Can Danny?

While the theft of Pau Gasol seemed like a deal that never should have been made, perhaps Chris Wallace was on to something. In the end, he ended up netting Javarris Crittenton, Darrell Arthur, Marc Gasol and a 2010 first round pick and helped clear cap space for the future. That team wasn't going anywhere with Gasol, so why not take a step back. In fact, looking at recent history, the teams that have been the "loser" in All for Nothing swaps tend to pan out better than the people that got the superstar. Lopsided trades just aren't what they used to be.

To start, I don't consider deals in which both sides give up legit assets in this. Stuff like Shaq for Odom and Caron Butler or KG for Al Jefferson or T-Mac for Francis/Mobley aren't involved. The deals I'm talking about are the ones like the Gasol deal in which it seems, at first glance, like one team got a superstar without giving up anything at all. The deal that started the Bad Luck Bonus trend was likely Orlando's much ballyhooed sign-and-trade


Pistons lose Grant Hill, only get back Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins
Not only did the Magic give up future All-Star and DPOY Ben Wallace in order to finalize the Grant Hill sign-and-trade but in order to create the cap space to sign both Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill, they renounced their rights to disappointing youngster, Chauncey Billups.

While that lopsided deal made a little sense initially because it was a sign-and-trade, the more recent deals have been absolute dump jobs.

Allen Iverson goes to Denver for Andre Miller and two first round picks
The Sixers didn't exactly use the picks wisely (Jason Smith isn't bad but they dumped the other pick for Derrick Byars who never even made the team) but the financial ramifications aren't even close. The two years before Iverson, the Nuggets won 93 games and lost in the first round twice. Two years with Iverson, Denver had won 95 games and lost in the first round twice. Even worse, AI's contract combined with Kenyon Martin and Nene's signings basically forced ownership to give away Marcus Camby this offseason.

The Sixers, on the other hand, won 81 games in AI's final two years and lost in the first round once. Since AI's been gone? 75 wins and one first round loss. However, while the Nuggets were giving away Marcus Camby to the Clippers, the Sixers were signing away LA's best player, Elton Brand.

Hornets give away Baron Davis. Warriors only give up Speedy Claxton, Dale Davis and cash
The Hornets gave up Baron Davis for nothing yet in the first full year after the trade, they actually had a better record than the Warriors as injuries limited David to just 54 games. B. Diddy was healthy in his second year and made it seem like the Warriors made the right deal as they made the playoffs and upset the Mavericks. Unfortunately, they failed to make the playoffs this season while Chris Paul became an MVP candidate and the Hornets become conteders. Adding insult to injury, Baron Davis then flew the coop this off-season, leaving via free agency.

Vince Carter leaves Toronto in for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, and 2 First Round Picks
Four years after this trade, the Nets have won 166 games to Toronto's 148, however the Nets are now blowing their team up while the Raptors made the playoffs. The Nets did make the semi-finals for two years but after an impovement in Year 2 VC, New Jersey's watched their win total drop by seven games each of the last two season, and went from the semis to a first round knockout to the lotto. Call it karma but Vince Carter wanted to win now and forced his way out of Toronto who is now winning while the Nets are holding out hope for LeBron in 2010.

What's really amazing though is the fact that the Raptors have improved in spite of making one bad choice after another. They blew one of the picks on Joey Graham (the following pick was Danny Granger). The lotto picks they got for being bad for two years were Rafael Arraujo and Andrea Bargnani. They even blew part of their cap space on Jason Kapono. Still, they got TJ Ford to help run the ship and once Jose Calderson was ready to take over, they moved Ford for help in the form of Jermaine O'Neal.

Not that the Rapz can get cocky about it because if the JO move doesn't pay off, the Nets giving away Richard Jefferson might help them steal away Bosh via free agency in 2010.  

And of course, there's The Zeke Trilogy 

The Knicks get Stephon Marbury & Anfernee Hardaway for Antonio McDyess, Maciej Lampe, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, rights to Milos Vujanic, 2004 first round pick, and a future lotto protected first round pick
Yes, you read that right. The Knicks STILL owe a first round pick because of the Marbury trade (Utah now owns it). I don't think we need to explain what went wrong in NY with Marbury or how dumping Marbury's contract gave the Suns cap space to sign Steve Nash which helped the Suns a bit.

Interestingly, the trade in which the Suns got Anfernee Hardaway was almost a Something-for-Nothing disaster in its own right. The Suns gave up Danny Manning, Pat Garrity, a Knicks 2001 first round pick, and an unprotected future first round pick. The Knicks pick in 2001 was #18, wasted on Jason Collins but a number of talented players went soon after (Tony Parker, Gil Arenas, Gerald Wallace, etc.). The bigger issue, however, was the future pick. The Suns, thinking they were going places, didn't put any lotto protection on it so when they fell apart in 2001-2001 and landed in the lotto, that pick should have been owed to the Magic. That pick which ended up being Amare Stoudemire.

So what happened? For some reason, in 2001 the Magic traded the pick back to the Suns in a three team deal which saw them ship out Bo Outlaw for Jud Buechler and the right to swap 2nd round picks with the Clippers. In what may be one of the more overlooked lopsided trades of all time, the Suns acquired Amare Stoudemire for Jud Buechler and a washed up Vinny Del Negro.

The Knicks give up Anfernee Hardaway and Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis
Much like the Raptors, the Magic improved in spite of making some foolish decisions with their supposed short end of the stick. They traded Ariza for Mo Evans and Brian Cook (Cook is garbage and Evans has left via free agency) and they wasted their cap space on a huge 20 million per year deal for Rashard Lewis. Still, it's beter than what the Knicks ended up with...

The Knicks move Steve Francis, Channing Frye for Zach Randolph
Yes, others were involved but these were the key players. The Blazers bought out Francis and became everyone's favorite bandwagon while the Knicks managed just 23 wins and currently can't give away Zach Randolph.

The one team that seems immune to this trend are the Kings.

Philly fleeces the Kings, gets Chris Webber for Kenny Thomas, Brian Singer, Corliss Williamson
One reason this trade wasn't as successful was because the Kings didn't get that much cap space. In fact, Kenny Thomas's bloated deal is still on the books for another two years. On the bright side, the year after the deal, Sacramento finished with a better record than the Sixers. Chris Webber wouldn't even make it through his second season, getting bought out mid-way through the year.

Kings give away Mike Bibby for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, 2008 second round pick
The move didn't really do much of anything for the Kings since they are still terrible and I'm not sure how lotto picks Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are going to help the cause. Bibby, on the other hand, helped the Hawks break their playoff drought.