Superstar Trades since KG

[Ilikesports17]

Im sure a thread of this nature exists, but by now its deep in the depths of CB so I figured Id make a new one. I took the biggest acquisitions via trade that I could think of and posted them below. It is ineresting to compare the assets required to the assets we have in hand.

1. KG to Boston, July 2007
Theo Ratliff(expiring), Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, future #1, future #1 (via Minnesota)
for

2. Melo to New York, February 2011
Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, 1st rounder
for
Billups Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, Carmelo Anthony

3. Deron Williams to New Jersey, February 2011
Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, 2 1st rounders
for
Deron Williams

4. Chris Paul to LAC, December 2011
Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, 1st rounder, 2 second rounders
for
Chris Paul

5. Dwight Howard to LAL
Lakers out: Andrew Bynum, 2017 #1, Josh McRoberts
Lakers in: Dwight Howard, Earl Clark, Chris Duhon
Orlando out: Jason Richardson, Dwight Howard
Orlando in: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless(rookie), 3 firsts (protected)

6.James Harden to Houston, October 2012
Kevin martin, Jeremy Lamb, 2 firsts
for
Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, Lazar Hayward, James Harden

7. Kevin Love to Cleveland, August 2014
Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, top 10 protected 1st.
for
Kevin Love

Make of it what you will. The baseline seems to be 1 young exciting player on the rise/ recent high pick, 1 established good NBA player, and some OK 1sts. This would mean for us probably Smart, IT, 2 1sts (top 10 protected) could get us some very serious conversations. Then wed have to throw some smaller pieces probably.

[Timdawgg]

Thanks for posting this. I think you are dead on with regard to the assets would we need to trade to get a superstar. Now we just need to find one who wants off of his team...

[sofutomygaha]

Thanks for posting this. I think you are dead on with regard to the assets would we need to trade to get a superstar. Now we just need to find one who wants off of his team...

That's also a good observation. Small sample size, but in 5/7 of these trades the superstar was hellbent on getting out of town and everyone knew it.

[Ilikesports17]

Thanks for posting this. I think you are dead on with regard to the assets would we need to trade to get a superstar. Now we just need to find one who wants off of his team...

That's also a good observation. Small sample size, but in 5/7 of these trades the superstar was hellbent on getting out of town and everyone knew it.

I meant to mention that in my post.

I only made the post because I saw to "Latest Forum Topics" about trading for Melo and Cousins. I think as a prerequisite to any of these trades you are going to need an absolute team implosion to the point where the superstar demands a trade.

luckily, Sacremento looks very combustible right now.

[PhoSita]

Thanks for posting this. I think you are dead on with regard to the assets would we need to trade to get a superstar. Now we just need to find one who wants off of his team...

That's also a good observation. Small sample size, but in 5/7 of these trades the superstar was hellbent on getting out of town and everyone knew it.

Yeah.  No team is gonna trade their superstar unless put in a position where it's either that or watch them leave for nothing.

Even when put in that kind of bad position, teams still don't trade their star unless they're getting a pretty great haul in return.

When it comes to offering an exciting young prospect, having a guy who has the potential to become a high level scorer seems like a big deal.  Teams don't tend to trade for packages centered around young defense-first prospects.

[bdm860]

In what Celtics world is Rondo not a superstar?   

Guys I might consider including:

Zach Randolph 3x (Por to NY in '07, NY to LAC in '08, LAC to Mem in '09)
Shaq 2x (Mia to Phx in '08, Phx to Cle in '09)
Tyson Chandler 2x (NO to Char in '09, CHar to Dal in '10), this could be 3x or 4x if you want to include '06 and '14 too.
Marcus Camby (Den to LAC in '08)
Shawn Marion (Pho to Mia in '08)
Jermaine O'Neal (Ind to Tor in '08)
Al Jefferson (Min to Utah in '10)
Gerald Wallace (Char to Por in '11)
Monta Ellis (GS to Mil in '12)
Eric Bledsoe (LAC to Phx in '13)
Jrue Holiday (Phi to NO in '13)
Luol Deng (Chi to Cle in '14)
Rondo (Bos to Dal in '14)
Reggie Jackson (OKC to Det in '15)
Goran Dragic (Pho to Mia in '15)
Roy Hibbert (Ind to LAL in '15)

Sure some of these guys you might look at and think, superstar?  Am I crazy?

The thing is, there's such a loose definition of superstar, and it's easy to nail down in hindsight.  But at the time of those trades?   James Harden had never been an All-Star or All-NBA when he was traded, we know he's a superstar now, but he could have turned out to be Jrue Holiday or Eric Bledsoe or Monta Ellis or someone like them.  I bet OKC definitely didn't think he'd turn out to be so good.  Reggie Jackson could turn out to be the same way (definitely had a nice run in Detroit).

A guy like Deron Williams hasn't been All-NBA once since becoming a Net, not a superstar in my book since the trade (but at the time I would have said he was one). 

When vets like KG or Ray Allen are traded, nobody really knows how much they have left.  Sometimes you get what KG was in Boston and sometimes you get what Jermaine O'Neal was since he was a Pacer.

All the guys I included above (and I'm sure there's more if I really think about it), sure they aren't superstars now (some still have the potential to become), but for the most part they were coming off All-Star/All-NBA  years or were averaging either 20+ points or 10+ apg or 10+ rpg (or some combination thereof), or were maybe just a season or 2 removed from doing so.  They're all guys that still had All-Star, All-NBA, or DPOY potential at the time of the trade.

Very few superstars are traded because well there's very few superstars (and even fewer who are on losing teams looking to leave town).  But you can somewhat easily trade for a player capable of making an All-Star or All-NBA team.

[Donoghus]

The Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers in '08 should be up there too.

[max215]

TP, excellent post and good job of outlining the assets typically needed for a superstar trade.

[Boris Badenov]

TP for the research.

[cons]

the lesson also seems to be : dont trade a superstar. the return is usually less.

[Boris Badenov]

the lesson also seems to be : dont trade a superstar. the return is usually less.

Yea, though as people say above, most of those trades reflected the fact that the superstar wanted out, which degraded the return.

In which case I think the real lesson is, "if you are lucky enough have a superstar, do whatever it takes to keep him happy."