NBA Trades That Worked Out for Both Teams

Welcome back Enjoyers to another edition of the EB Newsletter!

To kick things off today, we’d like to invite you all to a very exciting event coming up…

Kenny and some of the Enj🏀y Basketball team will be at Bulls Fest in Chicago on September 4th! Stop by our booth @ 12:30pm central to meet Kenny and the team plus participate in some special giveaways 👀 Hope to see y’all there!

Now onto the subject of today's newsletter…

We usually like to think of trades as having clear winners and losers, but how about the trades where both sides come out feeling good about their decision? It might be rare, but there are plenty of trades throughout NBA history which were great for both teams. Let's look at three notable examples and what made them a success for both sides of the negotiating table.

Larry Nance - Kevin Johnson swap 

Suns Received: Kevin Johnson, Mark West, Tyrone Corbin, 1988 First Round Pick, 1988 Second Round Pick, 1989 Second Round Pick

Cavaliers Received: Larry Nance, Mike Sanders, 1988 First Round Pick 

Back in 1987, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns were two teams on very different trajectories. Led by a trio of young up-and-comers in Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and Mark Price, the Cavs felt they were on the precipice of putting together a truly special team. Meanwhile, the Suns were stuck in the mud. They were coming off three (soon to be four) straight losing seasons, had an aging core and suffered from a distinct lack of young talent. 

So, when Phoenix got off to a disastrous 16-35 start during the 1987-88 season, they decided to blow it up and trade their best player, Larry Nance. Nance was a one-time all-star known for his combination of generational leaping ability and silky smooth mid-range shot which made him one of the most efficient scorers of the 1980s. Oh, and who could forget that he had one of the most legendary dunk contest performances of all time in 1984.

In search of established talent and needing a starting power forward, the Cavaliers immediately expressed interest. And luckily for them, they had the perfect player to offer in return. 

Point guard Kevin Johnson was the seventh overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft out of the University of California Berkeley. Johnson was originally drafted by Cleveland to challenge Mark Price for the starting role, but he found himself playing limited minutes after failing to overtake him on the depth chart. With Price seemingly cemented as the Cav's long-term lead guard, Cleveland was willing to let go of their rookie top-ten pick to get an established star like Nance. 

And so it was. Johnson, along with Mark West, Tyrone Corbin and three draft picks were shipped to Phoenix in exchange for Nance, Mike Sanders and a first-round pick. 

Although neither team ended up winning an NBA championship thanks to this trade, it did a lot to help both squads achieve their long-term goals. 

For Cleveland, Nance immediately formed one of the best frontcourt pairings in the league along with Brad Daugherty. He played seven productive seasons in Ohio, made two all-star teams and helped the Cavs to their best run of success pre-LeBron, winning 50+ games routinely throughout the late 80s and early 90s. 

And in Phoenix, Johnson blossomed into one of the league's best point guards, making three all-star teams and five all-NBA teams as part of a dynamic Phoenix Suns team that peaked with a trip to the 1993 NBA Finals. Other key figures of that era of Suns basketball, like Mark West and Dan Majerle (take with that 1988 draft pick from Cleveland) were also acquired through this trade.

Overall, both teams got franchise cornerstones, won a lot of games, and came away happy from this transaction.

Gasol for Gasol 

Lakers Received: Pau Gasol, 2010 2nd round Pick

Grizzlies Received: Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, 2008 1st Round Pick, 2010 1st Round Pick

"What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension, there should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense."

Those were the words of San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich when this trade first went down back in 2008, and he was far from the only one who felt that way. 

At the time, Pau Gasols move to Los Angeles was universally panned as a highway robbery by the Lakers, and a cheap excuse for the Memphis Grizzlies to save money. And to be honest, it's really hard to argue with that. 

Crittendon may have been the 19th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, but he wasn't even getting ten minutes a night in LA. Kwame Brown was a decent get, but it was clear that the potential that made him the #1 overall pick was long gone at that point. McKie might have been the Sixth Man of the Year once upon a time, but he was well past 30 and hadn't even played in a game that season. And in 2008, Pau Gasols younger brother, Marc Gasol, was little more than a decent NBA prospect with a famous last name who hadn't even made the jump over from Spain yet. Combine that with two first round picks which were almost guaranteed to fall in the late 20s, and you have a recipe for a monumentally lopsided trade. 

But, that's not how things turned out. And it's all because of one younger brother from Barcelona. 

Crittendon, Brown, McKie, and those two picks amounted to a whole lot of nothing for Memphis as expected, but it was Marc Gasol who ended up surprising everyone. After being named the 2008 Liga ACB MVP, he made the move to Memphis for the 2008-09 season and immediately made a positive impact, averaging over 11 points and seven rebounds a night on his way to an All-Rookie Second Team selection. It would only be up from there for Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies. He went on to play for over a decade in Tennessee, making three All-Star appearances, two All-NBA teams and winning the 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year. All this while being the beating heart and one of the team leaders of the Grizzlies famous Grit and Grind era. Marc Gasol went on to break many of his brothers franchise records in Memphis, and he's remembered by many as the greatest Memphis Grizzly of all time. 

And of course we all know how it ended for Pau Gasol and the Lakers. He clicked almost immediately with franchise superstar Kobe Bryant and the two went on to add back-to-back titles to LA's massive trophy cabinet in 2009 and 2010. Six and a half years, three all-star appearances, and two titles later, Pau Gasol left the Lakers a hero, and added himself to the team's long list of franchise legends. 

Shaq to South Beach

Heat Received: Shaquille O'Neal 

Lakers Received: Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, 2006 First Round Pick, 2007 Second Round Pick

The 2000s Lakers were apparently the kings of making trades that were good for everyone because the blockbuster trade that sent Shaquille O'Neal to South Beach also wound up working quite well for both sides, even if the talent distribution wasn't exactly even.

After eight seasons and three NBA championships, the Shaq-Kobe era in Los Angeles was coming to a bitter end. It's hard for two superstars who demand the ball to get along, and after a tough five game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, their patience had worn thin. Since Kobe was six years younger than Shaq and set to enter his prime, the Lakers made the tough decision to move on from their franchise center.

Reports at the time stated that 20 of the 30 teams inquired about trading for Shaq, with the Big Diesels preferred destination apparently being the Dallas Mavericks. But apparently, the Lakers asking price of German sensation Dirk Nowitzki was far too high, leaving the Shaq sweepstakes wide open. 

Enter, the Miami Heat. After drafting a guy named Dwyane Wade (you probably haven't heard of him) in the 2003 NBA draft, the Heat were on the upswing. They'd just made the second round of the playoffs, but were looking to go all-in on a franchise-altering player. 

So, in the summer of 2004, they pulled the trigger on a monumental trade for Shaq. They sent do-it-all forward Lamar Odom, promising rookie Caron Butler, veteran Brian Grant and two draft picks to get the deal over the line.

Fun little side story, the Heat never would have gotten Odom in 2003 free agency if journeyman Anthony Carter's agent hadn't forgotten to formally accept his $4.1 million player option with Miami. With the added money from Carter's declined option, the Heat had enough cap space to sign Odom, and eventually trade him for Shaq the next summer. And just so you know, things ended up working out for Carter and his agent Bill Duffy. Carter ended up playing eight more seasons of NBA basketball, and Duffy would eventually pay him back for his mistake in full. 

As for how the trade worked out. Well, it didn't take long for Miami to reap the rewards. Shaq dominated in his first season, going on to finish second in 2004-05 MVP voting. He followed that up with an all-star caliber season and more, importantly helped bring home the Heats first ever NBA Championshup

For the Lakers, the rewards from the trade were more of a slow burn. They struggled to find success in the immediate post-Shaq years, even with Kobe dominating and Odom playing well on both sides of the court. They also made what ended up being a poor decision when they shipped Caron Butler to Washington after one season for Kwame Brown, as Butler would go on to make two all-star appearances in the nations capital. 

But things started to click down the line with help from a certain Spanish big man who we already discussed. Odom was a valuable piece for the back-to-back champion Lakers, and even won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010-11. He also wasn't the only one from this trade to make positive contributions to LA's title runs. That 2006 first round pick they got from Miami ended up being Jordan Farmar, who was a solid guard off the bench for each of their title-winning squads. 

Obviously, Odom and Farmar don't quite equal Shaq from a pure talent perspective. But it's hard to argue this trade wasn't pretty even when both teams eventually got a ring out of it.

Kevin Durant Staying Put in Brooklyn According to Reports

Funnily enough, the biggest piece of news to break over the past couple of days is that there is no news.

Kevin Durant has decided to give Steve Nash, Sean Marks and Brooklyn another chance. Even if it might be a bit awkward after Durant asked Tsai to choose between him and the Nash-Marks duo in a London meeting earlier this month. 

For the Nets, Kevin Durant's commitment to the franchise along with a healthy Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons makes them a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference, and they have every chance of getting a first round home court advantage come playoff time. But they’ll have plenty of competition from the rest of the Eastern Conference elites. Let us know which of these top eastern conference teams you think will do the best below. 

Durant himself could be in for a great individual season if he can stay healthy. He averaged nearly 30 points per game last season and it’s not too crazy to imagine that getting higher now that he’s benefiting from the elite playmaking of Ben Simmons. 

Ranking the NBA’s best offseason moves by team: From Pistons to Sixers, Nos. 10-1 - David Aldridge (The Athletic)

The Most Important Player Improvement for Every NBA Team In 2022-23 - Mo Dakhil (Bleacher Report)

With the Kevin Durant saga over for now, who's getting signed? - Nekias Duncan (Bleacher Report)

Thank you all for reading another edition of our humble newsletter. We’d like to end today with a massive shoutout to IRL 2K-rebuilder Daryl Morey for being a certified basketball enjoyer! If you ever need any help running the Sixers, just let us know and we’d be more than happy to help.

If you want to join Daryl, go on over to enjoybball.com and check out our Essentials Collection. Stuff is going fast, but we still have socks and some sizes of the shirts and hoodies available. Get it while you can. 

Until next time. 

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to Monday's trivia question is the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers! Despite finishing with a relative defensive rating 1.8 points above the league average, the Shaq and Kobe-led squad still managed to capture their second of three straight NBA titles. 

Trivia Question: Speaking of trades, the largest one in NBA history happened in 2005 and involved 13 different players including Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and Eddie Jones. What five teams were involved in this historically massive transaction?