Re-Grading Last Season’s Biggest NBA Trades 1 Year Later

Now that we’ve got nearly a year of distance from some of the 2023-24 NBA season’s most impactful trades, it’s a lot easier to evaluate the plusses and minuses of each transaction.

Don’t worry, the understanding that time lends perspective won’t keep us from making knee-jerk reactions to the deals we’ll see on Feb. 6. But the exercise we’re about to undertake should serve as a reminder that it’s helpful to check back in on immediate post-trade opinions.

Some of last season’s major trades have aged well for all parties involved, while others are starting to look pretty one-sided. One or two are still in a gray area and probably can’t be fairly judged until some of the involved picks convey later this decade.

Let’s take a look at how year-old deals involving James Harden, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and more look roughly a year after they went down.

The Trade

Charlotte Hornets Receive: Seth Curry, Grant Williams, 2027 first-round pick (top-two protection)

Dallas Mavericks Receive: P.J. Washington, two second-round picks

Grades

Mavericks: A

Though he wasn’t the biggest name traded last season, Washington made a massive difference in the outcome of the 2023-24 season.

A suspect defender in Charlotte, Washington ascended to a new level with the Mavericks. His block and steal rates climbed when the Mavs slotted him into more of a stopper’s role, and he further excelled as an athletic three-and-D weapon in support of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.

The Mavericks went 21-9 after the trade deadline, the third-best mark in the league during that span.

Washington shot a middling 34.8 percent from deep during the Mavs’ run to the 2024 Finals, but they might not have gotten past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round if he hadn’t canned 46.9 percent of his treys in that series.

Hornets: B

Getting a first-round pick for Washington wasn’t a given, so the Hornets earn credit for that—even if Dallas figures to be good enough to keep that 2027 selection somewhere in the 20s.

Taking on Williams’ deal, however, hurts Charlotte’s grade. The veteran forward is out for the season with a torn ACL, and he’s on the books for two more years after this one at a total of $28 million.

Washington, who profiles as the more valuable player on a big-time winner, will make just $14.1 million in the final season of his deal next year.

The Trade(s)

Dallas Mavericks Receive: 2024 first-round pick (second-least favorable from Houston, L.A. Clippers, Oklahoma City and Utah)

Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: 2028 first-round pick swap (via DAL)

Dallas Mavericks Receive: Daniel Gafford

Washington Wizards Receive: Richaun Holmes, draft compensation, 2024 first-round pick (second-least favorable from Houston, L.A. Clippers, Oklahoma City and Utah)

Grades

Mavericks: B

We can’t go overboard with Dallas’ grade, even if Gafford has been a positive presence with the team and, like Washington, played a key role in a Finals run. Dereck Lively II is the Mavericks’ long-term answer in the middle, and Gafford’s 2024 postseason minutes coincided with a net-rating drop of 14.8 points per 100 possessions.

That said, Gafford shot 84.6 percent from the field and suppressed opponent accuracy at the rim by 5.6 percent in the 2024 playoffs, topping Lively in that stat.

Bonus points to Dallas for executing a 2028 pick swap with OKC that netted it a 2024 first-rounder, which ultimately got the Gafford deal done with Washington. It’s not easy to conjure a first-rounder out of thin air, but that’s essentially what the Mavs did.

Thunder: A

Slick move by OKC here, giving up a pick that was ticketed for the late 20s in exchange for swap rights with Dallas in 2028. Who knows where the Mavs might be in the standings at that point?

Plus, the Thunder wound up trading for No. 26 pick Dillon Jones anyway.

Wizards: A-

Washington landed a first-rounder, albeit a late one, for a backup center that had no place in its rebuild. Richaun Holmes is still on the books for $13.3 million in 2025-26, but that’s a pretty close figure to Gafford’s $14.4 million.

The first-rounder coming in from Dallas (via OKC) ultimately turned into Kyshawn George after a draft-day trade involving the Knicks and Thunder. George, a hard-playing combo forward with defensive potential, is currently ranked among the top 10 in his rookie class in total minutes, made threes and assists.

The Trade

New York Knicks Receive: OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, Malachi Flynn

Toronto Raptors Receive: RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, 2024 second-round pick (via DET)

Grades

Knicks: B+

Anunoby cost New York a pair of young, starting-caliber pieces in Quickley and Barrett. Considering the Knicks are currently second in offensive efficiency, it’s hard to argue they’re missing the scoring and playmaking contributions of those two. Anunoby’s elite defensive versatility is the more prized commodity on this specific roster.

In the wake of a five-year, $212.5 million extension signed this past offseason, Anunoby certainly isn’t coming cheap. That’s a ton of money for a high-end role player, but it’s hard to argue with the results: Anunoby is a key reason New York now resides in the contender class. The Knicks’ grade would certainly be lower if they’d given up so much for a half-season rental and let Anunoby walk in free agency.

Landing Anunoby without giving up even a single first-round pick also enabled the Knicks to pile up selections in subsequent trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Raptors: B

In a perfect world, the Raptors would have gotten a first-rounder or two out of New York. But Anunoby’s expiring contract made him a tricky player to trade last season.

Barrett immediately became the best version of himself upon arriving in Toronto, with the most notable gains coming in the playmaking department. He’s averaging career highs across the board this season, including 23.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists.

Quickley also ascended in a larger role last year, averaging 18.6 points and 6.8 assists per game while hitting 39.5 percent of his threes in his first 38 games with the Raptors. He inked a five-year, $162.5 million extension over the summer, cementing his place as a foundational piece of the next competitive Toronto team. Unfortunately, injuries have limited him to just six games this season.

The Trade

Indiana Pacers Receive: Pascal Siakam, future second-round pick

Toronto Raptors Receive: Bruce Brown Jr., Kira Lewis Jr., Jordan Nwora, two 2024 first-round picks (worst of HOU 5-30, LAC, OKC, UTA 11-30), 2026 first-round pick (via IND)

New Orleans Pelicans Receive: Cash considerations (via IND)

Grades

Pacers: B+

Siakam averaged 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists with a 60.2 true shooting percentage in 41 post-trade regular season games with Indy last season, then came pretty close to sustaining all those numbers (minus a small dip in true shooting percentage) as part of the Pacers’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Indiana pretty clearly got its money’s worth in the short term, but its decision to extend the 30-year-old Siakam for four years and $189 million probably means there’ll be some pain on the back end.

Siakam continues to play at an All-Star level, though, with averages of 19.6 points, 7.3 boards and 3.4 assists on a career-best 42.3 percent from long range. He’s been durable, consistent and is among the last players you’d blame for Indy’s shaky start to 2024-25.

Raptors: A-

Siakam didn’t make sense in the Raptors’ longer-term plans, and moving him ahead of last year’s deadline eliminated the possibility of losing the two-time All-NBA selection for nothing in free agency.

One of the 2024 firsts Toronto got became Ja’Kobe Walter, who’s shown some flashes of potential as a rookie, while the other wound up with the Utah Jazz in the deal that brought Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Raptors. The latter has been one of this season’s most improved players.

We’ll see what becomes of that 2026 first-rounder, but the Raptors have already come out the other side of the Siakam deal looking good—especially considering his pre-trade contract status meant they weren’t negotiating with the Pacers from a position of strength.

The Trade

LA Clippers Receive: James Harden, P.J. Tucker, Filip Petrusev

Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, 2026 first-round pick (via OKC), 2028 first-round pick (via LAC, unprotected) , 2029 first-round swap, 2024 second-round pick, 2029 second-round pick

Grades

Clippers: D+

Harden’s high-usage offensive leadership has been integral to keeping a defense-first Clippers team in the thick of the playoff race, but L.A.’s long-term outlook is still worse now than it was before the trade.

Harden joined George, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook on what L.A. hoped would be a contender. Injuries did the Clippers in last year, and it’s hard to argue the team will become a top-tier threat until Harden is gone and Leonard is off the books. Even then, it’ll be tough to build out a strong roster without the two future firsts and 2029 swap going to the Sixers.

76ers: A

The Sixers haven’t had great results with their 2024 offseason acquisitions. Those came over via the mountain of cap space they created by taking back so many expiring deals for Harden. But there’s still plenty of time for Paul George and all the rest of the 2024 signings to pan out, and it might not be fair to penalize Philly for what it did with the flexibility it created in the first place.

This was still a transactional masterstroke executed from a position of virtually zero leverage, as Philly netted several hugely valuable draft picks and maximized its spending flexibility while getting rid of a player who didn’t want to be there. The unprotected 2028 first-rounder from the Clippers, in particular, is a choice asset.

The Sixers’ long-term outlook may be hazy because of Joel Embiid’s health and George’s hefty deal, but they had no business getting a return like this for Harden, considering his minimal market value at the time.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.