The NBA Draft is upon us. Sports blogging laws dictate that I provide an insightful mock draft, but I decided to go a different route. Here are the 10 most lopsided draft day trades ever. 10. 2001 - The New Jersey Nets trade Eddie Griffen to the Houston Rockets for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong.
The Nets acquired two future NBA Finals starters, and the Rockets acquired an alcoholic. Well done.
9. 2002 - The Knicks trade Nene, Mark Jackson, and Marcus Camby to Denver for Antonio McDyess, coming off major knee surgery, and the No. 25 pick (Frank Williams).
Instead of rebuilding a team way past its prime (the Ewing, Houston, Sprewell era), the Knicks trade for an injured superstar. Only if we had realized that this was the precursor to a decade of New York basketball misery.
8. 2001 - The Atlanta Hawks trade Pau Gasol (No. 3 overall) Brevin Knight and Lorenzen Wright to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and a pick.
Only one explanation here: Atlanta did not want to maim their fans with constant pictures of Gasol as the centerpiece of their rebuilding effort.
7. 2007 - The Seattle Supersonics trade Ray Allen and the No. 35 pick to the Boston Celtics for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the No. 5 pick (Jeff Green).
That No. 35 pick is our favorite, drooling, overweight NBA Shrek: Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Jeff Green is a solid player, but c'mon Seattle. I understand you were dumping salary to rebuild, but you at least could have made a better pick.
6. 2006 - Portland Trail Blazers trades Randy Foye to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Brandon Roy.
Who was the GM for Minnesota? You guessed it. Kevin McHale.
5. 2006 - The Phoenix Suns trade the No. 21 pick, Brian Grant and cash to the Boston Celtics for a future first round pick.
That 21st pick morphed into Rajon Rondo. Why is it that the Suns continue cutting salary? If the owner doesn't want to spend money, he should just give up the team. Throw a part or two more Phoenix's way and we're looking at a championship team. Too bad they'll be back at square one when Amare leaves and Nash retires.
4. 2001 - Chicago Bulls trade Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers for Tyson Chandler and Brian Skinner.
I know, surprising that the Clippers found themselves on the winning side of a trade. Too bad they wasted Brand's prime by enabling Mike Dunleavy to single-handedly set back the franchise 10 years.
3. 1998 - The Milwaukee Bucks trades Robert "Tractor" Traylor to the Dallas Mavericks for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity.
Even Pat Garrity was better than the Tractor. At the time, this trade didn't seem so terrible, considering the NBA was still in the "international players can never succeed simply because we are ignorant" phase. We all know how this one turned out.
2. 1987 - The Seattle Supersonics trade Scottie Pippen to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice.
Who? Exactly. I didn't even know about this one until I did a bit of research. Now we know why Seattle had to eventually move.
1. 1996 - The Charlotte Hornets trade Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac.
Think about the implications here for a moment. If Kobe stays in Charlotte, maybe the team generates enough buzz to remain in Charlotte. Consequently, Michael Jordan never owns the Charlotte Bobcats and quietly ruins their team with terrible drafting (Adam Morrison, anyone). Meanwhile, the Laker dynasty never happens because the Kings win game 7 against the Lake Show (Although Tim Donaghy is still the ref, so who knows). In short, this trade changed the course of the NBA for quite a few years.
The top 3 is really something special. Didn't Vince Carter get traded on draft day, or am I making that up?
ReplyDeleteMy one complaint about the list is that the Ray Allen trade shouldn't be on there, and certainly not that high. Jeff Green's a solid player and West and Wally are both solid assets even if they're not playing for OKC anymore. Can't kill them for that one, especially since it was no lock that Big Baby was going to be at that pick.
There was a deal with Vince. He was essentially swapped for Antawn Jamison, so I didn't think it was a worthy deal to put in. The reason why I stuck in the Allen trade was because of the impact they had after the fact. And honestly, most trades look good when done initially. It's easy for me to criticize after the fact, so that's why I'm doing it.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit Dylan, I was thinking about your #1 trade today. No lie. I was thinking that Bill Simmons skips over that "what if" scenario, but Kobe could have saved the entire team from moving. That was a huge trade in the history of the Hornets franchise...though Divac was a good center for a few years, it still ended up being terribly obviously.
ReplyDeleteGood list.
THIS LIST KICKS ASS
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing too about Simmons. Although I did enjoy those Sacramento teams, so maybe the trade was worth it.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Knicks traded Camby, I stopped watching NBA. I'm a UMass Alum and used to buy pot from Marcus' teamate/roomate Mike Williams.
ReplyDeleteI think the Bucks trade away of Ray Allen, a first round draft pick for an old Gary Payton and Desmond Mason. In a number of other dumb trades involving Mason and other players acquired, the Bucks end up trading Allen and 3 first round draft picks for a tall South Korean player that nobody can remember and some other role player.
ReplyDeletethose Chris Webber SacKings were great! as a Laker fan, it must have aged me ten years "gettin thru Sacramento" back in the day. Great Kings team(s) 4 sure!
ReplyDeleteKobe was pretty stubborn about not going to Charlotte - threatening to rather sit out a year and re-enter the draft and he wasn't a player that came from a poor family. Charlotte could of called his bluff and tried to get him come in, but it's not like they just flat out blew it. Kobe was a whiny baby b4 he ever played an NBA game.
ReplyDeletepeople dont realize that before the draft Kobe said specifically he would never play in charlotte and wanted to play for LA
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