NBA History: 5 Worst trades of all time

One of the best ways to build your team in the NBA is through trade. Teams looking to improve their roster stockpile assets and move them in order to get better players for their franchise. The NBA has seen some great trade moves made over the years. But that also means there is a team on the other end that has suffered.

It's impossible to get a pay-off for all moves as an NBA general manager. However, NBA executives sometimes absolutely fail to grasp the quality of the assets they own and move them for virtually nothing. Along those same lines, here are the worst NBA trades of all time:

#5 Milwaukee Bucks trade Dirk Nowitzki to the Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki was picked up at the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks but they flipped him and Pat Garrity for Robert Traylor. Traylor had a nightmarish 7 years in the NBA who averaged only 4.8 points per game across the 438 games he played.

While Garrity was a role player throughout his career, Dirk Nowitzki, on the other hand, played 21 years in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks and became one of the best power forwards ever. He won one MVP title. He also won the Finals MVP for Dallas' amazing championship win in 2011.

#4 Brooklyn Nets trade for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce

The Boston Celtics had already won a championship with the big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. Allen had already moved on and in 2013, they knew that the other two members of the core that led them to their 17th NBA Championship in 2008 had become too old to compete and needed to be moved.

In a desperate attempt to compete for the championship, the Nets went all-in for Pierce and Garnett. They are yet to fully recover from that trade. On Draft Day 2013, Boston sent Pierce, Garnett, Jason Terry, and D.J. White to Brooklyn for Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace, a 2014 first-round pick (James Young), a 2016 first-round draft pick (Jaylen Brown), a pick swap for the 2017 season, and a 2018 first-rounder.

The trade sent the Nets into years of mediocrity while the Celtics became of the best teams in the East.

#3 Charlotte Hornets trade Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe Bryant is one of the best players in the history of the NBA. He played all his years for the Los Angeles Lakers. But he wasn't originally scheduled to play for the Lakers.

Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft. Contract negotiations with Kobe, however, didn't go well and Charlotte sent Kobe to the Lakers for center Vlade Divac. Divac was a reliable and useful big, but he left Charlotte in free agency two years after he arrived.

Kobe Bryant won 5 championships with the Lakers.

#2 St. Louis Hawks trade Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics

Bill Russell is the greatest winner in the history of NBA with 11 rings. But he was originally drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1956 NBA Draft.

The Hawks dealt Russell to the Celtics for Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley. Hagan and Macauley were good NBA players. But no one can match Bill Russell's 11 championships in his 13-year NBA career.

In a league dominated by centers for their offensive prowess, Russell changed the way the NBA perceived big men as he brought his characteristic man-to-man defense and rebounding ability to the table.

#1 Milwaukee Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his famous "sky hook"

The Milwaukee Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to Los Angeles Lakers after the player requested a trade. The Bucks traded one of the best players to ever play the game and received average players in return.

Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to their only championship in 1970-71. The Bucks made their last final NBA Finals appearance in 1974 with Abdul-Jabbar leading the lines.

The four players they got in the trade were Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith, and Brian Winters. All of them failed to match the level of Kareem and the Bucks never recovered.

Abdul-Jabbar would go on to the Lakers and make history, winning five more titles with the LA franchise. Abdul-Jabbar has also won a record six MVPs and leads the league in scoring with 38,387 points.

Edited by Raunak J