The NBA Trade Deadline is always one of the most exciting times of any NBA season. Big names are thrown around in rumors, and teams make surprise deals that always blow up social media. In this article, I will be reflecting on the significance and impact of past trade deadline deals. But, since most big trades don’t happen on the day of the deadline, and the exact date of the deadline varies each season, any trade near that season’s trade deadline will count, so any trade that is noteworthy, has to fit in that umbrella range. That means, no James Harden to Brooklyn trade, or anything of the sort that fall outside the general range of under a month before the deadline. These 10 trades are also not put in any particular order, so there’s no ranking or anything. Without further ado, let’s get into the reflections!

*FRP = first-round pick

Trade 1: Clyde Drexler Helps Houston Repeat (Feb. 1995)

Trade Details:

Rockets receive: Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray.
Trail Blazers receive: Otis Thorpe, Marcelo Nicola, and a FRP (unspecified year)

The Houston Rockets sure took advantage of the years in which Michael Jordan was “retired” and playing baseball for the Chicago White Sox. They won back-to-back titles (1194 & 1995). For the 1995 title, Houston’s front office felt like it was one piece away from a repeat, and they found that piece in this trade. Clyde Drexler had already established himself as a star in Portland, and he helped the Rockets repeat, forming a formidable duo with Houston’s superstar big man Hakeem Olajuwon. A last-minute trade deadline trade generally doesn’t have a major immediate impact, but this trade did.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 8/10

Houston repeats as champions because of this trade, so it earns a high overall positive impact rating, despite Portland not ending up with. much from this.

Trade Jury Verdict: Rockets Win

The Rockets also easily win this trade as they received the best player who directly and positively impacted their championship odds, and eventually helping them repeat in that same season.

Trade 2: 3 Team Trade Sends ‘Sheed To Detroit (Feb. 2004)

Trade Details:

Celtics receive: Lindsey Hunter, Chucky Atkins, a 2004 FRP and cash (all via DET).
Hawks receive: Zeljko Rebraca, Bob Sura and a FRP (unspecified year) (via DET) + Chris Mills (via BOS).
Pistons receive: Rasheed Wallace (via ATL) + Mike James (via BOS).

This trade is what put Detroit over the top, as Rasheed Wallace was a huge piece in their finals win over the Lakers in that season. The impact here is off the charts for Detroit, but neither team got much out of this. To delve into the outcome for Detroit, I think that this trade was easily worthwhile for them. I mean, they won the Finals partially because of this trade, so why wouldn't the outcome be greatly positive? Looking back now, this trade was instrumental in Detroit’s finals win that season.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 6/10

Since a team in this deal won a title in the same season that htis trade was completed (that being the Pistons making the final acquisation before winning the 2004 Finals), the impacy rating is higher than it would be if Detroit didn’t win a ring, since no other team had any significant positive impact on them as a result of this trade.

Trade Jury Verdict: Pistons Win

Since the Pistons won a title after this trade, and the main player that they received in this trade was instrumental in that title win, the Pistons are the winners of this deal.

Trade 3: Nets Miss Out on a Star Again (Mar. 2012)

Trade Details:

Nets receive: Gerald Wallace.
Trail Blazers receive: Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, and a 2012 FRP.

This trade may seem like a run-of-the-mill salary dump, but let me clarify the thought process for the Nets here. At the time of this trade, Billy King was the GM in Brooklyn. He (and the rest of Brooklyn’s front office) was confident that there were only 3 players that would become prominent in their careers in the 2012 draft, so King flipped a recently acquired Mehmet Okur, as well as Shawne Williams with a first-round pick that they placed a top 3 protection on, to Portland for a declining Gerald Wallace. They weren’t worried about the pick, since they didn’t think they would finish with the record that they finished with (22-44), thinking that it would fall somewhere in and/or around the 17-22 range and the Blazers wouldn’t get anyone particularly good out of it. But, if the Nets did do very poorly, they would keep the pick and draft a great prospect in the top 3. The pick landed just outside the protection range at 5th overall, therefore staying with the Blazers, who used that pick to select none other than Damian Lillard. While the Blazers haven’t gotten to a finals with Dame, he has consistently performed at a superstar level for Portland. For Brooklyn, they got nothing out of the last years of an overpaid and aging Gerald Wallace, while losing the pick that became Damian Lillard. This trade ended as an easy win for Portland, but the impact isn’t as high.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 7/10

Since the Blazers got a superstar out of the pick they received, the impact is high. Without Lillard, the Blazers would be lottery-bound every season. But, since the Nets had a severe negative impact, the overall impact goes down.

Trade Jury Verdict: Trail Blazers Win

The Blazers got the pick that became Damian Lillard in this trade, while dumping Gerald Wallace’s horrendous contract, making them the clear-cut winners of this deal.

Trade 4: The Gasol Brothers are Traded for Each Other (Feb. 2008)

Trade Details:

Lakers receive: Pau Gasol and a 2010 second round draft pick (Devin Ebanks).
Grizzlies receive: Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, a 2008 1st round pick (Donte Greene) and a 2010 1st round pick (Greivis Vasquez).

This trade will go down in the record books as one of the most historically unique trades of all time. Two brothers being traded for each other, and then each making greatly successful careers for themselves afterwards isn’t something you see every day. Pau Gasol ended up winning back to back championships with the Lakers, while Marc Gasol established himself as a defensive stud and multi-tool big man in Memphis, later winning a ring with Toronto in 2019. Since both brothers won rings after being traded for each other, the overall impact of this trade is high. For the team that wins, I have to say the Lakers, since they got two rings with Pau, and the Grizzlies didn’t get any rings with Marc, he got his with Toronto 11 years after this trade was completed.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 9/10

Pau Gasol won two championships with the Lakers after being dealt there as part of this trade, and Marc Gasol established himself as a dominant big man in his prime after being traded to Memphis in this deal. This earns a very high overall impact rating.

Trade Jury Verdict: Lakers Win

Since the Grizzlies failed to win a championship with Marc, and the Lakers won two with Pau, LA wins thus trade easily.

Trade 5: Carmelo Anthony Lands Himself in the Big Apple (Feb. 2011)

Trade Details:

Knicks receive: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Corey Brewer, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams, and Anthony Carter.
Nuggets receive: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Raymond Felton, 2014 FRP (via NYK), two SRP’s (via NYK), and $3 million cash.
Timberwolves receive: Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry, and $3 million cash.

This trade was willed into existence by Carmelo Anthony. The rest of it was just the pieces that were needed to get Melo to NYC. He had been disgruntled with the Nuggets, and saw an opportunity to come to the greatest city in the world. At the time, Carmelo was an elite talent getting his start in Denver, but the rest of the players in the deal weren’t all that spectacular. The best player outside of Carmelo that Denver received was between Billups, Chandler, and Mozgov, but none of them were particularly great. Billups was old and washed, but still somewhat capable of flashes of his young self. Mozgov was a paint player, who rarely gravitated outside of the restricted area. And for Felton, he was a journeyman point guard who was a decent backup guard, but wasn’t starting quality. The real value returning to Denver was in the form of draft capital. For the TWolves, they nabbed some cash along with some bench players just to facilitate the trade. The overall impact of this trade isn’t too low, but isn’t too high. No player won a ring after being included in this trade, so I place the impact at about a 5/10, just because it was a talented youngster in Carmelo Anthony being traded to a big market. For the team that wins the trade, I have to say the Knicks. They got the best player in the deal, while only giving up one first-round pick.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 4/10

This is a pretty middling impact rating, but the Knicks didn’t do much with Carmelo as they couldnt build a competent team around him, and the rest of the players in this deal didn’t move on to such great things after being included in this trade.

Trade Jury Verdict: Knicks Win

The Knicks win this trade, as they received the best player in this trade by a mile and a half, while only giving up 1 first-round pick.

Trade 6: DeMarcus Cousins Gets Traded During the ASG (Feb. 2017)

Trade details:

Pelicans receive: DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi.
Kings receive: Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 FRP (via NOP), and a 2017 SRP (via NOP).

We all knew a trade like this was coming when it was completed. Cousins was fed up with Sacramento, and demanded a trade. The surprising part about this trade is that the news broke during the 2017 all-star game, which was coincidentally in New Orleans (where Cousins was traded). Cousins was paired with Anthony Davis, creating a star-studded pair of big men in New Orleans. But, due to Cousins’ fiery nature, things quickly grew testy in New Orleans, forcing Cousins and the Pelicans to part ways eventually. Since the relationship went sour quickly, the overall impact of the trade was low, and the Kings win for unloading Cousins and his baggage.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 5/10

Since the relationship between Cousins and New Orleans went really south, really fast, the best player included in this deal didn’t have a chance to make a large impact for the Pels. For the Kings, they really haven’t changed since making this trade.

Trade Jury Verdict: Kings Win

Here we see the team giving up the best player in the trade, actually win that trade. The Pelicans got basically nothing from Cousins, while the Buddy Hield is still performing decently for the Kings.

Trade 7: Boston Acquires the King of the Fourth (Feb. 2015)

Trade Details:

Boston receives: Isaiah Thomas.
Phoenix receives: Marcus Thornton and a 2016 FRP (via BOS).

While this trade didn’t seem like much at the time, no one could foresee the incredible breakout that would come from Isaiah Thomas in Boston. In the 2016-2017 season, Thomas exploded for an average of 28.9 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 2.7 RPG, placing his name near the top of that season’s MVP ladder. Boston ended up losing in the ECF that season, but Thomas brought a spark to that Celtics roster that NBA fans hadn’t seen in a very long time. Sadly, Thomas’s career was derailed by a back injury discovered in an exam after Boston traded him to the Cavs. But, the trade from Phoenix to Boston gave the NBA one of the best feel-good breakouts of the decade, and brought a high level of playoff contention to Boston.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 6/10

This trade had a minimal positive impact on the Suns, but quite a large positive impact on the Celtics, landing this impact rating around the middle of the pack.

Trade Jury Verdict: Boston Wins

Boston wins easily, as nothing that Phoenix received was significant.

Trade 8: Clippers Dump Salary, but Miss Out on Kyrie Irving (Feb. 2011)

Trade Details:

Clippers receive: Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
Cavaliers receive: Baron Davis and a 2011 FRP (via LAC).

This trade would seem like a good move for the Clippers, as they dump a bad salary for two decent bench depth pieces. Yet, this trade backfired on the Clippers massively, as the first-round pick they used to offset Davis’ salary (value wise) was higher than expected. The Clippers ended that season with a record of 32-50, landing the pick with decent lottery odds. The pick ended up being #1 overall, but since the Clippers traded it, it belonged to the Cavaliers. The Cavs ended up picking Kyrie Irving with that pick, and the rest is history. The addition of Irving ended with a big 3 in Cleveland (LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love), that brought Cleveland a title together. Overall, this trade worked out horribly for the Clippers, but it turns out, all the Cavs needed to get Kyrie Irving was Jamario Moon, Mo Williams, a little while of Baron Davis, and some lottery luck.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 8/10

The imapct rating is this high because the impact here was so massive for the Cavs, but it falls short of a 10/10 because the Clippers didn’t get any positive impact out of this.

Trade Jury Verdict: Cavs Win

The Cavs win easily here, as they received the draft pick that turned into a hugely important piece in their finals win in 2016.

Trade 9: Dikembe Mutombo Lands in Philly (Feb. 2001)

Trade Details:

76ers receive: Dikembe Mutombo and Roshown McLeod.
Hawks receive: Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc, Nazr Mohammed, and Pepe Sanchez.

While Mutombo was 34 years old when he was traded from Atlanta to Philadelphia, he wasn’t viewed as a top-tier big in the NBA. But, Philly saw him as a potential stopper of Shaq, if the 76ers and the Lakers met in the finals. In hindsight, this was a smart trade for Philly. That season, they did end up meeting LAL in the finals. While it was a good prediction, Mutombo didn’t end up making a big impact alongside Allen Iverson, since Philly lost 4-1 in that series.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 6/10

While it didn’t result in a finals win, Mutombo joining the 76ers via trade helped them boost their paint defense enough to make it to the finals against the might Shaq and Kobe Lakers.

Trade Jury Verdict: 76ers Win

The 76ers win here for me because Mutombo pushed them over the edge and brought enough of what they needed to make a Finals run. An unsuccessful Finals run albeit, but making the Finals is something on its own.

Trade 10: Miami Flips Shaq to Phoenix (Feb. 2008)

Trade Details:

Suns receive: Shaquille O’Neal.
Heat receive: Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

After acquiring O’Neal from the Lakers, the Heat won a championship with the star pairing of O’Neal with Dwyane Wade. After that, they decided to flip O’Neal while his value was the highest. As it turns out, Shawn Marion was unhappy with the Suns, so he was a perfect candidate to be sent in return for O’Neal. After joining the Suns, O’Neal made an all-star team, showing his capability after multiple trades from multiple teams.

Trade Impact (overall positive impact): 4/10

While Shaq was an all-star with Phoenix, the Suns didn’t get any lasting good out of this trade.

Trade Jury Verdict: Suns Win

The Suns nabbed the best player in this deal, while also dumping a disgruntled player, making them my winners of this trade.

All in all, I absolutely love the time surrounding the trade deadline. This article shows how quickly so much can change, and what good can come from that change. I hope you enjoyed this article, and make sure to check back for more articles from me! Stay safe, and have a great day!