Ranking the Biggest Midseason NBA Trades Since 2000
As the 2020 NBA trade deadline approaches, basketball fans are eager for a blockbuster deal.
Over the last two decades, several big-name players have changed teams during a season. Additionally, a couple of future first-round selections turned into All-Star talents.
Which trades stand out from that 20-year stretch?
The topic allows plenty of room for subjectivity. Factors we considered were lopsided results—whether good or bad—collective star power and future impact. Our focus was the latter point. More than a handful of midseason deals led to NBA titles.
10. Pelicans Go All-In with DeMarcus Cousins
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You can't blame the New Orleans Pelicans for trying.
In the first four years of Anthony Davis' career, the franchise had mustered one playoff appearance. The Pels wanted to make a postseason push in 2016-17, and landing DeMarcus Cousins provided them a reasonable chance. They sent Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and two 2017 draft picks to the Sacramento Kings for Cousins and Omri Casspi.
While the Pelicans fell short of the playoffs, Cousins returned for 2017-18. An Achilles injury, though, ended his season in January. He never played for the team again.
New Orleans reached the Western Conference Semifinals but bowed out to the Golden State Warriors in five games without Cousins alongside Davis.
9. Dikembe Mutombo Leaves Atlanta, Reaches NBA Finals
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In summer 1999, the Atlanta Hawks embarked on an ill-fated plan to get younger and dealt key players Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock. The perennial playoff team dropped to 28-54, and it got worse in 2000-01.
The next star player to leave, Dikembe Mutombo, ended up in an ideal situation with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Traded with Roshown McLeod for Toni Kukoc, Nazr Mohammed, Theo Ratliff and Pepe Sanchez, Mutombo solidified the Sixers. During the postseason, he averaged 13.9 points, 13.7 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game while helping Philly reach the NBA Finals.
The Allen Iverson-led 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, but it was Philly's first Finals appearance in 18 years.
8. Knicks Acquire Carmelo Anthony in Blockbuster
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In terms of star power, Carmelo Anthony's move from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks in February 2011 is easily the second-biggest midseason trade.
The problem is the megadeal didn't result in much.
Anthony headed to New York with Chauncey Billups, four others and a future first-round pick. Denver landed Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos, two first-rounders, two second-rounders and cash. The Minnesota Timberwolves, more than anything, helped facilitate the trade.
The Knicks reached the playoffs for three straight years but only advanced to the Eastern Conference semis in 2012-13. During the same span, Denver exited the postseason in the first round three times. Minnesota lingered in mediocrity.
Massive move. Meh results.
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7. Gary Payton, Ray Allen Trade Places
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What's better than one All-Star on the move? You guessed it: two. In 2003, the Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks swapped legendary defender Gary Payton for legendary shooter Ray Allen (three others players and a pick were involved).
Similar to the Carmelo Anthony trade nearly a decade later, however, the impact was minimal.
Payton finished the season in Milwaukee, which lost in the opening round of the playoffs. Allen played with Seattle through 2006-07, but it managed just a single postseason appearance in that stretch and fell in the Western Conference Semifinals.
After Payton climbed atop the NBA mountain with the 2005-06 Heat, Allen won NBA titles with the 2007-08 Boston Celtics and 2012-13 Miami Heat.
6. Blazers Ship Gerald Wallace, Draft Damian Lillard
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While the impact of a trade usually isn't immediately obvious, the aftermath can provide the painful reality of a big mistake.
Such is the case for the New Jersey Nets, who in 2012 valued Gerald Wallace over a first-round pick. They acquired him from the Portland Trail Blazers, sending Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and that draft choice to the Pacific Northwest.
With the No. 6 overall pick in June, Portland selected Damian Lillard. He's merely developed into a five-time All-Star.
Yes, there's no guarantee Lillard would be the same player in Brooklyn—or that the Nets would've even drafted him.
Hindsight, though, does not offer a favorable view for the Nets—especially after Wallace's involvement in Brooklyn's disastrous 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry.
5. Jason Kidd Returns to Dallas, Wins a Title
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In the 1994 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected Jason Kidd with the No. 2 overall pick. They traded him to the Phoenix Suns in December 1996, and they dealt him to the Nets in July 2001.
Kidd circled back to Dallas in February 2008 when the Mavs acquired him and two others for five players and two first-round selections. The Mavs won 50-plus games in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, but they managed only one playoff series win.
The breakthrough happened in 2010-11.
Playing next to Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Caron Butler and Tyson Chandler, Kidd helped the Mavs topple the first edition of the Miami Heat superteam—Dallas beat LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to win the NBA Finals. Kidd averaged 9.3 points and 7.3 assists per game during that postseason.
4. Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons' Final Piece
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Whereas the Mavs needed to wait to realize the rewards of the Kidd trade, the Detroit Pistons immediately reaped the benefits of a 2004 move.
At the deadline, Detroit landed Rasheed Wallace in a three-team swap with the Hawks and Celtics. (Wallace played one game in Atlanta after the Blazers had traded him 10 days earlier.)
"Sheed" teamed up with Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace and proved to be the perfect complement to the no-star Pistons.
After beating the Bucks, Nets and Indiana Pacers to win the East, the Pistons downed Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal with a dominant 4-1 showing in the NBA Finals.
3. Lakers, Grizzlies Swap Gasol Brothers
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Family connections pop up occasionally in sports, but Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol have the rare honor of being traded for each other.
In 2008, the Lakers acquired Pau and a draft pick in exchange to Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, two first-round picks and the younger Gasol. A second-round choice of the Lakers in 2007, Marc hadn't yet played an NBA game.
The Lakers certainly got the better end of the deal, but neither organization lost the trade.
Pau spent six-plus seasons in Los Angeles, winning two NBA Finals and appearing in another. During that tenure, he earned three All-Star nods and three All-NBA honors.
Marc played in Memphis from 2008-09 to 2018-19 and became a cornerstone of the "Grit and Grind" Grizzlies. They reached the postseason seven times, and he collected three All-Star trips, two All-NBA honors and the 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year award. He won a championship with the Toronto Raptors after he was traded last February.
2. Clippers Shed Salary, Lose Out on Kyrie Irving
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Kyrie Irving's game-winning shot against the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals wouldn't have happened without a February 2011 trade.
After the previous season, LeBron James had bolted for Miami. But as the Cavs tumbled in the standings, the Los Angeles Clippers—despite their struggles—saw a bright future as rookie Blake Griffin turned in a marvelous year. The Clippers wanted to build around their young superstar and clear Baron Davis' $13 million salary.
What a mistake that turned out to be.
Cleveland jumped at the chance to add another top-10 pick, sending Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to Los Angeles. The ping-pong balls of the NBA draft lottery put the Clippers' first-round selection at No. 1 overall.
And the rest is history.
1. Monta Ellis Deal Clears Way for Stephen Curry
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From the start of the 2009-10 season until March 2012, the Warriors tried to make the Monta Ellis-Stephen Curry pairing work. In the midst of a third straight losing season, however, the reality was clear: Something had to change.
Golden State found a suitor for Ellis, packaging him with Kwame Brown and Ekpe Udoh to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson.
Ellis' departure allowed Curry to emerge as the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history.
Curry went from averaging 4.7 long-range attempts per game in 2011-12 to hitting 3.5 per game in 2012-13. Klay Thompson's role increased substantially, and the "Splash Brothers" sparked a dynasty.
Golden State won the NBA Finals in 2015, set a league record with 73 wins in 2015-16, added Kevin Durant, won the next two championships and reached another Finals in 2019.
Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.
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