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Self-confidence is important for self-worth and going after the things you want in life. There are times when you feel like a top-55-protected second-round pick. There are times when you feel like a lottery-protected first-round pick. I’m here to tell you that you’ll always be at worst a top-four-protected first-round pick to us, and at best, you’re an unprotected first teams are scared to send away. I’ll be honest. This little pep talk got away from me.
Money moves
Harden, JJJ headline a big trade Tuesday
We had a flurry of significant movement in the trade market yesterday, with four major deals being agreed to. It helped set the stage for an incredible trade deadline (tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET), even if we don’t get Giannis Antetokounmpo sent out of Milwaukee just yet.
Let’s rank trades from most to least impact, and we’ll give each deal the Value Line Apron Debt Evasion score. Otherwise known as the VLADE score (scale of 1-5 💰 emojis).
Trade 1: JJJ to the JJJazz
Jazz receive: Jaren Jackson Jr., Vince Williams Jr., Jock Landale, John Konchar
Grizzlies receive: Walter Clayton Jr., Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Anderson, Georges Niang, three first-round picks
The Jazz, run by Danny and Austin Ainge, are sick of being bad and tanking. They’re also sick of having the worst defense in the league for the third straight season. They took a big swing to pair JJJ with Lauri Markkanen and possibly Walker Kessler in a massive frontcourt of the future. It is worth noting that Utah’s 2026 first-round pick goes to the Thunder if it’s ninth or lower.
The Grizzlies are now up to seven future first-round picks after trading Desmond Bane and Jackson over the past nine months. Ja Morant has to be next, but maybe this haul of firsts means they don’t have to sweat the draft capital return for him.
My grades: A for Jazz, B+ for Grizzlies.
VLADE score: 💰💰 for Memphis (it wasn’t close to the aprons), 💰for Utah (also not close).
Trade 2: Cavs and Clippers swap guards
Cavaliers receive: James Harden
Clippers receive: Darius Garland, 2026 second-round pick
Cleveland is banking on two things. 1) Harden and Donovan Mitchell will really work as a bucket-getting backcourt. The 36-year-old Harden can hopefully take pressure off Mitchell, and then maybe Harden can help unlock a healthy Evan Mobley. 2) This is a long-term cost-cutting move that can help keep Mitchell long-term.
The Clippers are eating into some of that 2027 cap flexibility they’ve been cultivating, but a healthy Garland is definitely a lead guard they want to invest in. They just need to make sure his bad toes are healed, as they get 10 years younger at point guard.
My grades: C for Cavs, B for Clippers.
VLADE score: 💰💰💰💰 for Cleveland (eliminated long-term money), 💰💰 for LA.
Trade 3: Celtics go big
Celtics receive: Nikola Vučević, 2027 second-round pick
Bulls receive: Anfernee Simons, 2026 second-round pick
Boston filled a desperate need for more size by grabbing Vučević. He will help spread the floor, he will help the Celtics’ defensive rebounding and he can move the ball on offense. The Bulls get a second-round pick that could be in the low 30s, and they acquire another guard. Simons can be a good scorer for them, but I’d like to see them part with either Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu for assets now.
My grades: A for Celtics, C+ for Bulls.
VLADE score: 💰💰💰💰💰 for Boston (got best player and dropped below first apron), 💰 for Chicago (still under the aprons).
Trade 4: Bulls-Wolves-Pistons three-teamer
Pistons receive: Kevin Huerter, Dario Šarić, protected 2026 first-round swap
Bulls receive: Jaden Ivey, Mike Conley
Timberwolves receive: cash considerations
The Bulls buy pretty low on Ivey, who was spectacular last season before injuring his fibula and knee (separately). If he can be healthy and fully back, he gives them a good guard to invest in. The Pistons really need shooting and are hoping Huerter can get back to doing just that. They also probably move up a handful of spots in the first round with the swap with Minnesota. The Wolves get under the first apron and set the table to be aggressive in a potential Giannis pursuit this summer.
My grades: B+ for Bulls, B- for Pistons, B for Wolves.
VLADE score: 💰💰💰💰💰 for Minnesota (under both aprons), 💰💰 for Detroit, 💰 for Chicago.
Follow all the NBA trade news in our live blog here.
The last 24
🏀 Giannis speaks. The Bucks superstar talked exclusively with our Eric Nehm about trade rumors and his future. “I want to be here, but I want to be here to win.”
🏀 Cleveland’s gamble. Why did the Cavs swap the younger Garland for Harden? It all started with a Zoom call.
🏀 Nervous times. The Warriors have all kinds of players in trade rumors, including Draymond. “It puts guys on edge.”
🐺 Big impact. Mike Conley’s time in Minnesota has come to an end. He was huge for their growth.
🎺 Take note. The Jazz trade for JJJ signals a big change in Utah. The tank is officially over.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Exodus, Chapter 5
The Beard is never boring — or happy
For the fourth time in the last six seasons, James Harden has been traded in-season. All of these trades were by his own doing, and you might even look back on his exit from OKC in 2012 as him trying to maneuver to get his own team. The amazing thing about a Harden trade is that it always comes from him deciding he can’t stand this place anymore, he must get out and he’ll do it by any means necessary.
Let’s rank just how entertaining his exits have been from each place and have some fun with him changing jerseys yet again. (Also, I must know, if you’re a diehard Harden fan, are you buying that Cavs jersey?)
5. Harden traded from OKC to Houston before the season (2012)
Nothing really special here. It surprised us all right before the 2012-13 season, following the Thunder’s trip to the NBA Finals. There are arguments over whether this trade needed to happen and whether Harden wanted it to happen to have his own team. Based on his exits since, I’d lean toward the latter.
4. Not wanting to deal with the Nets anymore (2022)
When Harden found his way from Houston to Brooklyn, teaming up with Kevin Durant (again) and Kyrie Irving was supposed to create a three-headed monster nobody could stop. Nearly 13 months later, he wanted out of Brooklyn. The Nets had one failed playoff run (due to injuries mostly). Durant was still asking for answers as to why Harden wanted out during a Netflix docuseries in October.
3. Harden leaves the surging Clippers (2026)
Harden is from Los Angeles. When he re-signed with the Clippers in 2024, he stated that he was home, didn’t plan on going anywhere else and wanted to leave a legacy. Instead, he just left. The Clippers got off to a rough start, but have won 17 of their last 22. Naturally, Harden was traded after all that.
2. Harden calls Daryl Morey a liar in front of children (2023)
I’ll never forget watching Harden tell a bunch of kids in China at an Adidas event that Sixers GM Daryl Morey “is a liar and I’ll never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” He then restated it just in case anybody was unclear! He was traded to the Clippers early in the 2023-24 campaign after sitting out to start the season.
1. Harden’s magical transformation from Rockets to Nets (2021)
Early in the 2020-21 season, Harden had decided he was done with Houston. And we started seeing these pregame shots of Harden looking … bigger under his pregame warmups. After causing some chaos and discomfort, the Rockets finally relented and sent him to Brooklyn. Less than a week after the photo on the left was captured on a broadcast, the Nets posted a pic of a brand new Harden warming up:
I’ll leave it for you to decide how that transformation happened. We might have a bad camera angle situation or a Professor Klump situation. Was it extra shooting shirts under his visible shooting shirt? Regardless, the internet was completely defenseless against how funny this was, and people started throwing allegations that Harden was wearing a fat suit before he got his way.
All-Star rosters
Kawhi’s in, teams divvied up
Yesterday, the NBA announced a few things for the 2026 All-Star Game in Inglewood, Calif. First, we got pics of the new All-Star uniforms for all three squads. Then we got to see the court. Finally, Adam Silver named Kawhi Leonard to the All-Star Game. He’s replacing Giannis in the player pool. Leonard was widely considered the biggest snub.
The league also announced the rosters for the three teams, made up of two USA-born All-Stars and one World team. These are the three rosters, with the USA players divided by age. The younger All-Stars went to USA Stars, while the older ones went to USA Stripes.
- USA Stars: Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Duren, Chet Holmgren, Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Johnson. Coach: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit.
- USA Stripes: Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Steph Curry, Durant, LeBron James, Leonard, Norman Powell, Mitchell. Coach: Mitch Johnson, San Antonio.
- World: Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Deni Avdija, Jamal Murray, Pascal Siakam, Karl-Anthony Towns. Coach: Darko Rajaković, Toronto.
You’ll notice that Towns was put on the World team because he plays for the Dominican Republic team. We’ll have some combination of these three teams playing on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome. Last year’s three-team format, which also included a G League squad, did not go over well. This format will hopefully be better, as long as the time between games is minimized. They’re also hoping the international aspect and putting old versus young will spark some extra competition.
NBC spent a lot of money to be a broadcast partner and took over All-Star festivities from TNT. NBC is definitely hoping to have a banger of a weekend that generates few complaints.