Ranking the 5 Worst NBA Trades of the Last 5 Years

NBA trade analysis requires nuance. Not every deal has a clear winner or loser, and even the biggest blockbusters usually come with some level of uncertainty.

Sometimes, though, things are much simpler.

The very worst NBA trades look lopsided from the start and get even worse over time. Those are the ones we're featuring here as we try to rank the five most damaging deals of the past half-decade.

An underwhelming return package, post-trade fallout, opportunity cost—all that and more factor into what makes an NBA trade truly rotten for one side of the exchange.

Let's start at the 2021 offseason and scan the ensuing five years for the worst of the worst.

5. Lakers Acquire Russell Westbrook in 2021

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

The Trade: Los Angeles Lakers acquire Russell Westbrook, 2024 second-round pick and 2028 second-round pick from the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft

Russell Westbrook was a terrible fit on the Lakers from the moment this deal went down. Los Angeles needed shooting and defense, neither of which Russ provided.

Not so far removed from their title run in 2020, the Lakers should have given LeBron James and Anthony Davis a star who could theoretically stay on the floor during clutch moments in the playoffs. Westbrook's deficiencies kept him from being that player, and his failure to take on an alpha role that would have saved James and Davis from heavy minute totals in the regular season compounded the problem.

Westbrook who offered zero off-ball value, played inattentive defense and displayed ghastly shot-selection, actively diminishing the impact of Los Angeles' two best players. He hit 29.7 percent of his threes in 130 games with the Lakers, who posted a better net rating when Westbrook was off the floor.

The Lakers would have been better off just keeping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma but instead onboarded Westbrook, who was still owed $93.1 million over the final two years of his deal. To get rid of Russ in 2023, the Lakers had to take on Jarred Vanderbilt's bad salary and surrender a 2027 first-round pick.

4. Kings Swap Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis in 2022

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

The Trade: Sacramento Kings acquire Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick from the Indiana Pacers for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson

This deal was dubious for Sacramento at the time, as Haliburton had already shown flashes of the ability that would make him an All-NBA force and leader of a Pacers team that was a single win from a championship in 2025. Now, four years removed from it, the trade only looks worse for the Kings.

Back then, you could talk yourself into Sabonis as an upgrade. Haliburton had already dealt with some injury concerns and hadn't really proved anything yet, while Sabonis brought size and a cleaner theoretical fit next to De'Aaron Fox. The Kings even made the playoffs in 2023, the first time that'd happened since 2006.

That success proved to be short-lived. Fox is long gone, Sabonis isn't currently tradable for positive value and the Kings are right back in the "this is embarrassing" tier of the NBA's hierarchy.

Meanwhile, Haliburton is indisputably one of the league's best offensive players and team leaders—a transformative force with the rare ability to make all of his teammates better with his cleverness, efficiency and unselfish attitude.

The only solace for the Kings is that Haliburton probably couldn't have become what he did with the Pacers if he'd stayed in Sacramento. Even that has to sting. Any franchise mismanaged badly enough to stifle talent like his should be asking itself some serious questions.

3. Suns Acquire Kevin Durant in 2023

Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Trade: Phoenix Suns acquire Kevin Durant and TJ Warren from the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, 2023 first-round pick, 2025 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, 2029 first-round pick, 2028 first-round swap

Kevin Durant made his first trade request in June of 2022, naming the Suns as his preferred destination. No deal came to pass, so KD made a second request at the 2023 deadline. Somehow, with the whole world knowing he was unhappy and dead set on landing in Phoenix, the Nets still extracted an absolute haul.

Usually, when a player narrows his choices to one team, the lack of a bidding war keeps the return lower. Not so here, and the Suns will be feeling the pain of shipping out five first-round assets for the rest of the decade.

The price was too high under any circumstances, but this trade looks doubly bad because Phoenix was a mere six games over .500 across Durant's two full seasons. When KD predictably hurt the vibes with his fourth team and had to be shipped to his fifth (the Houston Rockets), the Suns only managed to get back a single first-round asset in the exchange.

2. Phoenix Suns Acquire Bradley Beal in 2023

Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images

The Trade: Phoenix Suns acquire Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, No. 7 (Bilal Coulibaly), 2024 first-round swap, 2026 first-round swap, 2028 first-round swap, 2030 first-round swap, 2024 second-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 second-round pick, 2027 second-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, 2030 second-round pick

Well, if you thought the Suns had blown through all of their assets in the KD deal, you were wrong. New owner Mat Ishbia was intent on building what he believed to be a powerhouse and was willing to completely nuke every last asset in his misguided pursuit of short-term success.

Phoenix ceded control of every first-round asset it retained after the Durant deal, sending first-round swap rights on four first-rounders plus a heap of seconds to land Beal.

The Beal acquisition rates worse than the Durant one because the former wasn't healthy or productive with the Suns and ultimately had to be waived and stretched. Phoenix got zero assets for cutting Beal loose and will pay him $19.4 million every year through 2029-30.

1. Mavericks Trade Away Luka Dončić in 2025

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The Trade: Dallas Mavericks acquire Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers for Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris

The first rule of having Luka Dončić on your team is that you should not trade Luka Dončić unless Luka Dončić specifically asks you to trade him.

The second rule is that if you have Luka Dončić on your team and Luka Dončić specifically asks you to trade him, you shop around so you get the best possible deal.

Led by the since-fired Nico Harrison, the Dallas Mavericks broke both of those rules and will have to wear the distinction of making the worst trade in recent memory until some other sad-sack franchise ships outs its cornerstone for a pittance.

Whether Dallas tried to frame it as a long- or short-term move, the logic was flawed. Dončić was the better and more durable player at the time, and he was six years younger than AD.

Just imagine how much worse this deal would look if the Mavs hadn't lucked into the top spot in the 2025 lottery, which landed them Cooper Flagg, a human memory-wipe who gave fans something new to focus on.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.