NBA Trade Deadline: Trading For PGs Usually Backfires

1 of 7

Jan 2, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) looks for an opening around Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) during the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

NBA history is replete with tales of teams making midseason trades to add a player that pushes them over the top for a deep run in the playoffs, sometimes even to a title.

In 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers dealt a collection of reserves and draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies to get All-Star Pau Gasol. It didn’t immediately result in a title—the Lakers lost in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics—but it set the table for L.A. to win back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010.

Four years earlier, Rasheed Wallace proved to be the missing piece that put the Detroit Pistons over the top after he was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks, also adding valuable backup guard Mike James from the Celtics in the same deal.

And it’s likely the Houston Rockets don’t repeat as NBA champions in 1995 without picking up future Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler from the Portland Trail Blazers in February of that year.

There have been other examples if you step into the way-back machine (Earl Monroe going to the New York Knicks in 1971 set the stage for two more NBA Finals runs and a title for that group).

But there seems to be a notable exception. While teams have been able to successfully integrate a big man or a wing player on the fly, there’s been limited success—read “almost none”—when making a midseason trade for a point guard.

Four playoff contenders tried that move in 2014-15 and the results were universally ghastly for the teams involved.

We’ll take a look at how those trades turned out, as well as some other significant midseason moves to acquire point guards and how they similarly failed to deliver the desired results. The lesson learned, however, is that contenders have almost never been pleased with the early returns when swapping out point guards in the middle of the stream.

Next: Mavericks Roll The Dice

Trade Deadline: Contenders Deal For Point Guards At Their Own Risk

By Phil Watson | Jan 24, 2016

With the NBA trade deadline now less than four weeks away, some contending teams may be tempted to bring in a new point guard to help push them over the top. That may be a bad choice.