NBA Lookback: 5 Lopsided Trades From The 2000s

#1 Lakers trade Caron Butler away for Kwame Brown

Caron Butler and Kobe Bryant

One of the pieces the Lakers acquired in the Shaquille O'Neal trade was Caron Butler. The third-year player had had a down season for the Heat in 2003-04, but in his only season with the Lakers, he regained the form that he displayed when he made the All-Rookie team in 2002-03.

Butler had averages of 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game on 44.5% shooting from the field. These are starter-caliber numbers at the small forward position for any player. But the Lakers wanted a center to fill in following Vlade Divac's retirement at the end of the season.

Of all the players they could've traded for, they ended up getting the biggest #1 draft pick bust of all time in Kwame Brown. For acquiring Brown, a 'bonafide scrub' to put it in Stephen A Smith's words, the Lakers also had to give up Chucky Atkins.

Caron Butler ended up making 2 All-Star game appearances with the Wizards and followed that up with an NBA championship on the deep Mavericks roster in 2010-11. He's had a great career, whereas Brown's struggles contributed to Bryant demanding a trade from the franchise in 2007.