Last Updated on February 4, 2026 12:19 pm by Mike Passador | Published: February 4, 2026

The trade deadline isn’t until Thursday but Tuesday brought us a flurry of moves, including some truly unexpected ones that will shake things up significantly. We’re going to run through each very, very quickly just to set the table:

JJJ Surprise Blockbuster

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.

This was the stunner of the day. The Grizzlies were only ever brought up in Ja Morant discussions but they apparently found the time to deal away Jackson, and of all teams to take the plunge it was the basement-dwelling Jazz. Of the three firsts they surrendered, only one of them is their own selection — and that is still the choice of three picks that the Jazz have — so they still have close to total control over their next few drafts.

Jackson joins a core of Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen and reportedly Walker Kessler, and that could get very fun very fast. The Jazz have had the looks of a team that could win more games if they really felt compelled to, and starting next year they’ll have the horses to do so. Utah’s pick this year is top-8 protected (and will otherwise convey to the Thunder) so while JJJ, Markkanen and George could probably push for the Play-In, we doubt that that Jazz actually go for that. It means Jackson might get his share of rest days down the stretch.

It’s bad news for Jusuf Nurkic (who could be traded himself) and Landale, who had carved out a pretty nice role for himself in Memphis. It’s also tough news for Kyle Filipowski, who looked like a great stash play when the sun came up on Tuesday morning. That said, the likelihood that the Jazz tank out the rest of the year should keep hope alive for Filipowski, albeit in a smaller dose.

As for Memphis, that three picks headlined this return should tell you that a full rebuild is coming. Clayton is an intriguing pickup and should get a fair shake if Morant is traded, though he is in a crowded guard room with Ty Jerome, Cam Spencer and soon Scotty Pippen Jr. Hendricks is another former first-rounder who has shown some promise, and he may be in line for a real chance to play in a depleted frontcourt.

Santi Aldama, Cedric Coward and GG Jackson all get a little more stability going forward but the Grizzlies probably aren’t done moving and shaking.

Bye Bye Beard

Clippers receive: Darius Garland, second-round pick
Cavaliers receive: James Harden

The shift from reports of Harden working with the Clippers on a trade to him actually getting traded was sudden. Even though LA had pulled themselves back into the playoff hunt, Harden worked his way out of the picture the second they hesitated about committing to him long-term. Harden lands with a Cavs team that needed a real shake-up and should form a dynamic backcourt with Donovan Mitchell. While there’s a little bit of overlap in their skill sets, we have seen Harden adapt to a wide variety of star teammates over the last few years. Don’t expect a ton of change for him fantasy-wise.

As for the Clippers, swapping out a 36-year old for a 26-year old with a couple of All-Star appearances isn’t terrible. If nothing else it’ll give them a younger option to build around and save some cash. Garland is currently injured and has no timeline for return but when he does get back on the court there’s a lot more upside in reach as one of two main offensive engines on the roster. In the meantime, look for Kris Dunn to soak up some more playmaking duties, with Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller and Nic Batum all picking up some runoff minutes as the guard group shrinks. Maybe Bogdan Bogdanovic gets involved again too, but another move could be coming.

Celtics Get Their Center

Celtics receive: Nikola Vucevic, second-round pick
Bulls receive: Anfernee Simons, second-round pick

At the start of the season, it felt like Simons was guaranteed to be traded for financial reasons if nothing else. As of last week, it felt like the Celtics — still contending — couldn’t possibly trade Simons, who was basically the entire second unit offense. They pulled the trigger on a deal that saves them money (Vucevic makes less and the tax implications are big) and brings them a legitimate starting center.

Vucevic may not be quite as prominent in Boston as he was in Chicago but he could benefit from a healthier basketball ecosystem in general. The only real concern is that the Celtics don’t love what they get from him on defense and dial his minutes back, and the fact that he’s on an expiring contract limits the commitment to making this work. There shouldn’t be a major shift to his fantasy value, but there’s a little more downside risk.

Jalen Smith and Zach Collins (when healthy) could both be standard-league guys back in Chicago unless the Bulls add another big.

Neemias Queta should be held for a bit to see how things play out, but it’s not looking good. The Celtics might not be done but as it stands they’re a little light in the backcourt. Deep-league managers can expect to see some more minutes for Baylor Scheierman, and perhaps everyone shifts up a spot with Vucevic’s offense allowing more leeway to defense-first players like Jordan Walsh or Josh Minott to handle more work without killing the offense.

Simons should get plenty of opportunity to chuck up shots with the Bulls. Josh Giddey and Tre Jones are banged up still and neither Ayo Dosunmu nor Coby White are locks to be on the roster come Friday morning. At worst, he should maintain a sixth man role but might post worse FG% numbers on a worse team. Higher ceiling, lower floor, and we’d wait for Chicago to finish its wheeling and dealing before declaring something either way.

Detroit Adds Some Shooting

Pistons receive: Kevin Huerter, Dario Saric
Bulls receive: Jaden Ivey, Mike Conley
Timberwolves receive: Cash considerations

The Pistons swooped in to acquire Huerter and his expiring contract and he should fill a vital role on a bench group that could use a little more shooting. Huerter isn’t exactly a guaranteed marksman but he has been in the past, and is certainly more credible than the likes of Jaden Ivey, Ron Holland, Javonte Green and Daniss Jenkins. He’ll have less upside than he did in Chicago but should get steady work and remains a top-200 type for his points, 3-pointers and blend of other stats.

Jaden Ivey is a fun buy-low for the Bulls, who will take a shot on a former top pick. The backcourt is jam-packed right now but we’d expect more movement over the next 24 hours to help shake things out. Ivey has upside in a big-minute role but his flawed stat set may limit him to deep leagues and punt builds. He’s more compelling than he was in Detroit, at least.

As for Conley, it’s expected that he either gets traded again or bought out. The veteran is on his last legs and will try to latch on with a contender. He’s not an impact guy anymore but was still holding down a rotation spot for Minnesota, so he’s not totally out of gas yet. The bigger question here is what other irons the Wolves have in the fire.

Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

That said, we generally recommend saving your moves this week for trade-related developments. Additionally, the box scores this week are going to be weird with all the players missing time as a result of transactions, so there will be some fun lines that end up meaning absolutely nothing. We’re going to focus on the guys who might actually be better than someone who gets a big bump via trade.

Apologies to all the guys who popped off in blowouts on Tuesday — we see you, Quenton Jackson, but it’s not your time.

Jalen Smith (24%)

Smith had 16 points (5-of-7 FG, 3-of-3 FT), five rebounds, one assist and three 3-pointers in 20 minutes on Tuesday night. That’s a good line in limited playing time — he’s been battling injuries of late — but it’s ultimately immaterial. With Nikola Vucevic traded to Boston, right now Smith is the only healthy center on the Chicago roster. Pick him up.

Isaiah Collier (26%)

The Jazz traded away a third of the roster and Jusuf Nurkic was getting a rest day, so it was all hands on deck. All 14 hands. The Jazz went with a seven-man rotation and Collier hit the jackpot, playing all 48 minutes against a Pacers team that was just as eager to rest regulars tonight. It resulted in a ridiculous line of 17 points (6-of-16 FG, 5-of-8 FT), five rebounds, 22 assists and three steals. That line is going to win a lot of matchups on its own and while you can’t count on Collier for 48 minutes and 22 dimes ever again, he has already been posting enough assists to hit the radar as a specialist. He’s a player who is proven to produce perhaps the hardest stat to find off the wire and is clearly capable of monster lines for a team that will be tanking the rest of the way.

Jarace Walker (19%)

Walker was one of the few active Pacers who you can expect to see on a nightly basis and while his final line — 24 points (8-of-17 FG, 7-of-9 FT), six rebounds, four assists, one steal, one 3-pointer in 32 minutes — was influenced by the guys who weren’t available tonight, he continues to build some steam. The Pacers’ gap year was always going to be defined by how guys like Walker contributed, and an ugly first half of the season has yielded to some pretty interesting numbers lately. With the tanks revving up around the league and the Pacers in line for a high pick, we could get more nights like this going forward, to say nothing of what Walker can produce when the team is playing at full strength. He’s trending up and starting to show the multi-cat upside that has flashed in previous opportunities.

Games

Nuggets – Knicks @ 7:00 ET
Timberwolves – Raptors @ 7:30 ET
Celtics – Rockets @ 8:00 ET
Pelicans – Bucks @ 8:00 ET
Thunder – Spurs @ 9:30 ET
Grizzlies – Kings @ 10:00 ET
Cavaliers – Clippers @ 10:30 ET

Teams on Second Night of a Back-to-Back

Note: Teams on the second night of a back-to-back must submit their injury report by the release of the 4:00 pm ET Official NBA Injury Report. 

DEN, NYK, BOS, MKE, OKC

The Nuggets and Knicks face off in what should be a great matchup. Mitchell Robinson sat out last night in order to be available for this one, while Josh Hart appeared to roll his ankle in that easy win over the Wizards. Ideally the Nuggets have Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray available but it’s not an impossibility that they punt on this one. We don’t expect it, but it could happen. What we do expect is Christian Braun to sit out after making his return to action last night.

The Thunder very nearly went with a mass rest day but they ended up playing it straight vs. Orlando, which means you might have to worry about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartsenstein, Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams for this one. The ease with which they dispatched the Magic should help. Hartenstein and Caruso are the players most likely to sit.

The Celtics had everyone available last night and snuck in a rest day for Jaylen Brown against the Kings last week in a non-B2B. Hopefully that was done so they could have him ready for this set.

Nobody on the Bucks stands out as a candidate for a night off and it feels like they’re actually trying to win. Good luck to them.

Teams on First Night of a Back-to-Back

TOR, HOU, SAS

Kevin Durant is returning from a one-game absence (ankle sprain) tonight, but that does put you on alert for Thursday. Tari Eason is also likely to sit out on Thursday given his continued injury management program.

Neither the Raptors nor Spurs have obvious rest candidates so just hope they get through tonight unscathed.

Top Stories to Watch

We’re on perpetual trade watch at this point, and the biggest story is whatever move is about to happen next.

We could also see some team debuts tonight; just waiting on the Celtics to let us know if Nikola Vucevic is going to be in uniform. We’d bet against it but you never know.

And could James Harden suit up for the Cavs tonight against the Clippers? His stuff is already there.

We have seen the Clippers play games without Harden before, obviously, but how they navigate this stretch without Harden and Darius Garland could have a major ripple effect on the fantasy landscape. Kawhi Leonard is going to get his, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult. How does Ivica Zubac fare without a true table-setter for the intermediate future? Kobe Sanders should start but that’s not a real playmaking answer, and Kris Dunn can only do so much. The Clippers offense could be due for some bumps.

The Pelicans rotation is always worth a closer look. Derik Queen’s minutes are up and down and Jose Alvarado and Jeremiah Fears are going back and forth a little bit, but a matchup against the Bucks is a friendly one these days. It’s a good spot for the young guys to take the lion’s share.

Memphis is probably going to make one more major move before Thursday but as for tonight’s lineup, it’s going to be a mess if Santi Aldama isn’t cleared from his questionable tag. The arrivals of Walter Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks should count as two rotation spots filled but they’re not available tonight. Perhaps we’ll get some clues about how the team moves forward beyond the sure things like Cedric Coward and Ty Jerome.

Outside of fantasy, the league has put together a slate with a few matchups that should be outstanding. Denver vs. New York, Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio and Boston vs. Houston makes for a night of must-watch ball.

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Check out our Live Injury Report to see who is probable, questionable, doubtful or sidelined for this slate!

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Streamers

We are not including players who are either most likely on a roster or should be on a roster.

Standard Formats

AJ Green – points, 3-pointers.

Yves Missi – rebounds, blocks.

Tim Hardaway Jr. – points, 3-pointers.

Sam Hauser – 3-pointers, rebounds.

Sam Merrill – points, 3-pointers.

Maxime Raynaud – points, rebounds.

Jaylen Wells – points, 3-pointers, steals.

Dylan Cardwell – rebounds, blocks.

GG Jackson – points, rebounds, 3-pointers.

Deep Leagues

Jonas Valanciunas – points, rebounds.

Landry Shamet – points, 3-pointers.

Spencer Jones – rebounds, steals, 3-pointers.

Kobe Sanders – points, 3-pointers.

Isaiah Joe – points, 3-pointers.

Any Grizzlies – Seven players figure to be out tonight, so anyone in uniform is on the board.

Tyler Kolek – assists.

Bones Hyland – points, assists, 3-pointers (if Anthony Edwards is out).

Baylor Scheierman – 3-pointers.