Ranking the NBA's Biggest Trade Hauls of the Past 10 Years
Trades are becoming a more critical part of the NBA team-building process than ever before now that free agency seldom features A-listers hitting the open market, let alone actually leaving. That has seemingly increased the amount of assets being thrown around to get things done.
Granted, the most recent blockbuster trade isn't the best example. As ESPN's Shams Charania first reported Sunday, Kevin Durant is joining the Houston Rockets for what amounts to a pittance. But the Memphis Grizzlies getting four first-rounders and one swap for Desmond Bane? Now we're talking.
Future picks continue to shift hands on a massive scale as part of this process. Four first-rounders are starting to feel like the barrier for entry to acquire fringe All-Stars and All-NBA talents.
That got us thinking: Which blockbuster deals have brought back the biggest hauls during the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink era of trade activity?
Ranking these transactions is an inexact science, but we'll put a few safeguards in place to keep things consistent. For starters, we'll be looking at the seller's side of each deal. To use a recent trade as an example, we care more about what the Grizzlies received for shipping Bane to Orlando than the value of Bane to the Magic.
Evaluations of these returns will factor in both the number of first-round picks and prospects acquired in each package. Wherever possible, we'll also account for what became of those picks. That gives an inherent advantage to trades completed a while ago, but them's the breaks—and also, there are exceptions.
8. Memphis Grizzlies Trade Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic (2025)
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Memphis Grizzlies Received: Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, No. 16 pick, 2026 first-round pick (basically second most favorable of Orlando, Phoenix and Washington), 2028 unprotected first-round pick, 2029 first-round swap (top-two protection), 2030 unprotected first-round pick
Orlando Magic Received: Desmond Bane
Initial reactions to this deal followed the Mikal Bridges-to-New York coda: The Magic really gave up that many picks for someone to never make an All-Star Game?
Knee-jerk shock is understandable. But this is a deal with many layers.
Orlando's core is young enough that its draft-pick obligations don't get dicey until that 2029 swap. The cost paid here is also more modest when you consider Anthony (two years, $26.2 million; team option on final season) and, more notably, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (two years, $43.2 million) aren't on what you'd consider net-positive deals.
Most important of all: Bane isn't Bridges. He's closer to All-Stardom thanks to his offensive output. Over the past four years, he's clearing 20 points and four assists per game while knocking down 40-plus percent of his 7.0 three-point attempts. Stephen Curry is the only other player to hit all of those benchmarks during that span.
This isn't to pooh-pooh what the Grizzlies accepted. It's still quite a lot. Getting this many draft picks puts them in play for pretty much any other move they want to make, and at least two of those selections have real "They could land anywhere!" upside. There is also a chance, however slight, that the balance on Bane's contract (four years, $163.2 million) doesn't age too well as the league continues trekking through its Era of Aprons.
7. Utah Jazz Trade Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves (2022)
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Utah Jazz Received: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, Jarred Vanderbilt, No. 22 pick in 2022 (Walker Kessler), 2023 first-round pick (Keyonte George), 2025 first-round pick (No. 21), 2026 first-round swap, 2027 first-round pick, 2029 first-round pick
Minnesota Timberwolves Received: Rudy Gobert
This trade was largely considered a fleecing by the Jazz when it went down. Perception held steady to open the 2022-23 campaign as Minnesota struggled to find its footing and Kessler, then a rookie, had people wondering whether Utah flipped Gobert for the next Gobert.
Though the Jazz's return remains admirable, time has chipped away at its overall sheen. Kessler is so far the best player they've bagged from the move, and that's unlikely to change for at least a couple of years.
Minnesota already didn't send a high-end selection to Utah in 2025. The same will be true in 2026 and 2027 unless the organization completely implodes. The Jazz did use Beasley and Vanderbilt to secure the Los Angeles Lakers' 2027 first-rounder (top-four protection), but even that pick has forfeited some mystique following Luka Dončić's arrival (a transaction Utah actually helped facilitate).
That Timberwolves 2029 first-rounder could end up being the crown jewel of this blockbuster. Minnesota will take it. Gobert has won another Defensive Player of the Year award and helped the team make two Western Conference Finals trips since arriving.
This isn't to say the Jazz were hosed. Far from it. They still got good value, but this trade is also a reminder that we must let these pick-packed packages play out before drawing sweeping conclusions about the price paid.
6. Brooklyn Nets Trade Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks (2024)
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Brooklyn Nets Received: Bojan Bogdanović, Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton, 2025 first-round pick (No. 26), Milwaukee’s 2025 first-round pick (No. 19), 2027 unprotected first-round pick, 2028 first-round swap, 2029 unprotected first-round pick, 2031 unprotected first-round pick
New York Knicks Received: Mikal Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop, Juan Pablo Vaulet, 2026 second-round pick (least favorable from Detroit, Milwaukee and Orlando)
Giving up control of six total first-round picks (five outright, one swap) for someone who may never make an All-Star game is objectively absurd. That five of those six are unprotected is even more bonkers. Poll the Knicks front office roughly one year later, and they might be copping to some buyer's remorse.
Still, there is important context to consider here.
New York didn't send out any players of consequence to land Bridges, which drove up the number of draft picks it needed to include. Two of those selections have already conveyed, and neither one is a top-15 pick. The opportunity cost for the Knicks isn't as steep as the raw number of draft selections implies.
This is nevertheless a monster haul for the Nets. New York's picks have limited value to a point, but these obligations extend past it. Things could get interesting for Brooklyn beginning with that 2028 swap, followed by outright ownership of the Knicks' 2029 and 2031 firsts—selections that comfortably postdate the core and window around which New York is operating now.
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5. New Orleans Pelicans Trade Antony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers (2019)
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New Orleans Pelicans Received: Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, No. 4 pick in 2029 (De’Andre Hunter), 2022 first-round pick (Dyson Daniels), 2023 first-round swap (unexercised), 2025 first-round pick (No. 22)
Los Angeles Lakers Received: Anthony Davis
The benefit of hindsight here isn't really a benefit at all—for the Pelicans, anyway.
Every single asset acquired in the AD blockbuster is now elsewhere. The conversions on those assets are largely underwhelming. Let's break it down:
- De'Andre Hunter (2019): Never played a game for the Pelicans. They shipped him, Jordan Bone, Solomon Hill and a 2023 second-rounder (Seth Lundy) to the Atlanta Hawks for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes, Marcos Louzada Silva, a 2021 second-round pick (Herb Jones!) and a 2022 second-round pick (Vince Williams Jr.)
- Lonzo Ball (2021): Signed-and-traded on a four-year, $80 million deal to the Chicago Bulls for Tomáš Satoranský, Garrett Temple, a 2024 second-round pick (Adem Bona) and cash.
- Josh Hart (2022): Traded with Alexander-Walker, Louzada, Satoranský, Milwaukee's 2025 first-round pick (No. 19), a 2026 second-round pick and 2027 second-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell.
- Dyson Daniels and 2025 first-round pick (2024): Traded with Nance, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller and a 2027 first-round pick (less favorable of New Orleans and Milwaukee) for Dejounte Murray
- Brandon Ingram (2025): Traded to the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a 2026 first-round pick (since turned into No. 23 pick in 2025) and a 2031 second-round pick.
This is...a journey. More than a half-decade later, the Pelicans have basically turned AD into Jones, McCollum, Murray and the No. 23 pick in 2025.
Ingram making an All-Star team with New Orleans offsets some of the overarching disappointment. But when the Pelicans have won just two playoff games since this move, the circuitous route they've taken to get here is uninspiring—and certainly not nearly in line with what everyone thought they got in exchange for Davis.
4. Utah Jazz Trade Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers (2022)
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Utah Jazz Received: Ochai Agbaji, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, 2025 first-round pick (No. 29), 2026 first-round swap, 2027 unprotected first-round pick, 2028 first-round swap, 2029 first-round pick (top-five protection)
Cleveland Cavaliers Received: Donovan Mitchell
Markkanen's ascent to All-Stardom is the biggest factor in Utah's return for Mitchell thus far. He is at once a pleasant surprise and part of a larger issue.
On the one hand, the Jazz picked up one All-Star while giving up another. That's a huge friggin' deal when baking in the draft compensation. But Markkanen's mid-career breakout has also contributed to Utah failing to secure lottery odds that position it to select a primary cornerstone of the future.
Harping on the unintended downside is ultimately semantics. Even on his current contract (four years, $195.8 million remaining), Markkanen should still get the Jazz value if they eventually decide to flip him. And they just proved that they could effectively tank with him in the fold. Their previous two seasons' worth of not-enough-bottoming-out were more about collective overachievement and the front office waiting too long to neuter it.
The picks from this trade are just starting to convey. Not unlike the Rudy Gobert return, few of them have absurd upside. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland are both young and good enough to keep the Cavs competitive if the Mitchell era ever short-circuits.
That 2029 first-rounder could be interesting, but it's protected against total disaster. The Jazz can also still get subsequent value for Sexton, although he's entering the final year of his current contract.
Make no bones about it, Utah did exceptionally well here. (Whether it sold too soon or low on Agbaji is worth a discussion, though.) This is a major haul. But it's being propped up by Markkanen more than anyone could have imagined.
3. Houston Rockets Trade James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets (2021)
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Houston Rockets Received: Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, Victor Oladipo, 2021 first-round swap (unexercised), 2022 first-round pick (Tari Eason), 2022 first-round pick (MarJon Beauchamp), 2023 first-round swap (unexercised), 2024 first-round pick (Reed Sheppard), 2025 first-round swap (No. 8; traded back to Brooklyn), 2026 unprotected first-round pick, 2027 first-round swap
Brooklyn Nets Received: James Harden
Cleveland Cavaliers Received: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince
Indiana Pacers Received: Caris LeVert, 2023 second-round pick
Everybody knew James Harden wanted out of Houston. Everyone also knew he wanted to land in Brooklyn. The circumstances were set up for the Rockets to get hosed.
They instead committed highway robbery.
Houston probably regrets prioritizing Victor Oladipo over Jarrett Allen as part of this package, but ending up with five total firsts and four swaps in exchange for a player it had to move is pretty freaking good business. It looks much better knowing that one of the picks became Eason, and that the Rockets were able to send Brooklyn back the rights to its own 2025 and 2026 first-rounders while recouping more draft assets in the process.
That's enough to declare this a caps-lock RANSOM. But the return is still going.
Houston still has control over the Nets' 2027 first (via swap rights), as well as some fliers on 2027-and-later picks from the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks. If Sheppard ever turns into a regular rotation player, this will go down as one of the league's all-time heists, ceding ground only to the trade that occupies the No. 1 spot of these rankings.
2. Brooklyn Nets Trade Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns (2023)
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Brooklyn Nets Received: Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cam Johnson, 2023 unprotected first-round pick (Noah Clowney), 2025 unprotected first-round pick (No. 10), 2027 unprotected first-round pick, 2028 first-round swap, 2029 unprotected first-round pick
Phoenix Suns Received: Kevin Durant, T.J. Warren
(*Note: This deal was expanded to a four-team trade with the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks, in which Brooklyn effectively turned Crowder into second-rounders.)
At some point, the Nets have to erect a statue of Suns governor Mat Ishbia outside Barclays Center. He was reportedly the force that drove this deal past the finish line, upping Phoenix's ante, even though Durant had eyes for only Phoenix.
Brooklyn's return for a player who didn't want to be there was considered monumental in real time. It looks like an Ocean's Eleven-level heist more than two years later.
Most of the picks have yet to convey, but the Nets are already making out like bandits. Those Phoenix selections were instrumental to them regaining control over their own 2025 and 2026 firsts from the Houston Rockets, and they have since turned Bridges into five additional first-round picks and one swap courtesy of the New York Knicks.
By the time Johnson inevitably gets dealt, Brooklyn will likely have parlayed an age-34 Durant into control of 13 additional first-rounders...if not more. That's the kind of haul fated to live on in folklore even if the Suns' end of the bargain wasn't a complete and utter failure.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers (2019)
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Oklahoma City Thunder Received: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, Miami’s 2021 unprotected first-round pick (Tre Mann), 2022 unprotected first-round pick (Jalen Williams), Miami’s 2023 lottery-protected first-round pick (Jaime Jaquez Jr.), 2023 first-round swap (unexercised), 2024 unprotected first-round pick (Dillon Jones), 2025 first-round swap (No. 24, up from No. 30), 2026 unprotected first-round pick
Los Angeles Clippers Received: Paul George
It's fitting that this deal checks in at No. 1, because it's arguably the trade that paved the way for future packages piled with not just picks and swaps, but distant picks and swaps.
Even if we remove the benefit of hindsight, this return for the Thunder wins in a borderline landslide. Five first-round picks, two swaps and a promising prospect is a return unlike anything else we've seen the past 10 years, particularly when you consider that George asked Oklahoma City to facilitate his relocation to L.A.. Instead of getting railroaded by the Clippers, Thunder general manager Sam Presti essentially found a way to trade both PG and Kawhi Leonard, even though the latter never played for his team.
Cake in the luxury of hindsight, and forget about it.
Gilgeous-Alexander has morphed into a league MVP and head of the snake for a potential NBA champion. Another one of those selections turned into J-Dub, who's now an All-NBA player himself. Oklahoma City also turned what was the Jaquez pick into this year's No. 15 selection.
Oh, and the benefits reaped aren't even over yet! That 2026 Clippers first retains some upside when factoring in the age of James Harden and checkered health bill of Leonard. So while L.A. deserves some latitude for its end of the deal—it was a risk in real-time but one most supported—there's no skirting reality: This is no longer the Paul George trade. It's the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
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