The 6 WEIRDEST Trades In NBA History

Andy Hoops

From trading players for copy machines to trading coaches, here are the 6 weirdest trades in NBA history! Hope you enjoy.  I make all kinds of NBA videos which include trivia, analysis, player stories, countdowns, conspiracies, and mysteries. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video!  ► Instagram: @Andy93y ► Twitter: @AndyHoopsYT  ► Music:  On The Cool Side by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod  Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Find all of his songs and download them for free here: http://incompetech.com  ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/22/the-joy-of-six-weirdest-trades-sports-history https://sports.yahoo.com/kyle-korver-was-traded-in-2003-for-a-copy-machine--kind-of-204933792.html?y20=1 http://assets.espn.go.com/nba/columns/hughes/1164180.html https://thesportsdaily.com/2013/08/08/bill-russell-thought-st-louis-was-racist/  #nba #trades #tradedeadline

Transcript

00:02We've seen some good trades, we've seen some bad trades.

00:06We've seen trades that turned an entire franchise around, and we've seen others that did the complete opposite.

00:12However, throughout the course of NBA history, there have been some trades that were just ridiculously weird.

00:18I'll explain each trade in detail and why they possibly made them.

00:22How's it going ladies and gents, my name's Andy, and here are the 6 weirdest trades in NBA history.

00:29Number 6, Fred Roberts to the Boston Celtics.

00:33Fred Roberts was nothing more than a role player, a backup power forward who played for 7 different teams in

00:38his 13 seasons in the NBA.

00:41Averaging about 7 points and 3 rebounds a game for his career.

00:45However, in 1986, the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz, for some reason, were in a bidding war to get Roberts.

00:52He was a restricted free agent, and the Celtics offered him a 2-year $400,000 contract.

00:59The Jazz decided to match the offer to keep him, even though they honestly didn't need him,

01:03since they already had a young Carl Malone who was on the verge of becoming a superstar, as well as

01:08multiple other backup big men.

01:11So the Jazz surprisingly matched the Celtics' offer, and now the only way the Celtics could get him is through

01:16a sign-and-trade.

01:17The Jazz said that they would trade Roberts to them if they got back a second-round pick.

01:22But the Celtics did not have a second-round pick, so they could only offer a third-round pick.

01:26And yes, back in the 80s, the draft had like 7 rounds.

01:30So the Jazz agreed to take the third-round pick, which they used to select Billy Donovan in the 1987

01:36drafts,

01:37who would only play in the NBA for one season before eventually becoming a head coach.

01:42But the Jazz also added another part to the deal.

01:45They wanted the Celtics to play two preseason games in Utah, which was really strange.

01:50But according to the Jazz owner, he hoped that the Celtics would bring in a lot of ticket sales and

01:55revenue,

01:55because at the time, they were the most popular team in the league right up there with the Lakers.

02:00And I guess it worked out according to plan.

02:03Because those two preseason games instantly sold out,

02:06and the Jazz fans rushed to the arena to see the Celtics play.

02:09So this trade was basically a way for the Jazz to earn some extra cash by inviting the Celtics over

02:14to play

02:14and also got a third-round pick out of it.

02:16Not a bad deal considering that the Jazz didn't even need Fred Roberts.

02:21Number 5, Stan Van Gundy to Orlando.

02:25Now, this trade might not seem that weird,

02:27but I believe it was the first time a coach got traded to another team.

02:31And how this whole thing played out was very awkward.

02:35Van Gundy recently led the Miami Heat to the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals,

02:39while winning 59 games in the regular season.

02:42They were one game away from the finals,

02:44and they might have gotten there if Dwayne Wade did not get hurt.

02:48Afterwards, Pat Riley decided that,

02:50hey, you know what, this team is really good now, and I want to take over.

02:54So he stepped down from his executive role and became the head coach,

02:57after some arguments with Van Gundy, which caused Van Gundy to step down.

03:02Except, shortly after he stepped down, he accepted an offer to coach the Orlando Magic,

03:07even though he was still under Miami's contract,

03:09which said that he could not coach another team during the duration.

03:13However, Miami would allow Van Gundy to coach Orlando if they got back some draft picks in exchange.

03:18Which, they did.

03:19Orlando sent them a 2007 and 2008 second-round pick.

03:23Those picks did not turn into any decent players.

03:27A couple years later, in 2013,

03:29Doc Rivers became the second coach to get traded to another team.

03:32This one was more of a straightforward trade.

03:35The Celtics sent Rivers to the LA Clippers for a 2015 first-round pick,

03:39which eventually turned into R.J. Hunter.

03:42Number 4, John Spolstra to Indiana.

03:46This was definitely a weird trade when you look back in hindsight,

03:49but it kind of made sense at the time.

03:51To sum it up, John Spolstra was Eric Spolstra's father,

03:55and in 1982, he was the marketing executive of the Portland Trailblazers.

03:59At the time, the majority of NBA teams were losing money,

04:03but the Blazers were one of them who haven't.

04:05According to John, he said,

04:07I was an advocate that if you owned an NBA team,

04:10that you didn't have to lose money.

04:11In 1983, almost every team was losing money,

04:14and the Trailblazers weren't.

04:15The Pacers were for sale,

04:17and they were bringing in different people,

04:18and wanted me to talk to prospective buyers.

04:22Basically, the Pacers were losing money,

04:23and they needed some help from the marketing standpoint.

04:26So, John Spolstra decided to trade himself to the Pacers

04:29in exchange for point guard John Boos.

04:32In his prime, Boos was a great point guard.

04:35He was a two-time all-star,

04:36and led the league in assists and steals for multiple seasons.

04:39But by 1983, he was 32 years old,

04:42and just a backup point guard.

04:44Also, he left the Blazers after just one season,

04:47so this trade didn't really accomplish anything.

04:49But at least the Blazers got him for basically nothing.

04:53John Spolstra was able to help the Pacers

04:55find a new owner for their team,

04:57which turned out to be Herbert and Mel Simon.

05:00Spolstra would only be consulting with the Pacers

05:02for a couple weeks,

05:03and then return back to Portland.

05:05At the end of the day,

05:07I guess the Pacers won the trade,

05:08because it definitely helped their franchise stay there.

05:12Number 3, Kyle Korver for...

05:14a copy machine.

05:17Over his career,

05:18Kyle Korver developed into one of the greatest

05:20three-point shooters in NBA history.

05:22He has a career three-point percentage of 43%,

05:25and led the league in that category

05:27for four different seasons.

05:28It's the part of his game that has not fallen off

05:31even when he's gotten a lot older.

05:34In 2003,

05:35the Nets recently made the finals

05:36for two consecutive years.

05:38But despite their success,

05:40they were still near the bottom of the league

05:41in attendance and overall viewership.

05:44The Nets were not a very popular team,

05:46and with the economy starting to go downhill,

05:48they were still losing money

05:50even though they were contending for the title.

05:52In the 2003 draft,

05:54the Nets held the 51st overall pick,

05:56which they used to draft Kyle Korver.

05:59But then,

05:59they decided to trade Korver to Philadelphia

06:01for $125,000.

06:05According to Zach Lowe,

06:06he said,

06:07With none of their preferred choices on the board,

06:10the Nets brass selected

06:11Creighton small forward Kyle Korver

06:13with the 51st pick,

06:14and immediately sold his draft rights

06:16to the Sixers for $125,000.

06:19That covered Summer League,

06:21and with the leftover cash,

06:22the Nets bought a new copy machine.

06:25In Philly,

06:26Korver would become an exceptional role player,

06:28and his three-point shooting was on point

06:29right when he got there.

06:31Had the Nets decided to keep Korver,

06:33he could have helped them a lot,

06:34especially playing next to Jason Kidd.

06:37In fact,

06:38the Nets were bottom 10 in the league

06:40in three-point percentage,

06:41so Korver would immediately make them better.

06:43Looking at this in hindsight,

06:45this was a terrible trade for the Nets,

06:47but at the same time,

06:48most players picked in the second round

06:49don't amount to anything.

06:51I mean,

06:52it was the 51st overall pick.

06:54Players drafted at that spot

06:55usually don't even play a single game,

06:57so nobody expected anything out of Korver.

06:59In addition to that,

07:01the Nets also had financial issues,

07:02so the trade does make sense

07:04from their perspective.

07:07Number 2,

07:08Bill Russell to the Celtics.

07:10I've talked about this trade

07:11in a previous video before

07:12when I ranked the greatest draft day trades ever.

07:15This Bill Russell trade

07:16was also one of the weirdest ones ever.

07:18To sum it up,

07:19the Celtics coach Red Auerbach

07:21was looking for a tough,

07:22defensive-minded center on the roster.

07:24He had his eyes set on Bill Russell.

07:27The Rochester Royals had the number one pick,

07:29but Auerbach pulled some strings

07:31to get them to not draft Russell.

07:33He offered the Royals a show

07:34from the Ice Capades,

07:35a group of traveling ice skaters.

07:38The Royals accepted the offer,

07:39but it turns out

07:40they didn't want Russell anyway,

07:42so they essentially got a free show

07:43from the Ice Capades in Rochester.

07:45Now,

07:46the number two pick

07:47belonged to the St. Louis Hawks,

07:48and that's where Auerbach

07:49came in with an offer.

07:51He offered two future Hall of Famers,

07:53Ed McCauley and Cliff Hagen,

07:54to the Hawks for Bill Russell.

07:56The Hawks accepted the offer,

07:58and the rest is history.

08:01Decades later,

08:02Bill Simmons has stated that

08:03he believed the real reason

08:04this trade happened

08:05was because in the 1950s,

08:07the racism in St. Louis

08:08was everywhere,

08:09and the organization

08:10most likely did not want

08:11a black player

08:12to represent the city,

08:13because it probably

08:14would not attract as many fans.

08:17Even to this day,

08:18the Russell trade to the Celtics

08:19still remains

08:20as the greatest draft day trade

08:21in NBA history

08:22in terms of impact.

08:24Russell was the driving force

08:26behind the Celtics'

08:27incredible championship run

08:28in the 50s and 60s.

08:29And while the Hawks

08:30did win a championship

08:31in 1958,

08:33they were nowhere near

08:33as dominant as the Celtics

08:35during that era.

08:37Number one,

08:38the Clippers and Celtics

08:40trade franchises.

08:42If you're a fan

08:43of NBA history,

08:44you should know

08:45that there used to be

08:46a franchise called

08:46the Buffalo Braves,

08:48located in upstate New York.

08:50The Braves no longer exist,

08:52but they're actually

08:53the same franchise

08:53that eventually became

08:55the Los Angeles Clippers.

08:57So, how did that happen?

08:59Well, it was actually

09:00because two owners

09:01decided to trade

09:02their entire franchise

09:03with each other.

09:04In 1978,

09:05the Buffalo Braves

09:06were owned by John Brown.

09:08The Boston Celtics

09:09were owned by Irv Levin.

09:11Even though Irv owned

09:12the Celtics,

09:13he lived in California

09:13and he wanted to move back there

09:15and own a team there.

09:16However,

09:17he couldn't just move

09:18the Celtics to California.

09:19By 1978,

09:21they had like 13 championships

09:22and they were by far

09:24the most successful

09:24franchise in the NBA.

09:26If he relocated them

09:28to the West Coast,

09:28there would be riots

09:29on the streets of Boston.

09:32So then,

09:33in comes John Brown.

09:34John was content

09:35with owning the Braves,

09:36but at the time,

09:37they were still a relatively

09:38new expansion team

09:39and they had nowhere near

09:40the amount of popularity

09:41or revenue

09:42as the Celtics.

09:43That's when he jumped

09:44at this golden opportunity.

09:46John and Irv reached a deal

09:48where they would swap shares

09:49of their franchise,

09:50so now John owned the Celtics

09:51and Irv owned the Braves.

09:54Immediately after Irv got the team,

09:55he relocated them to San Diego

09:57and rebranded the team,

09:59naming them the San Diego Clippers.

10:01So now,

10:01both of them got what they wanted.

10:04However,

10:04not many people know

10:05about this whole deal

10:06between the two franchises

10:08because, frankly,

10:09the owners did not own them

10:10for much longer.

10:11As the new owner

10:12of the Celtics,

10:13John's relationship

10:14with his GM,

10:15Red Auerbach,

10:15was not good

10:16and it continued to get worse

10:17as John would make trades

10:19without consulting Auerbach.

10:20Eventually,

10:21he would sell the team

10:22in 1979.

10:24As for Irv,

10:25the Clippers were struggling

10:26and they didn't make

10:27a single playoff appearance

10:28in their time in San Diego,

10:29so he sold the team

10:30to Donald Sterling.

10:33And that's all, folks.

10:34Those were the six weirdest trades

10:36in NBA history.

10:37Let me know in the comments.

10:38Thank you all so much for watching.

10:40I hope you enjoyed the video

10:41and as always,

10:42I'll see you next time.

10:43Peace.

10:50Peace.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended