NBA Trades: The Best Trade Made in the History of Every Team

The NBA owners and players are holding the fans hostage, so that means there is very little news going on for a little old NBA writer like myself to babble on about.

Summers are supposed to be full of baseball with NFL and NBA player movement creating a wonderful whirlwind of speculation and hope for the teams involved in between at-bats.  Now we are stuck with NFL players and owners arguing over how to split more money than you could win in a dozen lotteries and the NBA players and owners sniping at each other over silly little differences.

So, instead of being surrounded by hope and joy, we have to settle for court cases and nothingness, which is fine by me—I can survive...right?

Well, to fill the void I often have to look at the past, which is precisely what I want to do today, looking back at the best trade in the history of each team.

Atlanta Hawks: A Slice of Pie for Dominique Wilkins

The Utah Jazz drafted Dominique Wilkins out of Georgia in 1982, and obviously they had no clue what they had in the man because they traded him before the 1982 season even started.

Wilkins was shipped to Atlanta for John Drew and Freeman Williams who combined to play four years at Utah.

Dominique, meanwhile, went on to be arguably the best basketball player ever to wear an Atlanta Hawks uniform and keep the people of Atlanta entertained with his amazing athleticism for years.

Boston Celtics: Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale out of Nowhere

The Boston Celtics ended up with seven-footer Joe Barry Carroll in the 1980 draft, but they didn't have much interest in keeping him as they shipped him off before the season started.

Carroll turned into Robert Parrish and rookie Kevin McHale, both of which went on to form the core of the 1980's Celtics that won gobs of games to go along with three titles.

Charlotte Bobcats: The Beginning of the Franchise

The Charlotte Bobcats were formed in 2004 with a supplemental draft, but they didn't think that would be enough to allow them to hit the ground running.

So, the Bobcats shipped their first- and second-round picks that season for the Los Angeles Clippers' first rounder which was No. 2 overall, and ended up being Emeka Okafor.

Okafor was never an amazing player for the Bobcats, but he was good enough to get them off to a decent start compared to other expansion franchises in the past.

Chicago: Pippen for Polynice

This trade is historically good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) for the Chicago Bulls.

In the 1987 draft, the Chicago Bulls shipped Olden Polynice (their draft pick that year) plus a few other draft picks for Scottie Pippen.

Pippen didn't amount to much in the NBA, just your average, run-of-the-mill Hall of Famer with six championships.

Ho-hum.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Mark Price for a Pick

Look through the Cleveland Cavaliers' history and you will find 10 times as many bad trades as you will good ones, and most of that is thanks to Ted Stepien who thought high first-round picks were overrated (who needs James Worthy anyway?).

However, they got the better end of this one, sending a second-round pick that ended up being Jeff Hodge (yes the Jeff Hodge) for Mark Price.

Price became their point guard for the next decade and wound up being one of the better guards of the '90s.

Dallas Mavericks: A Tractor for a Superstar

Bring this up to any Bucks fan and they will involuntarily twitch with rage, but back in 1998 the Milwaukee Bucks drafted Dirk Nowitzki.  Later that same day, they traded him for Robert Traylor and Pat Garrity.

Dirk went on to lead the Dallas Mavericks to the promised land and their first championship in team history while the Tractor didn't do the same for Milwaukee.

Denver Nuggets: An Englishman in Denver

After three-and-a-half years in the league, Alex English was starting to establish himself as a good player, but he was not yet a superstar.

In 1980, however, the Indiana Pacers traded him and Carl Nicks for George McGinnis, who was a good player in his own right, but would only play three more years in the league.

English would go on to lead the league in scoring twice and be the face of the Nuggets franchise for ages.

Detroit Pistons: Big Bill Comes to Town

The 1980's Pistons were some of the toughest and meanest teams in the history of the NBA, thanks in part to the edge that Bill Laimbeer brought to the team.

Detroit traded for Laimbeer in 1982 along with Kenny Carr for Paul Mokeski, Phil Hubbard and a few draft picks that turned out to be nothing.

The Pistons would go on to win two championships later in the decade with Laimbeer playing a huge role in both of them.

Golden State Warriors: 2007 Squad Is Set

The first round upset of the Dallas Mavericks would have never happened if it weren't for a risky trade-deadline move by the Warriors.

Golden State sent Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and a rusty spoon to Indiana for Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and a rusty knife in 2007.

This trade made the Warriors a much more up-tempo team and brought Baron Davis away from the buffet table long enough to upset the Mavericks.

Houston Rockets: Gliding to the Title

The Houston Rockets had won a title in 1994, but that doesn't mean they were content with the team they had, especially with Clyde Drexler on the block.

They traded Otis Thorpe and some table scraps to Portland for The Glide at the trade deadline in 1995 and ended up winning their second straight title thanks to it (and to Michael Jordan taking a baseball sabbatical).

Indiana Pacers: Reggie Gets a Point Guard

In 1994, Reggie Miller got a running mate in Mark Jackson (along with Greg Minor) for a guy named Erik, a guy named Malik and a guy named Pooh.

What they got is a guy who is a top-three point guard of the '90s and the second-leading assist man in NBA history for a few years.

Los Angeles Clippers: Getting Rid of Ferry

This may be the only case in the history of the NBA of the Los Angeles Clippers, realizing they had bungled a draft pick before anyone else realized it.

They drafted Danny Ferry with the second overall pick in 1989 and, rather than seeing if the chubby white guy who couldn't do much of anything well was a complete mistake, they flipped him for Ron Harper.

Harper played four years for the Clippers and helped them get to the playoffs in two of them, which is basically the same as saying he helped a homeless man get to the moon.

Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe for Cheap

Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac—we've all heard this one before.

The Lakers have pulled off some fast ones in the past (Pau Gasol, Wilt, Kareem), but never anything like the shakedown that was the trade for Kobe Bryant.

He was drafted by the Hornets in 1996 and then traded a few weeks later for Divac straight up.  All he did was go on to win five titles, so I'd say this trade is still too close to call.

Memphis Grizzlies: The Emperor Comes to Town

The Memphis Grizzlies don't have a very long history, and the guy who may be the best player in their history came to them via trade, so that makes this one an easy choice.

The Hawks drafted him third in 2001, but quickly flipped him after drafting him for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jamaal Tinsely.

Pau would win the Rookie of the Year award in 2002 and go on to be one of the best scoring big men in the league.

Miami Heat: Fueling Up with Diesel

First off, I refuse to look at the LeBron James and Chris Bosh sign-and-trades as any form of trades, they were hoodwinks and bamboozles respectively.

So, that leaves the trade for Shaquille O'Neal, which saw the Heat only give up Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and some picks.

The Heat, meanwhile, got the most dominant center in the league and went on to win the 2006 Championship with Shaq down low.

Milwaukee Bucks: Big O Brings Big Title

The Milwaukee Bucks were hurting for a title with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fresh out of UCLA.

They failed to win anything in his rookie year, but the following year the Bucks traded Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson for Oscar Robertson and would go on to win their only championship that season.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Garnett Gets Running Mates

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't been in the league for a large amount of time either, but they have had their fair share of success.

After frustrations in the playoffs with Kevin Garnett as their franchise player, they decided to go out and get him a legitimate starting point guard in Sam Cassell.

For Cassell, all they had to give up was Anthony Peeler and Joe Smith, and Cassell would be the player to man the point in their run to the Western Conference Finals in 2004.

New Jersey Nets: Head Case for Team Player

The New Jersey Nets had Stephon Marbury as their starting point guard for a little over two years, and in 2001 they had had enough.

Marbury was traded in the summer of 2001 along with Johnny Newman and a guy from Mali to the Suns for Jason Kidd and Chris Dudley.

Kidd would be the face of their franchise for the next six years and would lead them to back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals as soon as he arrived, coming up short both times.

New Orleans Hornets: Paul Gets a Big Man

The Hornets have been around as the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets and Oklahoma City Hornets, and they haven't made any huge trades in any city.

Their biggest one recently was a trade where they sent P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith to the Bulls for Tyson Chandler, a promising young center.

New York Knicks: Championship Team Set

Most of the Knicks who were a part of both of their championship seasons in the '70s, were homegrown guys, but one player they did go out of town to get was Dave DeBusschere.

In 1968, the Knicks traded Walt Bellamy and Howard Komvines for DeBusschere who would be a top four player for them in both 1970 and 1973.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Championship Piece and Then Some

The Seattle Supersonics were on the verge of breaking through in 1978, and they wanted to add a piece to put them over the top.

They traded a 1981 draft pick for Lonnie Shelton and a future draft pick.

Lonnie Shelton would go on to help them win the championship in 1979 as a solid rotation player, while the pick went on to be even better than they could have hoped.

With the 1979 first-round pick that they got, the Supersonics would go on to draft Vinnie Johnson.

Orlando Magic: Shaq Gets Hardaway

In 1993, the Golden State Warriors really wanted Chris Webber...like more than any team has ever wanted any player before.

They called up the Magic and offered their 1993 first-round pick (who was already Penny Hardaway) along with their 1996, 1998 and 2000 first-round picks.  Those picks turned into Todd Fuller, Vince Carter and Mike Miller along the way.

This gave the Magic (besides a wealth of future picks) a running mate for the young Shaquille O'Neal and the hopes of capitalizing on a Michael Jordan-free Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia 76ers: Wilt Comes Back to Philly

Wilt Chamberlain started off his career with the Philadelphia Warriors who eventually moved to San Francisco, but was later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

For Wilt, the Sixers had to give up Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann and Leo Schaffer, plus a little bit of cheddar.

It was a small price to pay, however, as it ended up giving the Sixers the 1967 NBA Championship.

Phoenix Suns: Chuck for Very Little

Philadelphia was starting to get a bit tired of Charles Barkley's act by the end of the 1992 season so they decided to trade him.

The Sixers traded the Round Mound of Rebound for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry which rid them of the distraction and gave the Suns a player to build a team around.

Portland Trail Blazers: Owens for a Pick

We all know how the 1984 NBA Draft worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers, but that doesn't take away how valuable that pick was in the most important draft of the 1980s.

The Indiana Pacers traded their '84 pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Tom Owens, a center who played a season for them, and the Blazers turned that pick into Sam Bowie.

That just means one thing, Pacers fans: you could have had Michael Jordan.  Go ahead and sob, nobody will judge you here.

Sacramento Kings: Getting the Most out of Webber

The early 2000's Sacramento Kings teams were some of the most exciting and fierce teams I have ever watched, and none of it would have been possible were it not for Chris Webber.

The Bullets had given up on him by 1998 and they sent him away to Sacramento for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe.

Sacramento just got a franchise player, and throw in a little Mike Bibby and Doug Christie along with some Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac and you have the best team of the decade never to win a title.

San Antonio Spurs: A Bad Boy from the Bad Boys

Most (if not all) of the players who populated the championship Spurs teams since 1999 have all been either signed in free agency or drafted.

However, there is one guy they traded for leading up to their glory days who drew some interest around the league.

For Sean Elliott, David Wood and a draft pick, the Spurs got a nasty big man from the Pistons, along with a few draft picks.

Toronto Raptors: Vin-Sanity

Vince Carter (or the pick that would end up being used to draft him) was traded four times before he stepped foot on a basketball court.

Eventually, however, the Toronto Raptors traded Antawn Jamison to the Golden State Warriors for him and cash, bringing the high-flier north of the border.

Utah Jazz: The Pistol Plays Some Jazz

Sure, in his days with the Jazz, Pistol Pete's teams were never very good, but that doesn't mean the people were sad to see him in New Orleans.

He was traded from the Hawks to the Jazz in 1974 for Bob Kauffman and Dan Meminger and about 28 draft picks, but it gave the people of New Orleans the most electrifying player in the game to watch.

Washington Wizards: Elvin Hayes Leads to a Title

The Baltimore Bullets improbably won a Championship back in 1978 despite finishing with a 44-38 record.

However, none of this would have been possible if not for a trade they had made back in 1972 for Elvin Hayes.

They gave up just Jack Marin to the Rockets for Hayes who would end up being the leading scorer for their '78 Championship team.