There’s an NBA superstar on the trade block and your team should go get him. There’s a price to be paid, obviously, and though it might feel like a king’s ransom, the return is worth it. In basketball, and sports in general, it’s easy and even fun to fall in love with your team’s youth, its prospects. A team full of youthful potential rarely offers much else to root for, with the notable exception of the OKC Thunder recent vintage. Prospects show flashes of goodness (sometimes even greatness), you’ve known them their whole professional lives, and it’s impossible not to dream of their (ideal) future. They could be the next Russell, the next Magic, a poor man’s Jordan – anything’s possible, but history says – they won’t be.
In the NBA, more than any other sport, it takes a superstar, or two, or three, to win a title (in recent memory, only the ’04 Pistons have won without at least one all-time great). When a superstar, a top 10 player is available, trading prospect potential and quantity for established star quality is always worth it. Over the last decade many teams have traded a pu pu platter for Peking Duck, and have all come out on top.
Excluding trades that dealt superstar for superstar (e.g. McGrady/Francis, Kidd/Marbury, Allen/Payton) and looking only at the biggest names to be traded, there have been six megadeals in the last five years (dating back to 2007).
|
Superstar |
Trade Return |
|
Carmelo Anthony |
Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgoz, Knick’s 2014 1st round pick, Warriors 2012 2nd round pick (Quincy Miller), Warriors 2013 2nd round pick (trade also sent Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman to NY) |
|
Kevin Garnett |
Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, 2009 1st round pick (Wayne Ellington), and Minnesota’s 2009 1st round pick (Johnny Flynn), which Boston had from the 2006 Ricky Davis/Wally Szczerbiak trade |
|
Pau Gasol |
Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol, 1st round picks in 2008 (Donte Greene) and 2010 (Greivis Vasquez) |
|
Shaquille O’Neal |
Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and 2006 1st round pick (Jordan Farmar) |
|
Chris Paul |
Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, 2012 first round pick (Austin Rivers) |
|
Deron Williams |
Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, 2011 1st round pick (Enes Kanter) and a future 1st round pick from Golden State |
While there are still a handful of outstanding draft picks and some pretty young players in the mix, none of these trades produced a great haul for the team giving up the star. The Anthony trade may have brought the biggest haul, but overall Al Jefferson is the best player to have been moved. While Jefferson’s been pretty good since leaving Boston (he’s averaged 19.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg), he’s yet to make an All-Star game, has played in a total of four playoff games (this year’s sweep at the hands of San Antonio), and been traded for Kosta Koufos and two future 1st round picks.
On the other hand, the Heat (Shaq), Celtics (Garnett) and Lakers (Gasol) all won a title within two years of dealing for their superstars (both Garnett and O’Neal won in their first years with their new teams). Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul each led their new teams to the playoffs for the first time in years (the Knicks has missed the playoffs six consecutive years, the Clippers five). The Nets acquisition of Deron Williams has improved the team slightly, but more importantly he gave the team a foundation for the move to Brooklyn and positioned them for their best team since the Jason Kidd era.
Sometimes a team has no choice but to deal their superstar; in most of these cases they were headed out of town no matter what. The trading team isn’t at fault; they get the best return they can in a difficult circumstance. Teams and fans are often reluctant to deal their homegrown talent. It’s more fun to root for those players, and when they turn out historically great, that’s ideal. More often than not, prospects don’t live up to their (often considerable) hype. Recent history should serve as a motivator to teams considering trading for a superstar. Dwight Howard is available, and any team with the assets to pry him loose should back up the truck for him. Championships are the goal in the NBA, and championships are won by superstars.
Written by Sam Gordon
Edited by Will Spaid