A good trade can set up an NBA franchise for years to come, or at least add a few wins to their total at the end of the year. On the flip side, a bad trade can set back a franchise that was ascending and completely derail their plans of chasing after a championship.
Here are some of the worst trades in NBA history that completely changed the team for the worse.
10: Denver Nuggets Trade Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks
It was known that Carmelo wanted out of Denver, and the Nuggets granted his wish by trading him to the Knicks. The Knicks traded 4 players (which included good young players such as Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari) a 1st Round Pick and 2nds for Carmelo and other players.
It was a puzzling trade at the time because although Carmelo was an excellent player, there was a belief that he would just sign in New York at the end of the season when he became a free agent. Instead, the Knicks traded all their depth for Anthony and never really sniffed a deep post-season run with him leading the way.
9: Lakers Deal Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat
It’s widely known that there was a power struggle in L.A. between Shaq and the late Kobe Bryant, and it finally came to an end when the Lakers decided to trade O’Neal to the Heat and end the pairing of one of the most dominant duos of all time.
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Shaq would team up with Dwyane Wade and won another NBA title in 2006 while the Lakers took a step back for a few years while trying to figure out what life was like without the dominant duo together.
8: Raptors Trade Vince Carter to the New Jersey Nets
“He was to Canada what Michael Jordan was to the Bulls” said former Raptors forward Donyell Marshall at the time of the trade, and it tells you all you needed to know. Carter was electrifying and brought life to the neighbors up north.
The Raptors received Alonzo Mourning (who refused to play for any other team than the Miami Heat) and two first round picks that amounted to basically nothing. It didn’t help Toronto that Carter actively was trying to be traded, but its hard to believe that is all they got in return for a player like Air Canada.
7: Bucks Trade Dirk Nowitzki to the Mavericks on Draft Night
A little-known fact, Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki was drafted by the Bucks and traded on draft night from Milwaukee to Dallas for Robert “Tractor” Traylor. He was a top international player at the time, but Milwaukee clearly didn’t know they had made a big mistake.
Dirk would go on to be the best player in Mavs history and lead them to a championship in 2011 while the late Traylor would only start 73 games in his 7-year career.
6: Lakers Send Draft Picks for Steve Nash
The Lake Show needed to win now with an aging Kobe Bryant and decided to trade two 1st Round Picks and two 2nd Round Picks to acquire the 38-year-old Nash. The trade backfired, and Nash ended up playing 2 injury riddled seasons in L.A. and only played in 65 games. The Lakers weren’t very good and ended up in the lottery the next few years afterwards.
5: Pacers Trade Kawhi Leonard on Draft Night
The Pacers traded the rights to Leonard for George Hill and it may have cost them big time. Although Hill was a solid player, Kawhi developed to be one of the best players in the NBA. A Paul George and Kawhi Leonard pairing just might have been enough to get through Lebron James in the East.
With just George, the Pacers never found true success in the East and failed to do much of anything in the post-season.
4: Minnesota Timberwolves Trade for Jazz C Rudy Gobert
The most recent trade on this list, it was puzzling at the time and looks just as puzzling now. They traded 4 1sts and Up and Coming C Walker Kessler along with others for Gobert and the T-Wolves are already considering a change.
The two big lineup with Karl Anthony Towns and Gobert just hasn’t worked and has clogged up the lane for one of the best young stars in the NBA, Anthony Edwards. The T-Wolves look like a team bound for mediocrity unless they change something.
3: OKC Thunder Trade James Harden to Houston
Who would’ve thought Harden would turn out to be the player he did in Houston? Trading Harden was the beginning of the end for Oklahoma City, and they wouldn’t reach another NBA Finals with just the duo of Westbrook and KD. Harden went on to become arguably the best player in Rockets history and set multiple records for the franchise.
OKC didn’t get anything of value in return for Harden and ended up trading KD and Westbrook a few years later.
2: Lakers Fleece Hornets for Kobe Bryant
Just about everyone knows by now, but Kobe Bryant originally was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets right out of high school in 1996. After the two sides encountered contract disputes that couldn’t be resolved, the Hornets traded Bryant for Vlade Divac. Although Divac was a solid player, he was nothing compared to Bryant.
Kobe led the Lakers to 5 championships and multiple records and became a top 10 player in the history of the NBA.
1: Nets Trade the Farm for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce
Widely considered to be the worst trade in the history of the NBA, this trade set the Nets back for a decade. The Nets traded for a 36- and 37-year-old Pierce and Garnett, respectively, and traded a haul of players and 3 valuable 1st round picks.
The Nets ended up having minimal success and bottomed out in just a few years, while the Celtics used two of the 1st Round Picks acquired in this trade to draft franchise pillars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A trade that completely changed the future for both teams, and will still have an impact for years to come.
