Final NBA Trade Deadline Deals: Zubac Dealt and Buyouts

The NBA trade deadline ended with a bit of a whimper, but one more big deal was made before the final buzzer (and since the last trade story we did).

Let's break down the final bunch of trades, and also discuss a notable contract buyout.

To read about other trades, check out this page on FantasySP.

For the latest player updates, be sure to head to FantasySP to utilize the real-time player news engine for all sports. The player news engine is the most robust and fastest player news system in fantasy sports. Signing up for a FantasySP membership can help you track all your fantasy players.

Pacers Land Zubac in Massive Deal

The last big deal was the Clippers trading Ivica Zubac to the Pacers. Indiana also got Kobe Brown in the deal. Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two-first-round picks and a second-round pick went to Los Angeles.

This was a surprise move, but helps the Pacers long-term outlook. They are not good this year, but could be a force again in 2026-27 when Tyrese Haliburton is back healthy.

Zubac is a much-needed center for the Pacers after they lost Myles Turner in free agency. Jay Huff and Micah Potter will slide back into more reserve roles at C with Zubac on the team now.

Pascal Siakam is the power forward, and Huff and Potter are backup options there too. Jarace Walker is a possibility there, and at small forward.

Aaron Nesmith is the projected small forward, with Johnny Furphy, Ben Sheppard, Brown and Walker the backup options. Sheppard, Quenton Jackson, Kam Jones and Ethan Thompson are options at shooting guard, where Furphy is the projected starter for now.

Andrew Nembhard is the point guard. T.J. McConnell, Jones, Jackson and Thomson will help back him up this season.

The addition of Zubac will help the team immediately, but this is a move made with long-term impact in mind. Indiana will be a force to be reckoned with in the East at full strength next season.

LA was a surging team, but took massive steps back this trade deadline after dealing Zubac and James Harden away.

Darius Garland, Mathurin, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins and Brook Lopez are now the projected starters for the Clippers. Kris Dunn, Kobe Sanders, Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jackson are some of the top backups.

Leonard is now the clear leader in LA, and Garland could star once he's healthy. Mathurin, Collins and Lopez are all worth maybe adding for the foreseeable future given the team's moves, and several of the bench guys could now play enough to be better fantasy assets.

The Clippers are a lot worse today than they were a week ago, and I'm not really sure what happened. LA might end up blowing things up, especially if Leonard wants out soon. 

Hornets, Mavericks Swap Players

Tyus Jones was re-routed to Dallas, with Malaki Branham going back to the Hornets.

Jones has a much better fantasy outlook in Dallas, where he could play enough as a backup point guard for some deep-league fantasy value. 

Cooper Flagg, Max Christie, Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford are the projected starters, and Jones, Brandon Williams, Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton (if he's retained) and Marvin Bagley III are among the top backups.

Adding Jones could limit the minutes for Williams, Ryan Nembhard and others, but it's really not that big of a difference with Jones around now. If Kyrie Irving returns this season, then Jones might have a harder time taking the court, but we'll cross that bridge if we ever get there.

Branham isn't likely to carve out a huge role in Charlotte, but he is at least a depth option.

The starting five of LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate is sneaky good, and Coby White, Josh Green, Sion James, Grant Williams and Ryan Kalkbrenner are a good second unit. 

It means there's not many other minutes to go around, so Branham might not do too much in Charlotte. Moving Jones opens times for White, Tre Mann, Branham and other point guards at the very least.

Nets and Nuggets Make Small Deal

The teams swapped second-round picks, and Denver sent Hunter Tyson to Brooklyn.

This was a way for Denver to open a roster spot, and maybe go after a buyout guy. It doesn't impact anything in the Denver rotation, as Tyson wasn't a big part of things anyways.

Tyson might not do much in Brooklyn either, as Noah Clowney, Danny Wolf, Jalen Wilson and Ziaire Williams are among the options ahead of him, at least.

Brooklyn is really focusing on young players, and while Tyson is only 25 years old, I just don't see him doing too much the rest of his tenure with the Nets.

Bulls Join Bucks, Suns Deal

A deal I reported on earlier turned into a three-team trade, with the Bulls joining the mix. Chicago ended up with Nick Richards, the Bucks got Nigel Hayes-Davis and Ousmane Dieng and the Suns acquired Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey.

Of course Chicago got involved, because they were part of several trades and just couldn't help themselves.

Richards is now a backup center option, which takes a little of the steam out of Jalen Smith's sails. Smith was a heavily-added waiver wire guy since the Nikola Vucevic trade. I still like Smith, but his outlook is hampered a bit by the addition of Richards.

Dieng could have a hard time playing a bunch in Milwaukee, as the Bucks held on to all their big men, and Giannis Antetokounmpo should eventually return from injury. 

It would likely take a few injuries to get Dieng involved in Milwaukee.

Read the last breakdown of the trade for more on the rest of the deal.

Boston Sends Out Three Players

Josh Minott was traded from Boston to Brooklyn. Boston shipped Chris Boucher to Utah. A late reported deal says the Celtics traded Xavier Tillman to the Hornets.

The deals were probably made to open roster spots for Boston, while also saving a bit of money for now.

None of those trades impact the Celtics' roster/rotation much. The big deadline deal for Boston was swapping Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic.

I think the Celtics are a darkhorse to come out of the Eastern Conference, especially if they get Jayson Tatum back at some point. 

Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser and Vucevic are the projected starters, with Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza as the top backups, for now.

Buyout Players

The buyout market is sometimes just as fun as the trade deadline in the NBA. I don't see that happening this year though, as the trades made were spectacular. There's still going to be some good players cut, and then made available for any other team.

The first big domino has already fallen, as the Nets released Cam Thomas.

There will be a line of suitors for Thomas, so it will be interesting to see which team he decides to join next. He will provide a lot of offense, and would honestly be a welcomed addition to just about every team.

Some other players who could eventually be bought out are DeMar DeRozan, Chris Paul, Kyle Anderson, Khris Middleton, Mike Conley, Lonzo Ball, Chris Boucher and more.