DBWI: Worst NBA trades or free agent signings

(OOC: In honor of the Major League Baseball and NFL DBWIs, here's one for the NBA)

There have been some bad trades in the NBA.

One of the worst that gets mentioned: The Houston Rockets trade Ralph Sampson and Rodney McCray to the Portland Trail Blazers for Clyde Drexler and Portland's number two pick, who just happened to be...Michael Jordan.

Houston would go to the NBA Finals from 1986-1998, and would win seven consecutive titles and ten overall. As for the Portland Trail Blazers? They were decent, but not good compared to the Rockets.
 
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(OOC: In honor of the Major League Baseball and NFL DBWIs, here's one for the NBA)

There have been some bad trades in the NBA.

One of the worst that gets mentioned: The Houston Rockets trade Ralph Sampson and Rodney McCray to the Portland Trail Blazers for Clyde Drexler and Portland's number two pick, who just happened to be...Michael Jordan.

Houston would go to the NBA Finals from 1986-1998, and would win seven consecutive titles and nine overall. As for the Portland Trail Blazers? They were decent, but not good compared to the Rockets.

Rockets fan I take it?:rolleyes:
 
Roy Tarpley

Remember the trade that sent Roy Tarpley to the Lakers in 1986 for James Worthy and A.C. Green? That trade cost the Lakers more titles.
 
You want a bad NBA trade, how about draft day 1986?

San Antonio trades their 1987 and 1988 first-round picks to the Bulls for Larry Krystowiak. Krystowiak ended up a decent forward for a few years. Not bad, right?

Okay, let's look at how the Bulls made out, shall we? That 1987 pick ended up being David Robinson, who didn't get a chance to play until the 1989-1990 season. That 1988 first-rounder? Willie Anderson, who ended up being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for their 1992 first-round pick, who ended up being Christian Laettner, who was lost in the glare from Robinson, Pippen, and Jordan, but he proved to be a very good player.

Robinson, Jordan, and Pippen... that was the dominant trio in the NBA from 1990-1991 through 1997-1998, and even afterwards, the Bulls remained respectable for a while, until all three retired together after the 2002-2003 season. They called Robinson "Admiral Rock" for his stabilizing influence - and he really helped keep things smooth. If Jordan was the star, and Pippen the #2 guy, Robinson was the glue that kept those Bulls teams together, and may deserve credit for making Pippen and Kukoc as very close friends when it could have gotten ugly. Kukoc essentially became a 6-10 point guard - and his passes were things of beauty.
 
1994

What about this one for the Sonics: Trading Shawn Kemp to Chicago for Scottie Pippen in 1994? That was a terrible trade. Scottie wasn't quite the same without Jordan, while the Bulls won three in a row after Michael returned.
 
What about this one for the Sonics: Trading Shawn Kemp to Chicago for Scottie Pippen in 1994? That was a terrible trade. Scottie wasn't quite the same without Jordan, while the Bulls won three in a row after Michael returned.

That said, Kemp's antics did wear thin on the Bulls, and after that second three-peat, they dealt him to Miami for four first-round picks (2002 through 2005). That deal went quite well for the Bulls. In `02 they got Caron Butler, who was OK at forward. In `03, they got Dwayne Wade. The 2004 and 2005 picks were kind of forgettable, but the Bulls were quite good with Wade, Luol Deng, and Ben Gordon. Then the Bulls hit paydirt in the 2008 draft after Ben Gordon left as a free agent, landing the lottery against all odds and adding Derrick Rose.

Ironically, the Warriors proceeded to make an even dumber trade than the Sonics: They dealt an undrafted rookie guard by the name of Jeremy Lin to the Bulls for a second-round pick in 2013. Lin only became the linchpin of the Bulls "Bench Gang" - and he's been a contender for the NBA Sixth Man award in both of his years with the Bulls. Word has it the Bulls may trade Wade to get Lin and Rose on the court and free up cap space... and given how GM Michael Jordan's done so far, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the NBA.

Gee, and you thought that after Jordan left the Bulls, they'd fade away...
 
Bowie

In 1984, the Blazers were on the horns of a dilemma. They thought they needed a big man, but something about Sam Bowie was starting to scare them as draft day approached, especially after they gave him a seven hour physical.

Also, Stu Inman couldn't forget Bob Knight's endorsement of Jordan at the Olympic Trials.

The night before the draft, they decided that Bowie wasn't in their best interest, and that they didn't need Michael because they really liked the young Clyde Drexler. So, they sent G Jim Paxson, F Calvin Natt, and the second overall pick to the Clippers for F Terry Cummings, the 1983 Rookie of the Year.

What really made this worse from the Clipper perspective is that they would make another dumb decision which would be the hallmark of their organization in future years. They didn't even consider Jordan. They took Bowie because they wanted to replace Bill Walton.

Bowie started out his career okay, and played 73 games in his first year. After that, though, the injuries started to mount up again. He only played in 50 games the next two years, and then he missed a full year in 1987-88. He eventually was traded to the Bulls for Stacey King, and would be a good contributor off the bench in teaming with Bill Cartwright, but he couldn't be counted on as a full time player.

As for Cummings, he gave the Blazers a rebounding presence on the front line. With Cummings, Mychal Thompson, Wayne Cooper, Clyde Drexler, Fat Lever, and up and coming stars such as Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey, Portland would become a bigger and bigger threat each year in the Western Conference. They would lose to the Lakers in the 85 West Finals and the Rockets in the 86 Semis before finally upsetting the Lakers in seven games in the 87 West Finals.

The Lakers would win the West again in 88 and 89, but after trading Mychal Thompson and their 91 first round pick to the Nets for Buck Williams, the emergence of Kevin Duckworth, and the drafting of players like F Cliff Robinson of U-Conn, the Blazers came back in 1990 and went to the NBA Finals the next three years, losing to Detroit in 90, beating Chicago in 91, and losing to them in 92.
 
You want a bad NBA trade, how about draft day 1986?

San Antonio trades their 1987 and 1988 first-round picks to the Bulls for Larry Krystowiak. Krystowiak ended up a decent forward for a few years. Not bad, right?

Okay, let's look at how the Bulls made out, shall we? That 1987 pick ended up being David Robinson, who didn't get a chance to play until the 1989-1990 season. That 1988 first-rounder? Willie Anderson, who ended up being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for their 1992 first-round pick, who ended up being Christian Laettner, who was lost in the glare from Robinson, Pippen, and Jordan, but he proved to be a very good player.

Robinson, Jordan, and Pippen... that was the dominant trio in the NBA from 1990-1991 through 1997-1998, and even afterwards, the Bulls remained respectable for a while, until all three retired together after the 2002-2003 season. They called Robinson "Admiral Rock" for his stabilizing influence - and he really helped keep things smooth. If Jordan was the star, and Pippen the #2 guy, Robinson was the glue that kept those Bulls teams together, and may deserve credit for making Pippen and Kukoc as very close friends when it could have gotten ugly. Kukoc essentially became a 6-10 point guard - and his passes were things of beauty.

Jordan, Pippen, and the Admiral: That would have been a deadly combination. You may have seen three or four seasons of 70+ wins.
 
Bibby to Blazers, Kidd to Nets

In the summer of 2001, there were two big trades involving point guards that changed balances of power in the league.

The first trade involved Mike Bibby.

Portland had just come off of a tumultuous close to their season, losing 14 of their last 22 games, and getting swept by the Lakers in the playoffs.

So, they decided to do some tweaking. They acquired Bibby from Memphis for PG Damon Stoudamire, 2000 #1 pick Erick Barkley, and SG Bonzi Wells. They also acquired SG Derek Anderson from the Spurs in a separate deal that saw SG Steve Smith leave town.

Bibby turned out to be a revelation for the Trail Blazers. He brought some stability to a team that was out of control. They ended up finishing second in the Pacific with 58 wins behind a 64-win Sacramento team.

How did the Kings improve so much, you ask? Well, they acquired Jason Kidd from the Nets in a three-way trade. In that trade, Jason Williams and Lawrence Funderburke went to the Nets, Stephon Marbury went to the Suns, and Kidd went to the Kings.

The biggest losers of this trade were the Grizzlies and Nets. The Blazers dumped two undisciplined pot heads and a first round bust on Memphis for Bibby, and the Nets got the out-of-control Williams while the Kings got the dynamic Kidd, which made their team 100% better.

These trades helped Sacramento take the title in 2002, getting by the Lakers in Round 2, the Blazers in the WCF, and the Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, the next year, the Blazers went to the Finals after knocking off the Spurs in Round 2, beating a Webber-less King team in the WCF, and the Pistons in the NBA Finals in 7 games.
 
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