Revisiting 5 recent terrible trades ahead of the deadline

With the NBA trade deadline right around the corner, now is the time when front offices take a look at their teams and assess what’s working and what’s not. With so many teams currently in the playoff picture and only a few teams expected to be sellers, competition for landing an impact player could be tougher than in years past.

That could lead to some teams overpaying to acquire players, thus leading to bad trades. There are bound to be at least a few lopsided trades ahead of the February 9th trade deadline; there always are. With that being said, let’s revisit five recent terrible trades ahead of the deadline.

The Nikola Vucevic Trade

Former Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic put up big numbers during his time with the team, leading to a big haul when they finally decided to trade him and rebuild. The Chicago Bulls took the bait and probably regret doing so.

While Vucevic has continued to be productive in Chicago, the Magic are still reaping the benefits of the trade three years later. Wendall Carter Jr. is averaging a solid 15.2 points and 8.6 rebounds as the team’s starting five, while one of the picks received in the deal, Franz Wagner, has broken out.

Wagner has emerged as the team’s second-best player behind 2022’s number-one overall pick Paolo Banchero, averaging 19.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Additionally, the Bulls still owe a top-four protected pick this year, and with their team underperforming, they would currently be giving up the seven pick.

Worse yet, Vucevic could leave for nothing in free agency this summer unless the Bulls overpay to retain him. Doing so would probably be an equally bad idea, but losing him for nothing makes this already bad trade look worse, and they’d have no way of adequately replacing him. More tough decisions lie ahead for the Bulls as a result of this clunker of a deal.

The Derrick White Trade

This is a low-key bad trade that seemed ill-advised on the Celtics’ part when they did it. At last year’s trade deadline, the Celtics sent Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson, their 2022 first-round pick, and a 2028 pick swap to the Spurs for Derrick White. That surprisingly large haul came as White was having a disappointing season and was in the first year of a contract that will pay him $17.5 million a year, on average.

White has played better in Boston, but not well enough to justify giving up Richardson, who’s a better shooter and much cheaper. Richardson has also been a better fit for the Spurs, and his ability to play effectively off-ball has allowed them to experiment with having other players create.

Once White was traded, former Spur Dejounte Murray exploded, averaging 25 points and 9.3 assists as the primary playmaker. That increased his value and led to the Spurs later trading him for a big haul (more on that later). In addition, White’s former backup Devin Vassell quickly established himself as a starter.

This season, Richardson has played well enough to potentially net the Spurs a first-round pick, and Romeo Langford has actually looked like an NBA player. Meanwhile, Vassell has emerged as the best player on the Spurs. Factor in that the Spurs used the Celtics’ pick to select promising wing Malaki Branham and that the Spurs own swap rights on a distant pick, and the Celtics clearly gave up too much for White, who is merely a solid player.

The Dejounte Murray trade

Despite rumblings that Dejounte Murray was on the trading block last summer, I didn’t believe that he would actually be traded until it happened. After all, the Spurs trading their young All-Star essentially for draft picks seemed like a terrible idea.

Ironically, this trade is actually already looking like a bad deal for the Hawks. The Hawks gave up three firsts and a pick swap for Murray, who has played well for them this season. Still, the Hawks are only a .500 team with Murray and Trae Young as their best players.

Worse yet, there have been reports that Young has alienated teammates and beefed with his coach, possibly leading to his requesting a trade. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Hawks haven’t gotten better with this swing-for-the-fences move, and the consequences of this trade could be brutal.

Murray could command at least $200 million in free agency in 2024, making re-signing him and retaining Young, who’s making $43 million per year on average over the next four seasons, almost impossible. If Young is traded before then, then Murray is probably all but gone considering Young recruited him to Atlanta. If Murray leaves in the summer of 2024, the Hawks will still be without their own first-round pick for the next three straight seasons with nothing to show for it.

That prevents them from tanking because the 2025 and 2027 draft picks they traded to the Spurs are unprotected. All this is to say that the trade looks like a bad one for the Hawks and a great one for the Spurs.

The Rudy Gobert Trade

Despite currently being a respectable sixth in the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves can’t credit their blockbuster offseason move for their relative success. In fact, the Wolves deal with the Utah Jazz is already widely regarded as a terrible decision and a historic overpay on their part.

Both Jarred Vanderbilt and Walker Kessler have played very well in Utah, as has Timberwolves backup center Naz Reid. That suggests that the Wolves didn’t actually need to make the trade. In fact, it seems as though they outbid themselves by giving up the equivalent of five first-round picks for a player who is wildly overpaid.

Now they are stuck with him for the next three seasons unless they give up more assets to offload him. They could always try to make it work by bringing in a playmaking point guard capable of getting Gobert more involved on offense. Then again, the Wolves may never make the Towns and Gobert pairing fully work. That’s a big problem since that would mean their big off-season acquisition doesn’t fit with their best player.

Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz are sitting pretty. Malik Beasley, Kessler, and Vanderbilt are all rotation players on the most surprising team in the NBA this season. It’s clear that they won this trade; we just don’t know to what extent yet with so many picks coming their way.

The Paul George trade

While the damage is still being assessed in the Gobert trade, we already have a better idea of the damage from the Clippers-Oklahoma City Thunder deal. Three and a half years after making the blockbuster trade that netted them Paul George and paved the way for signing Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers have no title to show for it. While they have managed to build a very deep roster, both George and especially Leonard have struggled to stay healthy.

That limits their ceiling, as does giving up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round picks. While the Clippers technically still have time to win a championship and lessen the sting of giving up that historic haul, they have yet to see a full return on their significant investment. After all, they are only three games above .500 more than halfway through the season, and the odds of them winning a championship this season appear slim.

If the Clippers fail to make noise in the postseason yet again, they may eventually have to look at breaking this team up. Especially since they are one of the most expensive teams in the NBA and have few options for improvement because the Clippers mortgaged their future to the Thunder.

Meanwhile, the Thunder, which went into rebuild mode after trading George, are only a few games behind the Clippers in the standings and led by Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s emerged as a superstar this season.

This is without number two overall pick Chet Holmgren, who, with a slew of other developing players like Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey, could help the Thunder quickly overtake the Clippers next season, even with George and Leonard. Therefore, this trade ranks as the worst trade of the last five years.