Each NBA team’s best trade in franchise history

New York Knicks

Earl Monroe for Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth, and cash to BAL (1972)

For context, Mike Riordan and Dave Stallworth averaged a combined 9.6 points per game for their careers. Along with cash, this is what the New York Knicks gave up to attain the services of a man nicknamed “Black Jesus.”

Now, before you loosen your jowls to scream “Blasphemy!” in your best Stephen A. Smith voice, these highlights should illustrate how he earned the nickname. Or just call hin “The Pearl” or Earl, your choice.

Anyway, Monroe started his Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Bullets, playing there for his first five seasons. In Baltimore, Monroe was basically a one-man show to the point where he was slotted in as the starting point guard.

The man who never thought up a wacky shot he wouldn’t take averaged 23.2 points per game with .133 WS/48 with the Bullets. But he eventually wanted out of Baltimore; he went as far as threatening to join the ABA’s Indiana Pacers.

Three games into the 1971-72 season, the team finally capitulated and sent Monroe to the Knicks. The move paired him beside two-way superstar point guard Walt “Clyde” Frazier, which predictably drew concerns as to whether the ball-dominant wing could mesh well with Frazier.

In short, they did; It took a season to find his footing, but Monroe and Frazier soon became one of the best backcourts in the NBA, even garnering the “Rolls Royce Backcourt” moniker. With .120 WS/48 in a Knicks jersey, Monroe helped the Knicks win the franchise its second NBA championship in 1973.