It was meant more as "so far this century." I was trying to avoid guys even older than me throwing out gems like "Whizzer Williams for Jungle John Maroni back in '52."
I agree with your BIG 4. As for the Kawhi trade, NBA fandom has become infested with ring culture, and there have been precious few titles in NBA history where you could point to a single player and say he was pretty much solely responsible, as if we were talking about golf. Even MJ was surrounded by HoFers and All-Stars. But we still have people insisting Barkley, T-Mac, AI, etc. weren't great because they didn't win a chip.
Speaking of which, Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups in 2009 has to be one of the most lopsided star-for-star swaps in living memory. Sadly, the exact same trade was made but worse with Tillboy's CP3-Russ trade.
I'd STILL put the Celtics-Nets big 3 trade over the SGA trade, Paul George was at least a good player for the next 4-5 years at the time of the trade, Garnett and Pierce were washed the moment they touched down in Brooklyn. Jayson Tatum is a top 5 player in his own right, and Jaylen Brown's no scrub at #3 overall.
It is fair to ask best trade of 2000 - 2023 without getting picky about "century." "Last 100 years" would be a different discussion and may involve Kareem to the Lakers. "In 1975, the Lakers acquired Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley from the Bucks for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, blue-chip rookies Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman, and cash." There were some other good players involved, especially Bridgeman, but in terms of championships, (five that included Kareem as a significant part of their squad), it's not even close.
Talking of the Shai trade a few things have to be considered - like PGs acquisition being a requirement for Kawhi to sign, a lot of pundits and fans framed the trade as X for George AND Leonard: And a number of those picks/swaps are going to be late or unused. Unfortunately for the Clips OKC already slam dunked one with Jalen Williams Clippers out SGA Miami 2021 first (Tre Mann) LAC 2022 first (Jalen Williams) LAC 2023 swap (Unused) LAC 2024 first (projected late) LAC 2025 swap option (likely late) MIA 2025 first (Lottery protected) Clippers in George / Leonard Is SGA / Williams and a few late first/pointless swaps such a heist? If you don’t consider Leonard yes, If you do maybe not. The bulk picks usually don’t wind up being so much, swaps go unused and late mid first are usually duds. We’re going to have a day where we look back on Harden to the Nets and probably realize Eason was the core piece for - at the time - a top 5 player in Harden You also have to ask about the technicality of FA S&Ts like Jimmy Butler for Josh Richardson Sabonis for Halliburton, despite how nice Sabonis looks is still sad for the Kings. Hali looks more and more like a generational talent by the day. Celtics got Tatum + first for Fultz (LOL) Young is leading the Hawks nowhere, Luka on a pace to be a top 10-20 all timer Hou got Sengun for a couple of protected first
Is the best trade the one that one team fleeced another? Or when both teams mutually benefited? because the Gasols trade ended up being a pretty damn good trade for both teams.
