This past Thursday, the yearly NBA trade deadline went down and did not disappoint. Teams across the league were  eager and hopeful to improve their rosters, with many trades occurring that are sure to have plenty of impact. Although there was an abundance of trades, four specifically had major significance and could  shake up the league for years to come. 

There is no other place to start but with the Brooklyn Nets, who traded away superstar guard James Harden and reserve forward Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for 25-year-old three-time All-Star Ben Simmons, sharpshooter Seth Curry, four-time rebound leader Andre Drummond and two first-round picks.

With rumors regarding Harden wanting to leave the Nets, and Simmons himself openly saying he wanted to leave Philadelphia, this trade benefits both sides. Brooklyn gets a third star that could have a more natural fit than Harden, as Simmons is much more of a two-way player, being an absolutely elite defender who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in the 2020-21 season. The Nets will also receive Curry, who will help improve their spacing with his lethal three-point ability and Drummond who can be the serviceable big man that the Nets were lacking. For Philadelphia, Harden hopes to improve from the slight slump he had experienced with Brooklyn and help the 76ers with their championship dreams playing alongside one of the MVP frontrunners in Joel Embiid.

The next seismic trade that occurred involved two-time All-Star center Domantas Sabonis being sent from the Indiana Pacers along with Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for emerging star guard Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson. This trade came as a shock to most NBA fans-despite the Pacers having intentions to trade Sabonis, the Kings trading the up-and-coming guard Haliburton was not expected.

However, in the short run, this trade will likely benefit both sides. Sacramento gets another star in Sabonis to pair with their point guard of the future, De’Aaron Fox. Sabonis will help elevate the team with his consistent scoring and great passing. They will look to make a playoff push this season. For the Pacers, they get a highly efficient young guard in Haliburton, along with Hield who has been a great shooter for the majority of his career. The Pacers will look to develop Haliburton in the future and see if he can turn into an All-Star that could raise the overall ceiling of the team higher than Sabonis ever could.

Another major acquisition includes a former New York Knicks All-Star in Mavericks’ big man Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick being traded to the Washington Wizards for point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and wing Davis Bertans. This is a somewhat curious trade for Dallas, as they trade away Porzingis, someone who hasn’t lived up to expectations, yet was still playing fine enough for the team to have been winning. In return, they get two struggling players that have both played much better at other points in their careers. Dinwiddie, while talented, is inconsistent. Meanwhile, Bertans is on a large contract and has underperformed in his greatest skill, shooting, while being below average on the defensive end. Dallas will look to revitalize these two players’ careers as they continue to build around superstar Luka Doncic. As for the Wizards, they receive a talented big man that will likely play center and try to provide more scoring for a team on the fringe of the play-in-tournament and missing their best player,Bradley Beal.

The last major transaction regarded the Portland Trail Blazers trading away longtime complementary star CJ McCollum, while also giving up Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell for a package that includes Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, a first-round pick and two second-round picks. This move signals the end of an era for Portland, as it finally decided to break up the talented yet underachieving backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The two players appeared to reach their ceilings in what they could accomplish together, as they always fell short of an NBA Finals appearance. The Blazers traded one good player for a collection of assets that can help them build around Lillard and better prepare them for the future. For the Pelicans, the move is obvious. They get more talent to add to a roster that simply needs more good players to compete once Zion Williamson eventually returns from injury.

Each and every trade that occurred over the past week will definitely have future ramifications on the NBA’s standings, yet only time will reveal the true winners and losers of the 2022 NBA trade deadline.