Luka Doncic, Kareem, Shaq and others: Ranking the NBA’s all-time greatest trades




The Los Angeles Lakers have been involved in some of the biggest trades in NBA history, but the deal for Luka Doncic might be one of the biggest ever.
Yes, there’s recency bias. But Doncic is a 25-year-old who is a five-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA first team selection, and he just led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA finals last season. Players with his credentials at his age are rarely traded, much less during the season.
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But if legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley can be traded, it stands to reason that there may be no truly untradable player.
With this year’s trade deadline coming on Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern, we ranked some of the trades in which the biggest names found new teams. And yes, Doncic is included.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers.
In six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar won three league MVP Awards, two scoring titles and the Rookie of the Year Award in 1970. He also paired with another great, Oscar Robertson, to win an NBA championship in 1971, Abdul-Jabbar’s second season. The 7-foot-2 center’s impact was so great, the Bucks won a title in the franchise’s third year of existence, the fastest of any expansion team.
But the Bucks fell short of winning another title over the next three seasons, and Robertson retired in 1974 after the team lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics.
Almost five months after that Game 7, Abdul-Jabbar, who grew up in New York and went to college at UCLA, informed the Bucks’ brass that he wanted to leave Milwaukee.
“I had only one year left on my contract, and I told them I really wasn’t interested in signing up again,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I wanted to leave Milwaukee. If they would trade me, it would be the best thing for everybody.”
On June 16, 1975, the Bucks traded Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers, Junior Bridgeman and cash.
The Lakers won five NBA championships with Abdul-Jabbar at center. He won three additional MVP Awards and retired as league’s leading career scorer. The Bucks wouldn’t win another championship for 46 years.
2. Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 1962, the Philadelphia Warriors, one of the NBA’s original franchises, relocated to San Francisco. In tow, they brought the greatest offensive force the league had ever seen: Wilt Chamberlain.
During the 1961-62 season, before the move, Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds in 48.5 minutes a game. He continued to put up otherworldly numbers in the Bay Area, but even he wasn’t immune to trade rumors. Chamberlain was averaging 38.9 points and 23.5 rebounds in 1964-65 when the San Francisco Warriors sent him back to Philadelphia, his hometown, on Jan. 15 for Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash.
Chamberlain won three consecutive league MVPs (1966-68) and led the 76ers to the 1967 NBA championship — breaking a string of eight Celtics championships and beating the Warriors for the title.
3. Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
The three-team deal that sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers will be talked about for years to come. The Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick; the Utah Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks.
Dallas landed an elite player in Davis, but sending away a 25-year-old with Doncic’s credentials caught the entire league by surprise. The Lakers, who have featured many of the NBA’s marquee names, now have one of the brightest young stars — and a league MVP candidate — alongside LeBron James.
In many deals where a team trades a star player, a lot of losing is expected to follow. But the pairing of Davis with Kyrie Irving should keep Dallas in contention.
4. Wilt Chamberlain to the Lakers.
Chamberlain was a part of one of the biggest trades ever in 1965. Three years later, he was on the move again. His time in Philadelphia netted him a championship, but he requested a trade as part of a contract dispute with the Sixers.
On July 9, 1968, the 76ers traded Chamberlain to the Lakers for Darrall Imhoff, Jerry Chambers and Archie Clark. Chamberlain was such a big force that he was traded twice with championship results.
On the Lakers, Chamberlain joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor to establish one of the league’s first superteams. Baylor retired in 1971, but the 1971-72 Lakers won a record 33 straight games and 69 games in the regular season en route to the 1972 championship.
5. Oscar Robertson to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Robertson racked up accolades in his 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Royals. He was named the rookie of the year in 1961 and was the MVP in 1964. He was a 10-time All-Star and was named to the All-NBA first team his first nine years. He did everything … except win a championship.
Near the end of his Royals tenure, there was friction between Robertson and Royals coach Bob Cousy. On April 21, 1970, the Royals dealt him to the Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk.
He teamed with a young Abdul-Jabbar, and the duo helped the Bucks win a championship in 1971. Robertson also earned two more All-Star appearances in Milwaukee before retiring after the 1973-74 season.
6. Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat.
O’Neal was an NBA MVP for the Lakers in 2000 and a three-time NBA finals MVP by 2004, but the Lakers balked at signing him to another contract extension. The Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the finals that summer, and they had a young superstar in Kobe Bryant who had clashed with O’Neal.
The Lakers decided not to retain coach Phil Jackson, who had led them to three straight titles from 2000 to 2002, and general manager Mitch Kupchak said after the 2003-04 season that he would consider trading O’Neal — who had been the face of the franchise since arriving from the Orlando Magic as a free agent in 1996. O’Neal responded by demanding a trade.
On July 14, 2004, the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future first-round pick. O’Neal’s teamed with Dwyane Wade, and Miami won the 2006 title.
7. Julius Erving to the 76ers.
On Oct. 20, 1976, the New York Nets traded Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million.
Yes, the Sixers landed Erving without giving up any players. Why? The Nets couldn’t afford to increase Erving’s salary because of fees associated with joining the NBA from the ABA — including a $4.8 million “invading fee” from the New York Knicks. The Sixers offered $3 million for Erving’s contract and an additional $3 million to cover fees to the join the NBA.
Erving continued his Hall of Fame career in Philly, winning league MVP honors in 1981 and a championship in 1983.
8. Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns.
Barkley had established himself as a star in Philadelphia, but the Sixers couldn’t get past Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Philadelphia lost in the postseason to the Bulls in 1990 and 1991. The Sixers missed the playoffs in 1992, but Barkley was an All-Star and made the All-NBA second team.
With the team headed in the wrong direction, and with Barkley unhappy, he was sent to the Phoenix Suns on June 17, 1992, in a trade for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang.
Joining Kevin Johnson in Phoenix, Barkley was named the MVP in 1993. The Suns, however, lost to the Bulls in the NBA finals that season.
9. Clyde Drexler to the Houston Rockets.
The Portland Trail Blazers made two runs to the NBA finals in the early 1990s with Drexler, losing in 1990 to the Pistons and in 1992 to the Bulls. By 1995, Portland was no longer in title contention, and the team chose to send its star to a team that had a chance of winning a championship.
On Feb. 14, 1995, the Blazers dealt Drexler and Tracy Murray to the Houston Rockets for Otis Thorpe, a first-round draft pick and the draft rights to Marcelo Nicola.
Drexler joined a Rockets team that had won the NBA championship the year before, and he helped the Rockets repeat with a sweep of the Magic in the finals.
10. Earl Monroe to the New York Knicks.
The Baltimore Bullets lost the 1971 NBA finals to Milwaukee, and Monroe, their star guard, was unhappy. A contract dispute followed, and the Bullets traded Monroe to the Knicks for Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth and cash on Nov. 10, 1971.
Monroe was one of the best guards in the NBA, and he joined the Hall of Famer Walt Frazier in the Knicks backcourt, as well as the Hall of Fame center Willis Reed. The Knicks won the 1973 championship.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.