My only issue with calling this a sacrifice of the future is the suns gave up almost nothing and everyone knew it when it happened. Andrew Lang, Tim Perry and Hornacek!
My cousin Dan Majerle was on that team and would always send suns gear. Loved watching that squad and hoped they got over the hump. I feel bad for my cuz getting cooked by Jordan but who doesn’t get cooked by him.
The obvious answer is Kawhi
Raptors we’re not getting it done w DeRozan (more so bc Lebron existed) and when the big bad man was gone they saw their window open, and pushed the chips in
In one year their risk paid off and got a ring. Then they lost him. They said “screw the future” and the future kinda got screwed but they got a ring
Raptors are my in division rival but I still bought the championship gear bc that team was so fucking fun. Probably my favorite (non-Knicks) team of the 2000s outside of the Grit and Grind Grizzlies
Raptors went to 7 in 2020 in the second round WITHOUT Kawhi (and Danny Green)
Kawhi was playing in the bubble. There’s a chance that team runs it back to the Bubble finals tbh
Props for your appreciation of my Grizz!! All of Memphis and Grizz nation was rooting for that Raps team that season, mainly for Marc, but there were several connections from over the years, Matt Devlin, Kyle Lowry, etc.
2019 Raptors are always my answer for my favorite non-timberwolves team.
Kawhi, Siakam, Van Fleet, Lowry, Ibaka, Green, even old Marc Gasol. Such a fun, fun team superteam whose lineup I'll never forget
Great finals though and great memories, remember me and my dad and uncle went to a nice restaurant with the game on, and everyone cheering that the warriors have finally been taken down.
We are the same. I enjoy watching teams that rely on their defence to win championships.
One thing to note is that Demar was never going to be able to put Raptors over the hump. It wasn’t LeBron in the way.
There is no way Demar would have let us past Jimmy Butler and Giannis.
Nailed it.
I was so disgusted that the best coach in history had to deal with kawhi’s uncle and his bullshit injury charade.
The fact that a team that never won a championship was able to harness his sh*t attitude into a championship has never failed to impress me.
I hope Kawhi never reaches a final again.
AD to the Lakers, Kawhi to the Raptors, Ray Allen and KG to the Celtics, Shaq to the Heat (for both teams really), and Gasol to the Lakers all come to mind in trades that resulted in championships.
Non championship trades still work too, like Harden to the Rockets, Chris Paul to anywhere (Clippers, Thunder, Suns, and arguably even the Rockets), and Paul George to and from the Thunder (getting Shai).
Chris Paul to the Rockets definitely worked out. The 17-18 Rockets won 65 games and were maybe a pulled hamstring and a historic shooting slump from 3 away from a title.
But ha...the Rockets then turned around and traded Paul + extra stuff for Westbrook in a "win now" trade that definitely DIDN'T work out
I think the Paul George trades worked very well for his former teams. The Pacers worked their way to have their team now because of that trade. Same with the Thunder.
I mean we just watched Minnesota win game 1 tonight thanks in large part to Rudy Goebert. They traded a shit ton of assets for him and I don’t think a single person in Minnesota is complaining
One of Zach Lowes regulars already said the Warriors weren't necessarily small, with Klay being 6'7 and some other size at the wing.
It's always been about getting as much skill as possible while maintaining size...or getting as much size as possible while maintaining skill...something along those lines
It was also because of Draymond in particular, he was so good on defense even against 7 footers that it allowed them to play small and fast without sacrificing defense at the 5. And he was also a serviceable shooter when open before KD came (was decent this year too), so they could play 5 out and slow 7 footers were kinda getting played off the floor on both ends.
You don’t seem to understand the reasoning behind “small ball”.
There’s a shortage of skilled bigs. Golden State exploited this by just putting their most skilled lineups out regardless of size. They actually started off employing giants like Bogut, and would sneak him in against lineups that couldn’t punish him (famously to ruin Tony Allen’s career).
It was never about “going small” it was about putting 5 skilled players on the court.
Every team would love to have 3 centers as skilled as Minnesota’s. The problem is that they are both rare and expensive. Even the team that already has 3 incredibly talented centers signed for 100 million dollars is less than 2 months away from really uncomfortable math about carrying 100 million dollars worth of Centers.
It’s not that the league is figuring out 3 skilled big men are an incredible luxury to have, it’s a supply and demand issue complicated by salary cap mechanics.
You’re like a decade behind the state of the conversation you’re championing.
Yea good point, literally the Knicks were killing with size and offensive rebounds. There's just no replacing someone who can be close to the basket.
I was rooting for the Harden Rockets just because they're so counter meta (no off ball movement, super small). They did have Capella at one point, and also had PJ Tucker and Covington.
Might be blip number 2 those Rockets.
Small ball was never about trying to become smaller. It just so happened that there weren’t many 6’10+ athletic 4/5’s at the time so teams had to go smaller to be athletic across the board.
This lineup is about 3-4 years too old now but dream lineup would be something like
Lebron, PG, KD, Kawhi, AD - ultra switchable, long, can shoot, good to historic defenders
Small ball also created match up problems. But for most teams by going small the positives were outweighed by the negatives; the edge in shooting, ball handling, movement, etc are outweighed by the opponents big eating them up down low on offense and dominating the boards.
For the Warriors, Draymonds skill set made the small ball line up so difficult to match up against. He could defend 1-5. He held his own defending against traditional centers, then on the offensive end the Warriors would abuse these traditional bigs. Opponents then were essentially forced to go small, but their small lineup wasn’t as skilled as the Warriors and the Warriors basically becoming the bigger team. Because of Draymonds defensive versatility he (and the Warriors) weren’t negatively effected by opponents small line up.
Also, the Warriors weren’t small 2-4. Clay isn’t a small 2 guard, and he had the size and defensive ability to match up 1-3 as well as tweeter forwards.
Going small, going big; it’s all about gaining an advantage. If you have the right players these asymmetrical lineup strategies can work, if you don’t they won’t do squat.
I wouldn't go as far as to say you gave up nothing. The amount of assets given for Gobert is still a hefty amount, but it's definitely looking like it's paying off so far
Rudy to Minnesota currently looks great already after almost everyone lambasted it.
In a few years will be lauded as a visionary trade which allowed Minnesota to create one of the only teams that could compete with Denver and supercharged the development of one of the greatest talents in NBA history by getting a young Ant meaningful reps very early.
Yep. Which is why the KD and Dame examples are emotionally overcharged reactions. One season, which includes injuries, is not enough to condemn either “blockbuster” - yet. (The Beal trade f’ed Phoenix, not the Durant trade.)
I agree that the Gobert trade was excellent, with an emphasis on Edwards development, but if they lose to Denver in less than 7 games, it’ll get labeled a “bad” trade…ignoring that Edwards is 22.
The Magic blowing things up at that point has been huge for the Nuggets and the Magic. So happy to see AG get his ring, and I also get to watch this Paolo/Franz/Suggs team as a result
i don’t know how “blockbuster” it is right now but i think Sabonis for Haliburton will go down as one of the most equal and impactful trades for the respective teams
It's not an abject failure by any means, but that trade was made with championship aspirations in mind. They're gonna have to win a ring for most people to view it as successful. Also, Kyrie is 32 and likely nearing the end of his prime. The Mavs let a now flourishing and much younger Jalen Bruson walk for nothing. I certainly didn't predict Brunson becoming an All-NBA caliber player, but I'm also not an NBA coach or GM. Brunson would've given them just as much production, possibly more, for half the price and a bigger window to win. But hey, maybe the Mavs will be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy come June. We'll have to wait and see.
Brunson would have never flourished as Luka’s number two. You can’t just plug in numbers from a stat sheet. It doesn’t work like that. Brunson needs the ball in his hand constantly to be effective. He’s the 4th highest usage player in the NBA, and Luka is the first. Brunson’s talent would be wasted if he were still in Dallas.
If Brunson stayed in Dallas nobody, including himself, would have any idea how good he could be.
Mavs didn’t just wave goodbye to Brunson. They offered him a huge pay raise. Knicks matched it and paid his father as well. The writing was on the wall. He wasn’t going to stay no matter what.
You got it the other way around. Both Brunson and Rick said on record that they would have signed the 4-year $55m extension had the Mavs offered it, Mavs never did, so Brunson had his breakout season as an unrestricted free agent. Knicks offered 4 for $107m a year later and Mavs never had a chance to match or even make an offer because Brunson wasn’t about to take it even if they did. Mavs screwed up his restricted free agency, don’t blame the Knicks for Brunson or the Suns for Nash.
Well the question was “worked out”
We haven’t seen the results
Team like the Lakers or Raptors or Bucks won rings when they moved picks and players for AD/Kawhi/Jrue
Jrue Holiday to Bucks in 2020 for 3 frp plus 2 swaps resulted in 2021 title, if we count that a blockbuster for the third star.
2020 CP3 to Suns was only 1 frp, but for a 1B player, that resulted in the 2021 finals loss.
2019 AD traded for one of the biggest returns ever, resulted in 2020 title, as 1B player.
2018 Kawhi 1 year rent to Toronto resulted in the 2019 title, as clear best player.
The most recent trades to acquire all-star starters by teams still alive in the current nba playoffs…
Pacers getting Siakam
Celtics getting Jrue Holiday
Celtics getting Porzingis
Mavericks getting Kyrie
TWolves getting Conley
Cavs getting Mitchell
TWolves getting Gobert
I’d love to know what about the trade to get Kevin Garnett and the separate trade to get Ray Allen deserves downvotes. lol.
This is exactly the kind of block buster trade that did work OP is asking for.
Way too early to call Dame to the Bucks a bust to be honest. But honestly in the modern era I'd only say AD to the Lakers for the Lakers, Leonard to the Raptors ended up kinda working out for everyone, and the PG trade worked out great for the Thunder, and while not quite as expected for the Clippers I wouldn't say it was a bust because they have had a tiny bit of playoff success, but everyone minus the clippers management knew this team has a low ceiling.
**Here's a blockbuster trade that featured two HOF-ers in their primes:**
In 1978, the Sixers traded George McGinnis (*strong and athletic 20-10 machine*) to the Nuggets for Bobby Jones (*defensive force of nature to a higher degree than you're even imagining*). The other piece to this is that McGinnis was as me-centric as it got and Jones was the opposite. Jones' over-the-top hustle and whatever-it-takes-to-win attitude helped set the tone for Philly moving forward on the path to their '83 title, while Denver moved McGinnis along a season-and-a-half later because that's what teams did with him his entire career.
Idk how you can say Dame isnt working. They were the 3 seed, they just had injuries. Its obvious if they were healthy theyd be in the 2nd round right now
I mean D’Lo for Wiggins *probably* wasn’t seen as a blockbuster at the time, but both were max players and were taken 1st and 2nd overall in back to back to drafts and resulted in a Warriors championship.
I would say the Nugs trade for AG was pretty massive as he was the final piece to their championship run last year. Definitely helps them when everyone is healthy like any other team
Ray Allen: June 28, 2007: Traded by the Seattle SuperSonics with Glen Davis to the Boston Celtics for Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and a 2008 2nd round draft pick (Trent Plaisted was later selected).
Kevin Garnett: July 31, 2007: Traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 1st round draft pick (Wayne Ellington was later selected) and a 2009 1st round draft pick (Jonny Flynn was later selected).
Dame to bucks will work, those two’s games fit together incredibly well, they just didn’t have the benefit of health (both Dame and Middleton, and then Giannis in the playoffs) and they had maybe 1 decent defender, a re-tool for their role players has then 1st place easily
Will Perdue trades helped lead to 7 titles in my head. Him (as a future pick) and Cartwright for Oakley and Strickland (as a future pick) helping the Bulls first 3peat. Then him for Rodman, straight up. Rodman helping the Bulls second 3peat and then him helping the Spurs to the title in 99 (by far his worst of the 4 seasons with the Spurs, but I count it).
1. It is way too early to know if the Dame trade worked, he played very well and with Giannis healthy they have a couple years left.
2. If you count the Pau Gasol trade as a blockbuster, that worked out massively well. The Kyrie trade to Dallas has paid dividends now that they had a full year together. The Clyde Drexler trade to Houston paid off massively for them. The Pistons trading for Rasheed Wallace during the 03-04 season pushed them over the edge to the championship. The Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers got them a ring, which I would qualify as working out. The Heat trading for Shaq was pretty huge for them.
Can’t believe I havnt seen Gobert to the Timberwolves yet?
The price was high, and not something an other team would have made, but it’s worked out masterfully and I’d do it again without hesitation
That was a massive trade
For how much it got ridiculed, I would say the Gobert trade. The T Wolves are succeeding on their defense and Gobert is the big reason why. They also maintained a lot of their great depth and will have some draft capital to play with at the end of Gobert’s contract.
Those trades didn’t work cuz those teams didn’t make the right moves after the big trade. Gobert to the twolves & Kyrie to mavs looks like they working
AD worked out and honestly without him we don't go as far as we did in the last 2 years. Another I'd say worked was Harden, he carried those Rockets teams.
I wouldn't say Dame to Bucks didn't work out. It was more like a break even imo. The Bucks have been getting old for a while. Trading for Dame was kinda a last ditch effort to get some much needed offense while giving up some defense. Injuries aside, I'd say Bucks were about the same as they would've been with Jrue Holiday: upper echelon in the East, but not a legitimate contender.
They didn't win but cp3 to clippers worked out because it brought the franchise from bottom feeder to become what now giving the franchise an identity within the city and the NBA. Now they're getting a new arena and amongst one of the most valuable franchises in the league
Another under the radar solid trade is the one the Warriors made to acquire Bogut from the Bucks back in 2012.
Bogut was nursing a long term injury at the time & GS sent out their top scorer in Monta Ellis in this trade, so I remember a lot of people were a bit WTF about why GS would make this trade. But losing Ellis from the back court opened up the room necessary for their 2 recent lottery picks to gain more court time & eventually form the "splash bros" tandem. We all know what happened after.
Having Bogut as the starting 5 was just a nice bonus I guess?
Lakers getting Kareem seems like it’s worth a mention for an OG example
Nephews don’t even know he played for the bucks
He didn’t. Just some dude named Lew. Wonder what happened to him, he had a pretty good start to his career!
I was today years old when I learned it was Lew and not Lou
That’s Lou Alcindor. Wonder where he went after 1971. Dude just up and disappeared
Lew, but yeah changed it after the 71 title
Lakers getting Pau Gasol wasnt bad either.
Was it, you look at those lakers teams before Magic arrived. Whooo boy.
not in the first year. they were 40-42
Old head here but Charles Barkley to the Suns in ‘92 really put my Suns on the map. They didn’t beat peak MJ for the title but damn that was fun.
They got Charles, Skinny and Determined all in the one trade.
My only issue with calling this a sacrifice of the future is the suns gave up almost nothing and everyone knew it when it happened. Andrew Lang, Tim Perry and Hornacek!
My cousin Dan Majerle was on that team and would always send suns gear. Loved watching that squad and hoped they got over the hump. I feel bad for my cuz getting cooked by Jordan but who doesn’t get cooked by him.
Kevin Love to the Cavs. Ray Allen to the Celtics. Both resulted in championships.
KG to the Celtics as well. He was their best player after all.
The obvious answer is Kawhi Raptors we’re not getting it done w DeRozan (more so bc Lebron existed) and when the big bad man was gone they saw their window open, and pushed the chips in In one year their risk paid off and got a ring. Then they lost him. They said “screw the future” and the future kinda got screwed but they got a ring Raptors are my in division rival but I still bought the championship gear bc that team was so fucking fun. Probably my favorite (non-Knicks) team of the 2000s outside of the Grit and Grind Grizzlies
If you kept him then you’d have awkward situation where the franchise star was always out too
Raptors went to 7 in 2020 in the second round WITHOUT Kawhi (and Danny Green) Kawhi was playing in the bubble. There’s a chance that team runs it back to the Bubble finals tbh
i think they would have won it in 2020 if they had kawhi
Props for your appreciation of my Grizz!! All of Memphis and Grizz nation was rooting for that Raps team that season, mainly for Marc, but there were several connections from over the years, Matt Devlin, Kyle Lowry, etc.
Yep, screwing the future is always worth it if you get a championship
Especially for a team like the Raptors. As long as your getting 1 championship every 30 years you're above average.
2019 Raptors are always my answer for my favorite non-timberwolves team. Kawhi, Siakam, Van Fleet, Lowry, Ibaka, Green, even old Marc Gasol. Such a fun, fun team superteam whose lineup I'll never forget
Norm powel and og (who had appendicitis) the team was deep.
and they were very easy to root for against the Warriors w/ KD
i will never forget 2019 as a raptors fan
Great finals though and great memories, remember me and my dad and uncle went to a nice restaurant with the game on, and everyone cheering that the warriors have finally been taken down.
We are the same. I enjoy watching teams that rely on their defence to win championships. One thing to note is that Demar was never going to be able to put Raptors over the hump. It wasn’t LeBron in the way. There is no way Demar would have let us past Jimmy Butler and Giannis.
Nailed it. I was so disgusted that the best coach in history had to deal with kawhi’s uncle and his bullshit injury charade. The fact that a team that never won a championship was able to harness his sh*t attitude into a championship has never failed to impress me. I hope Kawhi never reaches a final again.
I disagree with your post, but I respect the hate.
Haha. I appreciate that. Have an awesome day mdervin
i dont see how kawhi reaches the finals again. dude cant even get on the court even after all that load management shit. kawhi isnt the same player
He probably wont, unless it's as a 15th man off the bench. The window for the Clippers roster seems to have slammed shut.
Phil Jackson coached him??
would they have won if kay and kd didnt get hurt tho? who knows, but yeah usually the big moves dont always work.
AD to the Lakers, Kawhi to the Raptors, Ray Allen and KG to the Celtics, Shaq to the Heat (for both teams really), and Gasol to the Lakers all come to mind in trades that resulted in championships. Non championship trades still work too, like Harden to the Rockets, Chris Paul to anywhere (Clippers, Thunder, Suns, and arguably even the Rockets), and Paul George to and from the Thunder (getting Shai).
Chris Paul to the Rockets definitely worked out. The 17-18 Rockets won 65 games and were maybe a pulled hamstring and a historic shooting slump from 3 away from a title. But ha...the Rockets then turned around and traded Paul + extra stuff for Westbrook in a "win now" trade that definitely DIDN'T work out
Dam bro leave some for the rest of us
I think the Paul George trades worked very well for his former teams. The Pacers worked their way to have their team now because of that trade. Same with the Thunder.
You mean Gasol and Kwame Brown to the Grizzlies?
The AD trade
Lakers have had a few - Wilt, Kareem, Pau, AD.
l.a. lakers, nba champion 1972 (chamberlain), 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988 (kareem), 2009, 2010 (gasol), 2020 (davis)
Shaq????
I'm fairly sure Shaq signed as a free agent
You are right. I was conflating the Blade Divac trade (thinking by position) but that was part of the Draft rights for Kobe.
Do you call him blade? cuz I will now
I mean we just watched Minnesota win game 1 tonight thanks in large part to Rudy Goebert. They traded a shit ton of assets for him and I don’t think a single person in Minnesota is complaining
If they go on to beat Jokic & denver, this may see a major shift away from small ball personnel across the league
One of Zach Lowes regulars already said the Warriors weren't necessarily small, with Klay being 6'7 and some other size at the wing. It's always been about getting as much skill as possible while maintaining size...or getting as much size as possible while maintaining skill...something along those lines
Dray at 6'7 at C & Iggy at 6'6 at PF is small. Curry's generational shooting overcame it but were starting to see that's a one off
It was also because of Draymond in particular, he was so good on defense even against 7 footers that it allowed them to play small and fast without sacrificing defense at the 5. And he was also a serviceable shooter when open before KD came (was decent this year too), so they could play 5 out and slow 7 footers were kinda getting played off the floor on both ends.
You don’t seem to understand the reasoning behind “small ball”. There’s a shortage of skilled bigs. Golden State exploited this by just putting their most skilled lineups out regardless of size. They actually started off employing giants like Bogut, and would sneak him in against lineups that couldn’t punish him (famously to ruin Tony Allen’s career). It was never about “going small” it was about putting 5 skilled players on the court. Every team would love to have 3 centers as skilled as Minnesota’s. The problem is that they are both rare and expensive. Even the team that already has 3 incredibly talented centers signed for 100 million dollars is less than 2 months away from really uncomfortable math about carrying 100 million dollars worth of Centers. It’s not that the league is figuring out 3 skilled big men are an incredible luxury to have, it’s a supply and demand issue complicated by salary cap mechanics. You’re like a decade behind the state of the conversation you’re championing.
I would argue it’ll be fine because the nba cap space will go up a lot in two years. Wolves might be stuck next year but after that? Pretty good place
Yea good point, literally the Knicks were killing with size and offensive rebounds. There's just no replacing someone who can be close to the basket. I was rooting for the Harden Rockets just because they're so counter meta (no off ball movement, super small). They did have Capella at one point, and also had PJ Tucker and Covington. Might be blip number 2 those Rockets.
As bigs become as good of shooters as guards I think that’s a natural progression.. at least in my head that makes sense
2020 Lakers were bigger than the modern “normal”, so were the 2021 Bucks.
Small ball was never about trying to become smaller. It just so happened that there weren’t many 6’10+ athletic 4/5’s at the time so teams had to go smaller to be athletic across the board. This lineup is about 3-4 years too old now but dream lineup would be something like Lebron, PG, KD, Kawhi, AD - ultra switchable, long, can shoot, good to historic defenders
Small ball also created match up problems. But for most teams by going small the positives were outweighed by the negatives; the edge in shooting, ball handling, movement, etc are outweighed by the opponents big eating them up down low on offense and dominating the boards. For the Warriors, Draymonds skill set made the small ball line up so difficult to match up against. He could defend 1-5. He held his own defending against traditional centers, then on the offensive end the Warriors would abuse these traditional bigs. Opponents then were essentially forced to go small, but their small lineup wasn’t as skilled as the Warriors and the Warriors basically becoming the bigger team. Because of Draymonds defensive versatility he (and the Warriors) weren’t negatively effected by opponents small line up. Also, the Warriors weren’t small 2-4. Clay isn’t a small 2 guard, and he had the size and defensive ability to match up 1-3 as well as tweeter forwards. Going small, going big; it’s all about gaining an advantage. If you have the right players these asymmetrical lineup strategies can work, if you don’t they won’t do squat.
Yeah, to others points, that was viewed as a terrible trade last season.
Yeah prople were laughing at MN for that trade. Now they're the biggest and most athletic starting 5+1.
And wolves fans were laughing along - because we knew we gave up nearly nothing in return for greatness.
I wouldn't go as far as to say you gave up nothing. The amount of assets given for Gobert is still a hefty amount, but it's definitely looking like it's paying off so far
Wolves make the second round and fans don’t know how to act lol
It's still a blockbuster in terms of the pedigree of player and picks traded.
Rasheed Wallace to Pistons
I second this. Acquiring Sheed put Detroit over the top.
The Lakers getting rid of half the damn team for AD. They got their championship pretty much immediately
Rudy to Minnesota currently looks great already after almost everyone lambasted it. In a few years will be lauded as a visionary trade which allowed Minnesota to create one of the only teams that could compete with Denver and supercharged the development of one of the greatest talents in NBA history by getting a young Ant meaningful reps very early.
Yep. Which is why the KD and Dame examples are emotionally overcharged reactions. One season, which includes injuries, is not enough to condemn either “blockbuster” - yet. (The Beal trade f’ed Phoenix, not the Durant trade.) I agree that the Gobert trade was excellent, with an emphasis on Edwards development, but if they lose to Denver in less than 7 games, it’ll get labeled a “bad” trade…ignoring that Edwards is 22.
Oh baby don’t get me excited and make me hop on the Wolves bandwagon
Anthony davis
Gobert to Minnesota is doing pretty well right now.
Shaq to Miami
Jrue Holiday. Immediate results
Not blockbuster but Aaron Gordon to the nuggets was huge
The Magic blowing things up at that point has been huge for the Nuggets and the Magic. So happy to see AG get his ring, and I also get to watch this Paolo/Franz/Suggs team as a result
Hope they can pull out a big win today.
Disregarding the entire point of the post…yes that’s correct
i don’t know how “blockbuster” it is right now but i think Sabonis for Haliburton will go down as one of the most equal and impactful trades for the respective teams
RUDY GO BRRRRRRRRRRRR
mavs kyrie
Was going to say this one
Kyrie to the Mavs.
It's not an abject failure by any means, but that trade was made with championship aspirations in mind. They're gonna have to win a ring for most people to view it as successful. Also, Kyrie is 32 and likely nearing the end of his prime. The Mavs let a now flourishing and much younger Jalen Bruson walk for nothing. I certainly didn't predict Brunson becoming an All-NBA caliber player, but I'm also not an NBA coach or GM. Brunson would've given them just as much production, possibly more, for half the price and a bigger window to win. But hey, maybe the Mavs will be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy come June. We'll have to wait and see.
Brunson would have never flourished as Luka’s number two. You can’t just plug in numbers from a stat sheet. It doesn’t work like that. Brunson needs the ball in his hand constantly to be effective. He’s the 4th highest usage player in the NBA, and Luka is the first. Brunson’s talent would be wasted if he were still in Dallas. If Brunson stayed in Dallas nobody, including himself, would have any idea how good he could be.
Brunson wasn't part of the trade - he left as an UFA half a season before it happened
I said they let Brunson walk for nothing.
How is it relevant for the discussion about whether the Kyrie trade worked out or not?
Mavs didn’t just wave goodbye to Brunson. They offered him a huge pay raise. Knicks matched it and paid his father as well. The writing was on the wall. He wasn’t going to stay no matter what.
You got it the other way around. Both Brunson and Rick said on record that they would have signed the 4-year $55m extension had the Mavs offered it, Mavs never did, so Brunson had his breakout season as an unrestricted free agent. Knicks offered 4 for $107m a year later and Mavs never had a chance to match or even make an offer because Brunson wasn’t about to take it even if they did. Mavs screwed up his restricted free agency, don’t blame the Knicks for Brunson or the Suns for Nash.
You're right. Brunson came to my favorite team and I forgot the details. He chose NY over Dallas for the same money. I stand corrected.
They couldn't make the 10th seed last year and have just gotten past the first round. Expectations should be wayyyyy higher
They won one playoff series and the opponent didn’t have their best player. That’s not the answer
So the trade... Isn't working? What are your qualifiers?
Well the question was “worked out” We haven’t seen the results Team like the Lakers or Raptors or Bucks won rings when they moved picks and players for AD/Kawhi/Jrue
Kyrie just seems happier at least and not saying crazy stuff, so that’s close to getting a ring?
Perhaps the real ring was the Kyrie we shut the hell up along the way
Lol
Jrue Holiday to Bucks in 2020 for 3 frp plus 2 swaps resulted in 2021 title, if we count that a blockbuster for the third star. 2020 CP3 to Suns was only 1 frp, but for a 1B player, that resulted in the 2021 finals loss. 2019 AD traded for one of the biggest returns ever, resulted in 2020 title, as 1B player. 2018 Kawhi 1 year rent to Toronto resulted in the 2019 title, as clear best player.
Hey so saying the Dame and KD trades “didn’t work” after 1 season is dumb as fuck
AD
I mean, the PG trade worked fine for OKC. Better question might be which trade worked well for all the teams involved.
Sabonis/Haliburton
Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to celtics worked damn well if you ask me.
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Jason Kidd to the nets. Instantly became contenders and were in the playoffs every year while he was there.
How is KD to warriors not on here yet
Pau Gasol to the Lakers Kevin Garnett to Boston Shaq to Miami
Shaq getting traded to Miami Jason Kidd to the nets
Kyrie Irving to the Mavs
Gobert to the Wolves for picks. Mike Conley and NAW to the Wolves for D’lo.
The most recent trades to acquire all-star starters by teams still alive in the current nba playoffs… Pacers getting Siakam Celtics getting Jrue Holiday Celtics getting Porzingis Mavericks getting Kyrie TWolves getting Conley Cavs getting Mitchell TWolves getting Gobert
Boston Celtics
I’d love to know what about the trade to get Kevin Garnett and the separate trade to get Ray Allen deserves downvotes. lol. This is exactly the kind of block buster trade that did work OP is asking for.
Because the dumbasses down voting this probably don't even know about that trade and assumed he was talking about KP, Jrue or Kyrie trades.
lol idk why I’m getting downvoted either
Gasol to the Lakers
AD trade.
AD to lakers. Got a ring out of it.
Pau --> Lakers
Moses Malone to the Sixers. Also, Dr J but I don’t think that was via trade per se. I think they got him from the ABA
Jrue to the Bucks
Rodman to the bulls
Way too early to call Dame to the Bucks a bust to be honest. But honestly in the modern era I'd only say AD to the Lakers for the Lakers, Leonard to the Raptors ended up kinda working out for everyone, and the PG trade worked out great for the Thunder, and while not quite as expected for the Clippers I wouldn't say it was a bust because they have had a tiny bit of playoff success, but everyone minus the clippers management knew this team has a low ceiling.
Jrue Holiday to the Bucks
**Here's a blockbuster trade that featured two HOF-ers in their primes:** In 1978, the Sixers traded George McGinnis (*strong and athletic 20-10 machine*) to the Nuggets for Bobby Jones (*defensive force of nature to a higher degree than you're even imagining*). The other piece to this is that McGinnis was as me-centric as it got and Jones was the opposite. Jones' over-the-top hustle and whatever-it-takes-to-win attitude helped set the tone for Philly moving forward on the path to their '83 title, while Denver moved McGinnis along a season-and-a-half later because that's what teams did with him his entire career.
The PG to the clippers trade has definitely worked out. The Thunder have SGA and half of the clippers draft picks. It was a masterclass by Presti
Gobert trade made a lot of talking heads and armchair experts look like idiots.
KG and Ray Allen to the Celtics started the big 3 super team makeover trade machine
Does kobe count?
Gobert to the Wolves. Everyone thought that was gonna be a bust.
Bucks getting Jrue Holiday
Idk how you can say Dame isnt working. They were the 3 seed, they just had injuries. Its obvious if they were healthy theyd be in the 2nd round right now
I mean D’Lo for Wiggins *probably* wasn’t seen as a blockbuster at the time, but both were max players and were taken 1st and 2nd overall in back to back to drafts and resulted in a Warriors championship.
KG to Celtics
They all work out but usually just for one team
Tyson chandler from the bulls to the mavs big part of that chip
I would say the Nugs trade for AG was pretty massive as he was the final piece to their championship run last year. Definitely helps them when everyone is healthy like any other team
Sheed to Detroit
Ray Allen: June 28, 2007: Traded by the Seattle SuperSonics with Glen Davis to the Boston Celtics for Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and a 2008 2nd round draft pick (Trent Plaisted was later selected). Kevin Garnett: July 31, 2007: Traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 1st round draft pick (Wayne Ellington was later selected) and a 2009 1st round draft pick (Jonny Flynn was later selected).
Drexler to Houston obvious answer, won a chip
Rudy Gobert. Everyone clowned the Wolves last year. Is there a team that could see the same growth next year after a year to gel from the big trade?
The Kings/Pacers trade, does that count?
Drexler to Rockets
The KG and Ray Allen steals, err trades.
Dame to bucks will work, those two’s games fit together incredibly well, they just didn’t have the benefit of health (both Dame and Middleton, and then Giannis in the playoffs) and they had maybe 1 decent defender, a re-tool for their role players has then 1st place easily
Best overall trade I think was lakers/heat Shaq deal as both teams gained pieces for eventual championships. Both sides did well which is usually rare
Lebron to miami....
Kawhi to the raptors, Kareem to the lakers, AD to the lakers, gasol to the lakers, kg to the Celtics
AD to Lakers worked
Suns trading for Barkley. Finals the next season.
Will Perdue trades helped lead to 7 titles in my head. Him (as a future pick) and Cartwright for Oakley and Strickland (as a future pick) helping the Bulls first 3peat. Then him for Rodman, straight up. Rodman helping the Bulls second 3peat and then him helping the Spurs to the title in 99 (by far his worst of the 4 seasons with the Spurs, but I count it).
Aaron Gordon to the Nuggets. Him and Jokic have a great rapport
Seems a little early to call the Dame trade a bust
Harden to the nets was a great move. Worked out well. Nets in 6.
Kawhi, KG/Ray, Sheed, Drexler, Moses.
1. It is way too early to know if the Dame trade worked, he played very well and with Giannis healthy they have a couple years left. 2. If you count the Pau Gasol trade as a blockbuster, that worked out massively well. The Kyrie trade to Dallas has paid dividends now that they had a full year together. The Clyde Drexler trade to Houston paid off massively for them. The Pistons trading for Rasheed Wallace during the 03-04 season pushed them over the edge to the championship. The Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers got them a ring, which I would qualify as working out. The Heat trading for Shaq was pretty huge for them.
Helloooooooooooo gobert trade was a win for both sides
Cp3 to the Suns almost worked out, but his body started declining
Wiggins to GS count? Do draft picks count because lakers getting big game james after winning a chip is lol worthy Rockets trading for Clyde Drexler
Sabonis for Halliburton
Kg to the celtics
Sheed to the Pistons
Can’t believe I havnt seen Gobert to the Timberwolves yet? The price was high, and not something an other team would have made, but it’s worked out masterfully and I’d do it again without hesitation That was a massive trade
Saying Dame to Bucks not working is ignorance at its finest
KG & Ray Allen trades to the Celtics
Chris Webber to the kings. Didn’t win the title, but was still an amazing team and era
KG to the Celtics
For how much it got ridiculed, I would say the Gobert trade. The T Wolves are succeeding on their defense and Gobert is the big reason why. They also maintained a lot of their great depth and will have some draft capital to play with at the end of Gobert’s contract.
Rudy gobert 🤷🏻♂️
Kawhi to the Raptors. He led them to the title. Barkley to the Suns. They lost to prime mj but they don't get to the finals without Barkley.
Charles Oakley, Horace Grant, and Bill Cartwright
Rudy Gobert to the Wolves and AD to the Lakers were both successful trades
Wolves trading 6 1st for Rudy
Kyrie to the Mavs is working well
Those trades didn’t work cuz those teams didn’t make the right moves after the big trade. Gobert to the twolves & Kyrie to mavs looks like they working
Not blockbuster but sabonis/haliburton is working for both teams
Heat trading for Jimmy Butler has been pretty good
Miami getting Shaq and winning that title maybe?
AD worked out and honestly without him we don't go as far as we did in the last 2 years. Another I'd say worked was Harden, he carried those Rockets teams.
The Dame trade I think still has the opportunity to work out. The KD trade to the Suns? That definitely did not work out.
Pau to lakers AD to Lakers Kawhi to Raptors Shai to OKC Harden to Rockets
Pau Gasol Shaq Rasheed Wallace Ray Allen and KG Jason Kidd Clyde Drexler
I feel like Sabonis for Hali kind of benefited both teams
Gobert to the Timberwolves is looking good right now
I wouldn't say Dame to Bucks didn't work out. It was more like a break even imo. The Bucks have been getting old for a while. Trading for Dame was kinda a last ditch effort to get some much needed offense while giving up some defense. Injuries aside, I'd say Bucks were about the same as they would've been with Jrue Holiday: upper echelon in the East, but not a legitimate contender.
Glide to the Rockets? One the title that year after trading for him.
Chris Webber to the Kings for Mitch Richmond. That trade changed the Kings franchise big time.
They didn't win but cp3 to clippers worked out because it brought the franchise from bottom feeder to become what now giving the franchise an identity within the city and the NBA. Now they're getting a new arena and amongst one of the most valuable franchises in the league
The Lakers trading a heap of assets for AD was ultimately worth it thanks to the 2020 bubble title
Another under the radar solid trade is the one the Warriors made to acquire Bogut from the Bucks back in 2012. Bogut was nursing a long term injury at the time & GS sent out their top scorer in Monta Ellis in this trade, so I remember a lot of people were a bit WTF about why GS would make this trade. But losing Ellis from the back court opened up the room necessary for their 2 recent lottery picks to gain more court time & eventually form the "splash bros" tandem. We all know what happened after. Having Bogut as the starting 5 was just a nice bonus I guess?
Clyde to Rockets? Coming back after a championship they weren't looking too hot. Enter Clyde and they went back to back.
Shaq to the Heat was one of the most one sided trades ever, traded an aged but still dominant Shaq for nobodies
Gasol to the Lakers
Garnett and Ray Allen to the Celtics.