The Worst Trade in NBA History Retrospective
As human beings, we tend to make mistakes and participate in actions that we come to regret. Usually, these actions are small in the grand scheme of our existence in the universe, but every so often, you hear about a mistake so grand that it makes you feel regret just hearing about it. In 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers front office decided it was time to win now, and six years later, that decision is now one of the team’s biggest regrets. Let’s take a look back at when the Los Angeles Clippers traded away future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted 11th overall in the 2018 NBA draft. Shai, in his rookie season, was undoubtedly a work in progress, but the tools were always there for him to be a reliable player for the future. At only 20 years old, he needed to fully grow into his body to be as physical in drawing contact on his shots and needed to overcome the size barrier on defense. He was still very solid as a rookie, and everyone knew that he had the potential to be a really solid player if they let it play out. Paul George, on the other hand, was an already established star in the league coming off a third-place finish in the 2019 MVP race. Trading Shai for Georg d signing Kawhi Leonard was the Clippers’ attempt at assembling a bit of a superteam that was built to compete for championships immediately with established, but aging stars. It was honestly not a bad idea, and with how good Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were at the time, the Clippers were very exciting. The aftermath, however, set a precedent for teams around the league to be afraid of when constructing a roster built to win championships.
Shai ended up having a breakout sophomore season, followed by improvements every single following season, catapulting him into an MVP winner and one of the best players in the league. The Thunder are now competing in the Western Conference Finals with the roster they built around Shai, which is filled with young talent developed within their system. The Clippers only reached the Western Conference Finals once, even after adding multiple other established, but aging stars in the process. Paul George was always solid, but he lost his killer instinct that carried him to many amazing moments in Indiana and Oklahoma City. He felt like a complacent 20-point-per-game scorer, but no real drive or hunger for a ring. Paul George is no longer on the Clippers, and the Clippers are stuck in a bit of a purgatory of having a rood rregular-seasonroster that has no motor to get past the top teams in the playoffs.
Five first-round picks were also included in the trade to Oklahoma City, which helped craft the young and successful team seen today. Aggression is a virtue desired by many front offices and is often demanded by fans of these organizations. Patience is admittedly boring, and instant results will always scratch that itch. It is also very important to ask yourself when constructing a roster how dangerous building a top-heavy team can be. Not all executives have the leash to go through development seasons like Sam Presti in Oklahoma City, but trusting the process really can work out. The Clippers weren’t necessarily wrong or too scrutinized when making this move at the time, but the risks of failure were always there, and now they’re stuck with being the faces of the worst trade in NBA history.
