It’s tough to draw too many conclusions from a wild season of trades until more time has passed, but already there’s been at least a slight correlation between success on the court and willingness to trade. The sub-.500 Celtics and Sixers make the case that losing teams were more apt to trade this season, as each team has made a league-high 11 trades since the official start of the 2014/15 season in July. However, the surging Cavs are right behind them, having pulled off nine swaps. The Spurs and Warriors are two of only three teams not to have taken part in a trade this season, but the other is the Pacers, who’ve fallen on hard times without Paul George.
Still, it’s easier to see the link between winning and stability in the scope of last year’s on-court performance as well as this year’s. Only two of the top eight most active teams on the trade market made the playoffs last season, and none of the top four. All three teams that didn’t make a move are coming off playoff berths from last season, while only two of the nine teams that made fewer than two trades this year missed the playoffs in 2013/14.
Regardless, there was plenty of movement, with nearly half the teams in the league having been a part of at least four trades. Even teams that weren’t prolific traders had an impact, with the Heat acquiring Goran Dragic, who was probably the best player dealt at last month’s deadline, in their lone deal of 2014/15.
The number of trades in the 2014/15 season will no doubt swell at draft time, when teams usually execute a flurry of pick swaps, but from now until the end of the regular season, this is where it will stand. We’ve ranked every team by the number of trades they made. You can find details on all of the trades since the start of the regular season here, and details on trades during the 2014 offseason here. Note that the 2014 offseason trades include swaps that took place before July that are technically part of the 2013/14 season. Those deals aren’t reflected in the totals below.
- Celtics: 11
- Sixers: 11
- Cavaliers: 9
- Suns: 7
- Pelicans: 6
- Rockets: 6
- Thunder: 5
- Timberwolves: 5
- Kings: 4
- Knicks 4
- Nets: 4
- Nuggets: 4
- Pistons: 4
- Wizards: 4
- Clippers: 3
- Hornets: 3
- Jazz: 3
- Mavericks: 3
- Bucks: 2
- Bulls: 2
- Hawks: 2
- Grizzlies: 1
- Heat: 1
- Lakers: 1
- Magic: 1
- Raptors: 1
- Trail Blazers: 1
- Pacers: None
- Spurs: None
- Warriors: None