NBA's Season of Stealing: The 10 Biggest Trade Steals in League History
When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Pau Gasol midway through the 2007-08 season, many believed the team should have been arrested for robbery.
The Lakers picked up an All-Star big man in Gasol for just Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol (Pau's brother) and a pair of future first-round draft picks. That's it?
Although Pau wound up helping the Lakers win a couple of titles, the trade wasn't necessarily a steal for L.A. since Marc has turned out to be a pretty good center for the Grizzlies.
This slideshow will focus on 10 NBA trades in which players were stolen away from other teams.
Let's begin.
10. Vince Carter To The Nets
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During his time with the Toronto Raptors, Carter was the team's franchise player as he regularly showed up in highlight reels with his many spectacular dunks.
He, however, wasn't treated like a franchise player when he was dealt to the New Jersey Nets in 2004 in exchange for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams.
The Raptors also received two future first-round draft picks in the deal which turned out to be Joey Graham and Renaldo Balkman, not exactly two superstars that you want to build your team around.
Mourning never logged a single minute in Toronto, and the Williams boys (no relation) did very little for their new team.
Meanwhile, Carter teamed with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson to form an exciting trio in Jersey.
9. Elton Brand To The Clippers
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After a fabulous two-year career at Duke, Brand was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the top pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. Chicago expected the 6'8" power forward to emerge as the center piece of their rebuilding project.
Brand didn't let anyone down as he put up 20 points and 10 boards a night in both his first two pro seasons. But that obviously wasn't enough.
The Bulls shipped Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers on the night of the 2001 draft for high school big man Tyson Chandler and Brian Skinner.
Chandler never became the "Next Kevin Garnett" in Chicago and in 2006, Brand led the Clips to their first playoff series win in 30 years and their first postseason appearance in nine years.
8. Charles Barkley To The Suns
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Barkley demanded a trade out of Philadelphia in 1992. The Sixers then dealt the unhappy Dream Teamer to the Phoenix Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry.
Joining Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle in Phoenix, "Sir Charles" powered the Suns all the way to the Finals in just his first season with the club. That season, he also took home the only regular-season MVP award of his career, averaging 25.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per contest.
Hornacek lasted only a season and a half in Philly before being a valuable contributor for the Utah Jazz, and Lang and Perry didn't stick around with the Sixers long either.
7. Dirk Nowitzki To The Mavericks
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Nowitzki was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the ninth overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft and immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Robert "Tractor" Traylor.
It ended up becoming one of the most lopsided deals in league history. Nowitzki blossomed into a perennial Western Conference All-Star and was named the 2007 MVP, while Traylor went on to become one of the biggest busts ever.
There's no doubt that Bucks fans wish Dirk had called Milwaukee home. Mavs fans are happy, though.
6. Moses Malone To The Rockets
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The Clippers have made a countless number of horrible moves throughout their history. One of their worst moves came in October 1976, when they were known as the Buffalo Braves.
Just six days after acquiring Malone from Portland, the team traded him to the Houston Rockets in exchange for two future first-round picks: Wesley Cox and Micheal Ray Richardson. Both players never played a game for Houston.
Malone would develop into a superstar, winning two of his three career MVP awards as a Rocket.
5. Scottie Pippen To The Bulls
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Pippen was drafted fifth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1987. However, the Central Arkansas star never suited up for the Sonics as he was dealt to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice.
Polynice did spend 15 seasons in the league, but was nothing more than a journeyman. Meanwhile, the only thing Pippen did was become Michael Jordan's right-hand man and helped the Bulls reel off an amazing six titles in eight years.
Polynice never made a single All-Star game, while Pippen made seven and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history.
4. Kevin McHale and Robert Parish To The Celtics
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The Boston Celtics were one of the most feared teams of the 1980s mostly because of the play of Larry Bird. But, the Celtics wouldn't have been all that without the additions of big men Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
In 1980, The two Hall of Fame greats went to Boston in a deal that sent Joe Barry Carroll and Rickey Brown to the Golden State Warriors.
Carroll had a decent career—nothing major—and Brown was a bust, while McHale and Parish helped the Celtics capture three titles.
3. Wilt Chamberlain To The Sixers
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In 1965, Chamberlain, a player who some consider the greatest in NBA history, was traded from the San Francisco Warriors to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The three players who went to the Warriors in the deal were none other than Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking and Lee Shaffer. Who? Most NBA historians probably have never heard of those guys.
Chamberlain went on to carry the Sixers to a title in 1967.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar To The Lakers
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In 1974, Abdul-Jabbar grew tired of the Midwest and wanted to play for either the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers.
The Milwaukee Bucks ended up shipping the "sky hook" shooting center, along with Walt Wesley, to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers and Brian Winters.
Abdul-Jabbar eventually teamed with Magic Johnson in L.A. to lead the Lakers to five NBA championships in the 1980s. He collected three regular-season MVP awards and one Finals MVP as a Laker as well.
Everybody has heard of Kareem, but you would have to be an NBA fanatic to know who those four players are who went to Milwaukee in the deal.
1. Kobe Bryant To The Lakers
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The main reason the Lakers sent Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for high schooler Kobe Bryant was to free up cap space to sign Shaquille O'Neal.
Little did the Lakers know that Bryant would turn out to be arguably one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history and help bring five titles to the city of Los Angeles.
Divac, a solid center, only played two seasons with the Hornets before moving on to the Sacramento Kings in 1998.
The Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002 due to low attendance numbers. If a superstar like Kobe had never been traded, it's pretty much a fact that the team would have stayed put.
