By: Dillon George
March 19th, 2025
Photo Credit: Forbes
When the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) took effect on July 1, 2023, many in the professional basketball world believed it would hurt the entertainment factor of the NBA. The CBA, an agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) is a set of rules for player contracts, trades, salary caps, and revenue sharing. It establishes financial structures like the luxury tax and the salary cap to promote competitive balance while ensuring fair compensation for players, while also touching on player benefits, free agency, and league governance. The most recent revisions most notably made it significantly harder for teams to trade players, particularly stars, due to various restrictions. The introduction of the “second apron”, for example, as well as new triggers for a “hard cap”, are a few examples of new restrictions.
Second Apron - Currently a little below $190 million, this number represents a threshold that teams’ payrolls cannot surpass unless they want to accept the associated penalties: unable to send or receive cash in a trade, unable to utilize the “sign-and-trade” strategy in the trade market, freezing of the team's future first round draft pick, and more. In summary, not restrictions a front office wants to face.
Hard Cap - There are certain actions that front offices can take that will result in them being “hard capped” at the first or second apron. While the NBA salary cap is normally very fluid, doing things such as taking back more salary than what you’re sending out in a trade, or acquiring a player using the bi-annual exception are examples of things that will hard cap a team at a certain level, not allowing them to spend over that amount under any circumstances.
The reasoning behind all of this was to minimize the amount of power big-spending owners have around the NBA, as well as attempting to force a retribution of talent towards smaller market teams (ESPN). While a good idea at heart, many feared that the new agreement would lead to a New-York-City-rush-hour-esque gridlock come trade deadline, with front offices’ hands tied behind their backs due to fear of hard capping themselves and making life tougher further down the road. What happened, however, was quite the opposite.
All in all, nine current or former all-stars will be donning a different jersey than they were at the start of the year, and 26 of the league's 30 teams filed paperwork to the league offices for a trade. The star of the show, of course, was Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison dropping a bombshell on the professional basketball world, shipping five-time All-NBA First Team star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for former All-Star Anthony Davis. De’Aaron Fox and Zach Lavine, both former All-Stars themselves, found new homes themselves in San Antonio and Sacramento, respectively, as did six time All-Star Jimmy Butler, teaming up with Steph Curry and Draymond Green in San Francisco.
A common thread between all of these trades? The inclusion of multiple teams. The Mavericks and Lakers had to rope in the Utah Jazz (albeit, keeping Jazz front office members in the dark on who was actually being dealt), the Kings and Spurs joined forces with the Chicago Bulls front office in yet another trade that left many Chicagoans scratching their heads, and finally the Miami Heat and Warriors trade ended up involving five teams, one-sixth of the entire league, in order to land Butler in Golden State (Heat, Warriors, Jazz, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors).
The dynamics of all the trades are quite interesting, as struggling, “tanking” teams often become easy targets for contenders looking to add talent. These “tanking” teams normally have a lower payroll because they are incentivized to prioritize developing, younger players while aiming for higher draft picks. This strategy allows for more flexibility to receive players that the contending teams need to get rid of in order to stay under the first or second apron of the salary cap.
Biggest Winners
As spectators of major trades around the league, it's easy to jump to conclusions. Every front office operates with the belief that they came out ahead in the trade market—otherwise, they wouldn’t have made the moves they did. However, at first glance, here are some quick takeaways on the winners and losers from a whirlwind NBA trade deadline week.
San Antonio Spurs
A small-market team as is, the Spurs flew under the radar yet again as countless household names were traded around the league. Despite all of this, the Spurs boosted their roster with yet another exciting talent in De’Aaron Fox. Fox, only 27 years old, is a terrific pairing with imminent superstar Victor Wembanyama, as well as his backcourt duo and Rookie of the Year front runner, Stephon Castle.
Los Angeles Lakers
While you can’t keep off a team who’s on the winning side of one of the most controversial “fleeces” in NBA history, the Lakers failed to address their biggest need at center this trade season. With the Mark Williams trade rescinded, they’re left with Jaxson Hayes as the starter and Christian Koloko backing him up. They added Alex Len after his Grizzlies buyout, but his underwhelming debut against the Jazz and lack of playing time after raises concerns for a team fighting in a tough Western Conference playoff race.
Centers aside, the Lakers found the next cornerstone for their franchise in Doncic. While he may have been graciously dropped on their doorstep, the surefire future MVP provides long term stability for a franchise heading for uncertainty post Lebron James.
Biggest Losers
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks voluntarily lost their superstar overnight, and the guy replacing him played three quarters of impressive basketball before being sidelined indefinitely with a hip injury. Davis’ backup, Daniel Gafford, is also sidelined for the foreseeable future, and with protests inside and out of the stadium and assistant coaches being arrested for aggravated assault, you have to feel for Mavs fans. The one brightside is the performance of Max Christie. At first considered an extra throw-in for the Luka Trade, Christie’s averaged 17, 4, and 5 since joining the Mavs, showing tremendous upside.
Phoenix Suns
Not only did the Suns land their target of Jimmy Butler, or get rid of Bradley Beal and his massive contract, they managed to upset their other super star in Kevin Durant by openly seeking trade destinations for him. They had to attach a first round pick onto backup center Jusuf Nurkic just for Charlotte to take him in a trade, a player they once traded DeAndre Ayton and Toumani Camara to acquire. The Suns also had to perform one of the more unique trades of the 2025 season, sending their unprotected 2031 1st round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for a 2025, 2027, and 2029 1st round pick (the least favorable each year between Utah, Cleveland, and Minnesota). With an unhappy locker room and a front office scrapping for any sort of trade pieces, the sunlight is fading in Phoenix.
The contrast between front offices and roster standings across the league is striking. Teams like Golden State, Phoenix, and Philadelphia are packed with stars but face aging rosters, limited draft capital, and uncertain futures. Meanwhile, teams like Portland, Houston, Orlando, and Detroit are loaded with young talent, prioritizing development and excitement. Then there are unique cases—Boston, ignoring future salary restrictions to win now, and Oklahoma City, stockpiling picks while fielding one of the youngest yet successful lineups in the league. With so many possible directions, the question remains: what will teams do next?
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