Russell Westbrook to the Lakers and Recent NBA Blockbuster Trades That Backfired
Trading for NBA stars is a practice that generally signals a step in the right direction or invites excitement in torrents.
Yes, the picks and prospects sent out as part of these blockbuster acquisitions are often over-romanticized by rival fanbases who also wanted said star, people with warring agendas and "But those picks and prospects could become anything and anyone!" junkies. For the most part, though, the arrival of red-carpet names signals a contender attempting to push themselves over the top or a darling ascendant putting on their big-person pants and ratcheting up both their immediate ceiling and stakes.
Those are good things! But the intent is not always actualized. Some of these star acquisitions backfire. Teams aren't as good as expected. The resulting core doesn't stay together as long as planned. The fit never made sense and, not surprisingly, doesn't ever wind up making sense. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
This exercise will spotlight the most notable swings and misses in recent memory. In this case, "recent memory" will refer to 2019 through present day. That gives us five trade-deadline cycles to work through, not including this year's Feb. 8 extravaganza.
Throughout this process, please remember we are talking about star arrivals only. The selling teams will not be thrust under the spotlight, even if it turns out they sold too early or too low.
Notable Exclusions
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Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings (2022)
This blockbuster remains proof of multiple truths. These realities are as follows:
- Sabonis has been great in Sacramento.
- There's no way the Kings would trade Tyrese Haliburton for Sabonis if they knew the former would become an All-NBA staple.
- There's also no way Haliburton ever gets the degree of agency in Sacramento to evolve and explode as he has on the Indiana Pacers.
- "The Kings could have dealt De'Aaron Fox instead!" is classic revisionist dreck that both oversells Fox's trade value at the time and undersells his own transformation into an All-NBA player who doesn't actually trail Haliburton in the league's star-player hierarchy by insurmountable margins.
- "But the trade basically led to the Kings potentially overpaying Sabonis or at least paying him before they absolutely needed to pay him!" OK, cool. I'm sure nobody at all would have lampooned Sacramento for shelling out tons of money to preserve their two-point-guard backcourt dynamic if they held serve.
- "Did the organization do enough to optimize the coexistence of Hali and Fox?" is a fair critique. But it's not a be-all when the Kings still ended up with two All-NBAers anyway, and when the Pacers have yet to parlay their window with Hali into anything more substantive than (much deserved) pomp and promise.
And that, my dear readers, is why the Sabonis trade doesn't qualify as a star-acquisition-gone-wrong.
Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves (2022)
Make no bones about it, the Timberwolves overpaid for Rudy Gobert. When you include Walker Kessler, they gave up the equivalent of five first-round picks and one first-round swap, not to mention three useful players in Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley.
That opportunity cost is reserved for, like, top-10 players—top-15 players at worst. Gobert is neither. Taking on the balance of his contract in tandem with Karl-Anthony Towns' extension shoehorned the Wolves into a finite window.
With new deals kicking in for Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels next season, Minnesota is up against the ultra-restrictive, potentially untenable second luxury-tax apron. There's no way both Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson, unrestricted free agents this summer, will be back next year. Keeping even one of them could culminate in trading one or more of Gobert, KAT, McDaniels and Naz Reid.
Everything to come will be #worthit if the Timberwolves make a ruckus in the playoffs. I'm not talking about a single-series victory. The conference finals or beyond is the floor of satisfaction. And guess what? They just might be good enough to do it—to maybe, just maybe, even win the whole damn thing.
So, for now, we can't say this trade backfired. At this moment, it's a blatant, future-crimping overpay that might just work out as intended.
Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns (2023)
Please stay off various subreddits if you're looking for this move to be included.
Notable Trades That Do Not Fit Within the 2019-or-Later Window
- Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics (2017)
- Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves (2017)
- Trae Young to the Atlanta Hawks (2018)
Nikola Vučević to the Chicago Bulls (2021)
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The Trade
Chicago Bulls Received: Al-Farouq Aminu, Nikola Vučević
Orlando Magic Received: Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., 2021 first-round pick (Franz Wagner at No. 8), 2023 first-round pick (Jett Howard at No. 11)
Forking over two first-rounders for Vučević seemed like a miscalculation in the moment, both in terms of inbound player value and the Bulls' place inside the league's hierarchy. It turns out the move was much worse than that.
A case can be made that Vučević, while solid, currently ranks as the third best player in this deal, behind Wagner and WCJ. The latter's injury history makes this debatable.
Not up for argument: The Bulls' total failure since. You can't give up WCJ and two lottery picks—Orlando drafted Jett Howard with Chicago's No. 11 selection in 2023—and then proceed to make one playoff appearance and bag a single postseason victory over the next four opportunities.
That's exactly what the Bulls are on pace to do when baking this season into the equation. They might back their way into the play-in tournament and maybe even earn an actual playoff cameo. To what end, though? A sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics?
And let's say Chicago does scrap and claw its way to another first-round exit. That's not exactly impressive. It likely means the Bulls held onto one or both of Zach LaVine and soon-to-be-free-agent DeMar DeRozan—which, in turn, likely means the organization is consigning itself to more of the same moving forward, if not a subsequent consolidation gamble that tethers them to the bottom of the middle for even longer.
Semantics could technically spare Chicago from inclusion within this exercise. Treating Vučević as a "star" opens up all sorts of debates. But he did have two All-Star bids under his belt before the trade.
More importantly, the Bulls ponied up a star cost to get him. And while this deal alone isn't the sole cause of their hapless trajectory, it was clearly a mistake of mammoth proportions. Hell, even agreeing to take on Aminu's contract probably increased the opportunity cost of acquiring DeRozan from San Antonio in the summer of 2022.
Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets (2019)
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The Trade
Houston Rockets Received: Russell Westbrook
Oklahoma City Thunder Received: Chris Paul, 2021 first-round swap (top-four protection; Houston kept the No. 2 pick and drafted Jalen Green), 2024 first-round pick (top-four protection), 2025 first-round swap (top-20 protection; since adjusted to top-10 protection), 2026 first-round pick (top-four protection; becomes $1 million and a 2026 second-round pick if it doesn't convey)
This is the bad trade that just keeps on going. It was made nearly a half-decade ago, and the Rockets still haven't finished footing the bill for it.
Most understood this move was horrible in real-time. So much so, in fact, you had to wonder why the Houston made it.
The reason, allegedly, was James Harden.
CP3 apparently began to grate on him after just two seasons together. The extent to which this played a role in the transaction is debatable. But, uh, we know better. Houston kowtowed to every Harden whim while he was in town. This trade is, without question, an extension of that approach.
There's no other reasonable explanation. Even if you believe the Rockets—which pushed the dynastic Golden State Warriors to seven games in the 2018 Western Conference Finals with their CP3-Harden backcourt—were worried about a precipitous decline and spotty health bill from Paul, the cost they paid for an inferior fit speaks volumes.
Harden and Westbrook did manage to adjust well enough to win a playoff series. But they just barely dispatched the CP3-led Thunder in the first round, inside the Disney bubble, and never truly threatened to contend. (Fun fact: Oklahoma City and Houston finished with identical 44-28 records during the regular season).
That was all she wrote for the Harden-Westbrook reunion. The Rockets wound up sending Russ and a lottery-protected 2021 first that never conveyed to the Washington Wizards in exchange for John Wall—a transaction that invariably preceded, and also portended, Harden's forced trade to Brooklyn.
Houston's outlook is much brighter these days. But the remnants of this trade, the assets squandered and what could have been remain. Could Harden and CP3 have made a more convincing run together in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season and beyond? Could the Rockets have held out for a splashier deal and better-fitting co-star? Is there an alternate reality in which Houston doesn't suddenly devolve from Golden State's foremost rival into a rebuild?
James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets (2021)
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The Trade
Brooklyn Nets Received: James Harden, Cleveland's 2024 second-round pick
Cleveland Cavaliers Received: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince
Houston Rockets Received: Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, Victor Oladipo, 2021 first-round swap with Brooklyn (unexercised), Brooklyn's 2022 first-round pick (Tari Eason selected at No. 17), Milwaukee's 2022 first-round pick (via Cleveland; became MarJon Beauchamp at No. 24), 2023 first-round swap with Brooklyn (unexercised), Brooklyn's 2024 first-round pick, 2025 first-round swap with Brooklyn, Brooklyn's 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round swap with Brooklyn
Indiana Pacers Received: Caris LeVert, Houston's 2023 second-round pick (became Jalen Pickett at No. 32)
After much hemming and hawing over whether there were enough touches in Brooklyn to go around for Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets appeared to be on the inevitable-championship track with their Big Three.
So much for that.
Durant, Harden and Irving appeared in just 16 total games together amid injuries and Kyrie's refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccination. It took barely a year for the entire operation to fall apart. Harden's arrival was made official on Jan. 13, 2021. The Nets shipped him off to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2022 trade deadline.
Acquiring Harden was an extension of—and the final step in—Brooklyn's pivot away from plucky upstart to superstar-driven franchise. The gamble, on its face, was a reasonable one. In many ways, it wasn't even a gamble. When you have the opportunity to procure three top-20 players in their prime, you do it, opportunity cost be damned. Especially when two of those three stars are decidedly top-five-to-10 dudes.
Still, the Nets hitched their wagons to a trio of the league's most mercurial stars. This implosion may not have been inevitable. A global pandemic is the mother of all curveballs. But the demise of this troika—whether it was more about availability or warring principles—wasn't ever beyond the realm of possibility, either.
Brooklyn eventually undid all three of its superstar acquisitions by the 2023 trade deadline. Harden's departure, though, was by far the toughest to stomach. The Nets didn't surrender much more than cap space to land Durant and Irving in the first place. Then, when they rerouted all three, they were left holding the least impressive return for Harden—a package that amounts mostly to modest draft equity and the ghost of Ben Simmons.
I would love to give Nets general manager Sean Marks truth serum and ask him how much from this period in time he'd rewrite if given the opportunity. Would he undo the KD and Kyrie acquisitions from the jump? Simply pass on landing Harden? Opt to trade Kyrie instead of granting Harden's wish to land in Philly?
Does he think the initial Harden trade was a conspiratorial setup? That the Nets were always meant to be a layover on Harden's multi-leg trip to Philly, where his (formerly) BFF Daryl Morey awaited after a, let's say, mysterious and uncomfortable departure from Houston?
Russell Westbrook to the Lakers (2021)
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The Trade
Los Angeles Lakers Received: Russell Westbrook, Chicago's 2023 second-round pick (via Washington; became Tristan Vukčević at No. 42), 2024 second-round pick (via Washington; least favorable from Memphis and Washington), Washington's 2028 second-round pick
Brooklyn Nets Received: Rights to Nikola Milutinov, 2024 second-round pick (via Washington; more favorable from Memphis and Washington), 2025 second-round pick swap with Washington
Indiana Pacers Received: Isaiah Jackson (No. 22 pick in 2021)
San Antonio Spurs Received: Chandler Hutchison, Detroit's 2022 second-round pick (via Washington; became Christian Koloko at No. 33)
Washington Wizards Received: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Spencer Dinwiddie (sign-and-trade), Montrezl Harrell, Aaron Holiday, Kyle Kuzma, Isaiah Todd (No. 31 pick in 2021), $1 million cash (via Indiana)
Almost immediately after the Lakers won a 2020 NBA championship by surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis with complementary shooting and defense, the front office began...moving away from complementary shooting and defense in favor of on-ball relief. Going after Westbrook represented—and still represents—both the height and stupidity of this transition.
Excuses abound. LeBron can't shoulder a heavy on-ball workload forever! Does he even want to be the de facto floor general anymore?! Doesn't he talk about handing the keys over to Davis every single training camp?! And didn't he and AD push for the Westbrook trade?
Cling to these caveats all you want. It's doing nothing for you. LeBron is still running the offense in L.A. out of both necessity and optimization. And blame for the trade cannot be laid solely or in totality at the feet of AD and LeBron. Part of general manager Rob Pelinka's job is knowing when to acquiesce to his stars and when to overrule them.
Anyway, this was a move that portended disaster before the trio ever took the floor. Pretty much every preconception was proven right. The Lakers lost the minutes in which their three stars played together through 2021-22 and part of 2022-23. Though they were able to unmake the shaky dynamic ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, it cost them a 2027 first-round pick (top-four protection) to do it. And that's on top of an entire lost season during the ever-precious LeBron window.
Meanwhile, KCP went on to play a critical role in the Denver Nuggets' 2023 championship run, and Kuzma has fared well on an individual level with the Wizards. The Lakers, for their part, have never found—or tried hard enough—to recapture the functional dynamic that earned them a title. And while they are in better shape than they were post-Westbrook trade, outstripping a hopelessly hilarious, obviously futile baseline does not warrant any sort of bragging rights.
James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers
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The Trade
Philadelphia 76ers Received: James Harden, Paul Millsap
Brooklyn Nets Received: Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons, 2023 first-round pick (became Brice Sensabaugh at No. 28), 2027 first-round pick (top-eight protection through 2028; turns into 2028 second-rounder if not conveyed)
This blockbuster looks worse for the Nets at first glance. And it is. Any hope that they recouped comparable value for Harden is dead. Injuries have limited Simmons to 48 appearances since the deal, and his arrival did nothing to prevent the dissolution of the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving dyad.
That framing props up the Sixers' side of this blockbuster. Turning what has quickly become one of the league's worst contracts and a couple of firsts into Harden paid more than a modicum of dividends.
Everything, in particular, seemed hunky-dory at the beginning. Harden re-signed with Philly on a discounted one-plus-one that facilitated a trade for De'Anthony Melton and the arrivals of P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr., with a side of tampering.
In the end, though, this move blew up in the Sixers' face. They never made it past the second round, both Tucker and House became negative-value contracts, and Harden ethered team president and former best-friend-forever Daryl Morey on his way out of town.
Not only did this marriage culminate in yet another trade demand, but Philly never came close to matching the leverage it had when shopping Simmons. The Sixers eventually relented and sent Harden to his preferred destination, the L.A. Clippers, for a package built around expiring role-player contracts, two firsts, one swap, two seconds and, of course, the promise of mega cap space...at a time when star free agents don't tend to leave for nothing unless their franchise's lead basketball executive is Masai Ujiri.
Hiding behind the All-NBA-caliber rise of Tyrese Maxey and the financial brutality of the Simmons contract isn't enough cover to spare Philly from inclusion. The optics of Harden's exit were terrible, even if you think his JNCO jeans are less fireproof than Morey's slacks. More than that, the Sixers may have turned down offers for Simmons assembled around Tyrese Haliburton. Even if Hali was never truly on the table, this Harden deal still traded one uncertain trajectory for alternative mystery.
To be sure, there is a level of to-be-determinedness built into this chain of events. The upcoming trade deadline and offseason will go a long way toward rendering a more final verdict. But touting one undefined end destination over another rings hollow when you're operating on the dominant-yet-fickle timeline of Joel Embiid.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
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