Ten Worst Trades in NBA History
Written by B-Dub, Tuesday February 16 2010
With the NBA's trade deadline looming this week I thought it would be an appropriate time to look at the all-time worst trades in the history of the league. So here are my ten worst trades in the history of the NBA.
10. Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns (1992).
I know Barkley basically forced his way out of Philly, but the Sixers got nothing in return for one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. The Sixers received Andrew Lang, Tim Perry and Jeff Hornacek from Phoenix in return for Sir Charles. Like I said, nothing. If not for the presence of Michael Jordan, Barkley's Suns teams may have won a title or two. Still the Sixers got robbed. Any knucklehead can score and obviously any knucklehead can make a bad trade.
9. Portland Trailblazers trade Moses Malone (1976).
After taking Malone in the ABA dispersal draft the Blazers traded his rights to the Buffalo Braves for a first round draft pick. Buffalo then turned around six days later and traded his rights to the Houston Rockets for two first round picks. It's bad enough that the Blazers traded a future Hall of Famer, but then another team turns around and trades him for even more? That's just terrible. Malone went on to win two MVP awards in Houston and another MVP award when he led the Sixers to his only NBA title in 1983.
8. Seattle Sonics trade Scottie Pippen to Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice (1989).
The Sonics also got a second round pick and the option to swap first round picks in 1989, but that hardly matters. Pippen turned out to be the perfect "Robin" to Michael Jordan's "Batman" and they won six Championships together. Polynice played for five teams in his 13-year NBA career, including two different stints in Seattle. Yeah, like that made it better.
7. Milwaukee Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the L.A. Lakers (1975).
The Bucks sent Kareem and Walt Wesley to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgemann, Brian Winters and Dave Meyers. Honestly I had to look those guys up. Obviously none of them had the career that Kareem did. Kareem won six NBA Championships. He won six MVP awards. And he went to 19 All-Star Games. Not to mention he was quite the movie star. Who could forget his performance in Airplane? "I bust my buns every night. Why don't you tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes." Classic. "Roger, Roger".
6. New Jersey Nets sell "Dr. J" to the Philadelphia 76ers (1976).
Nets owner Roy Boe sold Julius "Dr. J" Erving to the Sixers for $3 million. After completing the deal, Sixers owner Fitz Dixon called Erving "The Babe Ruth of basketball", an obvious reference to the infamous trade between the Red Sox and Yankees. Erving took the Sixers to three NBA Finals and won one Championship and an MVP award in his time in Philly. He also invented the "Slam Dunk". If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google "Dr. J dunks from free throw line in 1976 All-Star game Dunk Contest, or the 'Rock the Baby' dunk over Michael Cooper." Nobody flew like the Doctor. He also starred in the best basketball movie of all time, "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh." Nets season-ticket holders were so mad that they sued the team and got their money back.
5. Milwaukee Bucks trade Dirk Nowitzki to Dallas Mavericks for Robert Traylor (1988).
Nowitzki is a nine-time All-Star and won an MVP award. Robert "Tractor" Traylor got three years probation for his role money laundering for a big-time drug trafficker a few years ago and I believe he is currently playing professionally in Puerto Rico. Both were picked in the 1988 draft and then traded for each other. The deal is even worse when you consider that the Bucks also drafted Pat Garrity and threw him in the deal for Traylor and the Mavericks then turned around and traded Garrity to the Phoenix Suns for backup point guard Steve Nash. Yes, that Steve Nash.
4. New Orleans Jazz Trade First Rounder to Lakers for Gail Goodrich (1976).
I know what you're saying, so what? Well when you consider that the first round pick turned out to be Magic Johnson you get the idea. This wasn't a normal trade though. Goodrich was an established star for the Lakers in 1976, when he signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Jazz. (Yes, the Jazz were originally from New Orleans. The name makes more sense to you now doesn't it?) Per league rules in 1976, the Lakers were due compensation for losing a veteran free agent. The teams agreed on first round picks in 1978 and 1979. The Lakers used that 1979 first rounder, the first overall selection, on Magic. Goodrich was a great player, but Magic was a Hall of Famer. Magic won five Championships in nine appearances in the Finals, including being the Finals MVP as a rookie (against my Sixers dammit). He won 3 MVP awards. He appeared in 12 All-Star games. And he is the all-time assists leader in NBA history.
3. Golden State trades Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to Boston Celtics (1980).
Actually Golden State only traded Parish to the Celtics, but they sent along the third overall pick in the draft that the Celtics used to pick Kevin McHale. The Celtics gave the Warriors the first overall pick, which turned out to be injury-prone Joe Barry Carroll and Ricky Brown. Parish and McHale helped the Celtics win three NBA Championships and had 16 All-Star appearances between them. This is why the Golden State Warriors are the Golden State Warriors.
2. Philadelphia 76ers trade Wilt Chamberlain to the Lakers (1968).
I don't know what pisses me off more, the fact that my Sixers are on the wrong side of bad trades so often, or that the Lakers are always fleecing other teams. Anyway the Sixers traded arguably the greatest player in the history of the NBA for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff, none of whom did anything. At the very least Wilt was the most dominant player of all time. For those of you who think Shaq was unstoppable in his prime, Wilt was 7-1 and 250 lbs as a rookie. He was up over 300 lbs with the Lakers and would have absolutely embarrassed Shaq.
Wilt won two Championships, four MVP awards and was the Rookie of the Year. He rewrote the NBA record book. The even had to change the rules, by widening the lane, to make it harder for him to score, unlike when they changed the rules to allow Michael Jordan to walk every single time he ever touched the ball during his entire career. Wilt also famously scored 100 points in a game and bedded 20,000 women. I'm guessing the trade to L.A. help with the bedding count.
1. Charlotte Hornets trade Kobe Bryant to L.A. Lakers for Vlade Divac (1996).
Kobe's career isn't even over yet and he's already won four Championships. He has won an MVP award, gone to 12 All-Star games and has won the scoring title twice. Kobe might be a scumbag of a human being, but he's one of the greatest basketball players ever. He even proved he could lead a team to the title when he won without Shaq. And Kobe was traded for a guy who only averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in his two years in Charlotte. I know Kobe forced the trade because he didn't want to play in Charlotte, but Vlade Divac? That's all they could get for him? That brain-fart earns the Hornets the top spot on this list.
Let the debates begin.
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I must be a genius, since nobody ever disagrees with me.