NBA trades can either help a struggling team attain their desire to be competitive or cripple a plausible contender for the foreseeable future due to bad acquisitions. It can launch a career for a struggling player if the right opportunity comes along his way. Teams also swap unhappy stars for a fresh start with a new team, but this often ends in a disaster.
Franchises often trade future draft picks for much more proven players, but these yet-eligible players could possibly turn out as stars as well in the long run.
Today, we will list each NBA team’s worst trade acquisitions through the years. We will include every lopsided and baffling trade throughout the history of the league.
Atlanta Hawks – Trading Away Bill Russell For Ed Macauley & Cliff Hagan
Back in their time in St. Louis, the Hawks were eager to trade for Macauley and Hagan for the number 2 pick in the 1956 NBA draft. The problem is, the player the Hawks traded to the Celtics was a guy named Bill Russell.
Boston Celtics – Trading Joe Johnson For Rodney Rogers & Tony Delk
This trade seemingly looked like a steal for Boston as both players were solid role players in their time with the team. However, they gave up on then-rookie Joe Johnson, who eventually scored more than 20,000 points in his NBA career.
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Brooklyn Nets – Acquiring Ben Simmons For James Harden
The Nets thought they could rejuvenate Ben’s career after trading him for James Harden. But seeing Simmons play last season wielded disastrous results for the team. Those off-season workouts from his camp are no longer fooling anybody anymore.
Charlotte Hornets – Trading Kobe Bryant For Vlade Divac
To be fair, this wasn’t Vlade’s fault and he did issue a retirement threat to the Lakers if they pushed through with his trade to Charlotte. The kid who he was eventually traded with was a high school kid named Kobe.
Chicago Bulls – Trading Elton Brand For Tyson Chandler
In all honesty, Chandler had a decent career in the league and even won a championship with Dallas in 2011. But the Bulls really traded their budding franchise player, Elton Brand, to the Clippers. Brand went on to become one of the best power forwards in the 2000s.
Cleveland Cavaliers – Going All-In For Darius Miles
The Cavs were essentially going all in for Miles before the 2002 NBA draft. They traded their starting point guard, the well-respected Andre Miller, to get the former high school phenom.
Dallas Mavericks – Dealing Detlef Schrempf For Herb Williams
Williams’ time with the Mavs was fairly forgettable. The team gave up too soon on Detlef Schrempf after just three years because they couldn’t find any playing time for him.
Denver Nuggets – Trading Future 1st Rounder For T.R. Dunn
The Nuggets were ecstatic when they got their hands on then-promising rookie Dunn by trading their future 1983 first-round pick. The sad part is, when 1983 came around, that pick became Clyde Drexler and the rest is history.
Detroit Pistons – Trading Chauncey Billups For An Old Allen Iverson
In a rare swap of All-star caliber point guards, Iverson was on the wrong end of this deal. Billups went ahead and balled out for the Nuggets, while the aging Iverson only lasted a single season with Detroit.
Golden State Warriors – Reviving The Celtics Dynasty For Joe Barry Carroll & Rickey Brown
The Warriors acquiring both seriously impacted the league in the 1980s. Their trade partner, the Boston Celtics, had the first overall pick in 1980, but they dealt it (Joe Barry Carroll) along with the 13th pick (Rickey Brown) for the third overall pick (Kevin McHale) and Robert Parish.
The Celtics would go on to win three of the next six NBA titles as a result.
Houston Rockets – Trading Away Their Team For Past-His-Prime Charles Barkley
Houston gave up basically their entire championship rotation for an old and past prime version of Sir Charles. Was a three-peat on the cards if they stuck to their guys such as Sam Cassell and Robert Horry? That’s plausible.
Indiana Pacers – Getting George Hill For Kawhi Leonard's Draft Pick
This one still haunts Indiana to this day. They traded their 15th pick in the 2011 NBA draft which was none other than Kawhi Leonard in exchange for Spurs backup combo guard, George Hill. The Spurs fleeced them big time with this one.
Los Angeles Clippers – Trading Away Baron Davis…And An Eventual 1st Overall PIck
The Clippers wanted to get rid of an often-injured Baron Davis and his huge contract so bad in 2011 that they happily traded him and an unprotected first-round pick to the Cavs for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
That unprotected first rounder? It ended up being a first-overall pick, which the Cavs used to select Kyrie Irving.
Los Angeles Lakers – Selling The Farm For Dwight Howard
This was a complicated four-team trade in 2012, but the Lakers basically surrendered their bench rotation and a plethora of future draft picks for Howard. Sadly, the bright lights of LA were too bright for Dwight and he only lasted one season with the team.
Memphis Grizzlies – Losing Kevin Love For O.J. Mayo
The Grizzlies already had their hands on UCLA’s Kevin Love in the 2008 NBA draft, but after a chaotic eight-team trade, they lost the talented forward to acquire the underwhelming guard, Mayo.
Miami Heat – Mario Chalmers For Beno Udrih & Jarnell Stokes
For a championship-caliber point guard like Mario Chalmers, the Heat should have gotten way more compensation other than Udrih and Stokes. Unfortunately, nobody won this trade when we look at it today.
Milwaukee Bucks – Acquiring Robert Traylor For Dirk Nowitzki At The Draft
Milwaukee was ecstatic when they landed Traylor in exchange for the unproven Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity in the 1998 NBA draft. This is considered one of the biggest heists in NBA history.
Minnesota Timberwolves – Dealing Sam Cassell For Marko Jaric
The Wolves unexpectedly traded a recently named All-star Sam Cassell to the Clippers in exchange for Marko Jaric in a bid to get their backcourt younger. As we all know now, this trade haunted Minnesota for years.
New Orleans Pelicans – Trading CP3 For Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon & Chris Kaman
All three were decent players for the Pelicans, but they had to give up a disgruntled Chris Paul hastily to the Clippers after months of speculation. Paul is a future HOF and this trade was a disaster for New Orleans at the time.
New York Knicks – Getting Keith Van Horn For Latrell Sprewell
Dolan had enough of Sprewell’s antics and decided to trade the fan-favorite to Minnesota for the underwhelming Keith Van Horn. The former 2nd overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft only played 47 games for the Knicks.
Oklahoma City Thunder – Trading Scottie Pippen For Olden Polynice At The Draft
While Polynice enjoyed a 14-year career in the league, the then-Seattle SuperSonics were robbed blatantly by the Bulls as they got their hands on a then-unproven Scottie Pippen, who became one of the best small forwards in the history of the league.
Orlando Magic – Trading Away Tobias Harris For Brandon Jennings & Ersan Ilyasova
Tobias Harris was starting to ball out with Orlando but was still dealt for the overrated Jennings and career journeyman Ilyasova. The move didn’t move any needles for Orlando in their post-Howard era.
Philadelphia 76ers – Dealing Charles Barkley For Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang & Tim Perry
Not to disrespect the three, but their careers aren’t remotely comparable to Charles Barkley’s. The Sixers didn’t get anything close to a return for their franchise player but it was a necessary trade for the team at the time because of Barkley’s public outbursts.
Phoenix Suns – Trading An Up-&-Coming Jason Kidd For Stephon Marbury
There was not a lot of hate for Jason Kidd and Stephon Marbury’s swap in 2001, but looking at it years later, this was as lopsided as it gets. Kidd found another gear to elevate his game while Marbury’s star quickly dimmed in the mid-2000s.
Portland Trail Blazers – Giving Up On Jermaine O'Neal For Dale Davis
Davis was a solid big man in his career but the Blazers gave up too soon on a young Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal immediately flourished in his time with Indiana after the trade.
Sacramento Kings – Trading Oscar Robertson For Charlie Paulk & Flynn Robinson
The exchange of these two lesser-known players for Oscar Robertson in 1970 still baffles fans to this day. Rumors have swirled wildly why this trade even happened in the first place and Roberston has stayed mum about the issue all these years.
San Antonio Spurs – Getting Will Purdue For Dennis Rodman
Rodman was becoming a headache for the Spurs and took the chance to swap him for Chicago’s Will Purdue. Turns out that Scottie and Mike could ‘control’ Rodman’s behavior en route to winning a three-peat from 1996 to 1998.
Toronto Raptors – Trading Vince Carter For Alonzo Mourning, Aaron Williams & Eric Williams
Mourning was supposedly the centerpiece of Vince Carter’s ousting in Canada, but the Raptors were forced to waive him after he refused to play for them after the trade — which means the Raps essentially traded their best player in franchise history for Aaron and Eric Williams.
Utah Jazz – Trading Dominique Wilkins For Two Players & $1-Million Cash
Utah’s biggest mistake was their lack of communication with Dominique Wilkins’ camp ahead of the 1982 NBA draft. He was not interested in playing for the team and the Jazz had no choice but to trade him to Atlanta for John Drew, Freeman Williams and $1-million cash, just months after they selected him 3rd overall.
Washington Wizards – Losing Chris Webber For Mitch Richmond & Otis Thorpe
When Sacramento swapped Richmond and Thorpe in exchange for Chris Webber in 1998, this was widely viewed as an even trade. But Richmond was exiting his prime years as a member of the Wizards and Webber was just 25 at the time. Chris Webber’s maturity eventually caught on and catapulted the lowly Kings into title contention in the early 2000s.
