby and Fox leading the way, they are probably closer to contention than you might think.

Losers

Trae Young

The Atlanta Hawks decided to sell again at the deadline, sending out De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. After the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson, the Hawks decided to obtain some more draft capital for the years to come.

It might set the team up a bit better for the future, but it likely means more rebuilding seasons are ahead. Trae Young isn't getting any younger, and at some point, you'd have to think he requests a trade himself.

After making the playoffs three straight seasons, Atlanta missed out last season and seems destined to miss again this season. Young and Johnson are a fun duo to build around, but at what point will the Hawks decide to go for it instead of constantly retooling the roster?

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are an abysmal 17-34 this season, so one would have thought the team would trade away a couple players to retool the roster and set the team up better for the long haul.

Brooklyn didn't end up making a trade in February, and I'm not really sure what direction they are going in. It's not like they didn't have tradable assets either, and several players were in trade talks this season.

The Nets have a ton of draft picks at their disposal already, so maybe I understand not moving players for more picks, but I'd rather capitalize on the draft value of guys now, especially if some of these players aren't in the team's long-term plans.

The Nets are really going to have to win the offseason in order to make this deadline look respectable in my eyes.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls made one trade in February, shipping out Zach LaVine. They got Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones and a second-round pick in return.

After that deal, I figured the Bulls would keep selling, but instead, they stayed silent through the deadline. Chicago had a chance to shed salary, add draft capital and set itself up well for the future, but instead looked hesitant to go into a rebuild, or even a retool.

Maybe Chicago thinks it's closer to competing in the Eastern Conference than the NBA world thinks. They have enough picks moving forward to keep adding talent to the team, but this deadline seemed like a perfect time for the team to fully commit to the future, instead of being a borderline playoff team yet again.

Dallas Mavericks

I know the Mavericks say that getting Anthony Davis helps their title chances, but this also hurts them significantly in the long run.

Maybe Max Christie will end up being a big-time steal, but it's still hard to imagine the Mavs winning that trade in the long haul. 

There's a lot of pressure on the team to win now, and I don't think you can say the team is better than it was 10 days ago, or at the end of the Finals last summer.

Denver Nuggets

It feels like the Nuggets' championship window was starting to close, so I expected them to make a deadline move.

Denver did nothing, while most of the other teams in the West did something. Maybe a buyout player or two go there, but for the trade deadline, Denver is definitely a loser.

Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee's big deal at the trade deadline was to trade Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma. It seemed like a precursor to more deals, but the Bucks didn't make any other big splashes.

I wrote about the trade the other day and said I thought the Bucks got worse from the deal. They also had to give up picks and their first-round pick from this past offseason (AJ Johnson).

I just don't understand the deadline moves for a Milwaukee team that is supposedly in its championship window.

Phoenix Suns

If not for the Mavericks, I think the Suns might have been the biggest losers of the deadline.

Bradley Beal was in trade talks all season, and then the team put Kevin Durant on the trade block in the days leading up to the deadline. Neither was traded, and the move they made was done because of a disgruntled player, so Phoenix was definitely a loser.

Phoenix has plenty of talent to compete this season, but after a tumultuous stretch before the deadline, I could see the team completely falling apart in the weeks and months to come. This team seems destined for a deep rebuild unless they make magic happen to end this season.

Washington Wizards

To be frank, I have no idea what the Wizards are doing, so they are big-time losers in my book.

They got older by acquiring Middleton, and are likely to keep him around. Washington got Reggie Jackson in another deal and Marcus Smart in yet another. 

For being the worst team in the league, a better path forward would probably be to see what young players to build around. Instead, Washington got older and will now take valuable playing time away from young players.

Washington is stacked with picks, and if they hit on a couple of them, the rebuild might be a really quick process. That's a big ask, and I'm more thinking the team continues to struggle, keeps selling off its best assets and isn't truly competitive for years to come.