The arms race between Ben Simmons' Philadelphia 76ers and Eastern Conference rivals the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks has exploded in the final hours before the NBA trade deadline.
The 76ers appeared to be the winners after Wednesday's frenzy when they picked up elite Los Angeles Clippers' forward Tobias Harris, who has been averaging 21 points and eight rebounds and shoots 43 per cent from behind the three-point line.
It gave Philadelphia an impressive All-Star laden starting five of Simmons, centre Joel Embiid, forward Jimmy Butler, sharpshooter JJ Redick and Harris.
The Raptors responded on Thursday, just before the deadline, by adding one of the NBA's best big men, Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies received Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick.
The Bucks, after shipping young Australian centre Thon Maker to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, significantly bolstered their line-up by picking up power forward Nikola Mirotic from the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Bucks have the best record in the NBA with 40 wins and just 13 losses.
The Raptors (39-16) are second in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics third (35-19), Indiana Pacers fourth (35-19) and the 76ers fifth (34-20).
The potentially biggest move of the trade deadline did not materialise, with the Pelicans declining to trade their All-Star centre Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers are desperate to place an All-Star alongside LeBron James and Davis, who recently signed with James' management team Klutch Sports Group, was eager for the move.
The Pelicans were not interested in taking a package of emerging Lakers players Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram and multiple draft picks.
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