By Aster Fowler and Leo Anderson

The 2026 deadline was defined by major, star-level shifts, including James Harden (Cavs) and Anthony Davis (Wizards), following a trend of increasing star trades during deadline week. More trades happened such as Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz, Nikola Vucivic to the Celtics, Khris Middleton to the Mavs, and many more. These trades made bad teams turn good which got fans going crazy. One example of this is the Utah Jazz, who are led by Keyonte George (PG), Ace Bailey (SG),  All Star forward Lauri Markkanen (SF), newly added and two time All Star Jaren Jqackson Jr. (PF), and a rising star Walker Kessler (C). Another team that went from bad to good is the Washington Wizards. Trae Young (PG), Tre Johnson (SG), Kyshawn George (SF), Bilal Coulibaly (PF), and Anthony Davis (C). Even though these teams were not the best lately, this trade deadline helped them get better and rebuild, which means in the future years, they will keep getting better, bigger, and stronger. Teams who didn’t get as many new players like the Jazz and Wizards got, tried to get different positions that they needed such as the Golden State Warriors getting center Kristaps Porzingis. Some might say that this deadline was the best anyone has ever seen.