The Worst Trade In NBA History

The year was 2012. 3-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard was disgruntled in Orlando, and Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy had been fired at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season, possibly at Howard’s insistence. Many suitors were interested in Howard, including the super team chasing Brooklyn Nets, his preferred destination. Also in the race were the Los Angeles Lakers, who recently traded for Steve Nash, with designs on their own super team. This confluence of events would lead to one of the most ill-fated trades in NBA history.

The Lakers had won the NBA Championship in 2009 and 2010 led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. However, they were left in the dust after the Miami Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to pair with Dwyane Wade, and the Oklahoma City Thunder made the Finals in 2012, buoyed by the young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. LA was determined to land some more star players, so they went out and made a big splash. They agreed to a sign and trade deal with the Phoenix Suns, which landed them two-time MVP Steve Nash. Despite being 38 years old at the time, Nash had still averaged 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game for the Suns in 2011-12, and he was viewed as a player who could lift the Lakers back into title contention. Despite having already traded for Nash, the Lakers had their eye on the biggest trade target that season, Dwight Howard.

Howard had demanded a trade from Orlando after the 2011-12 season, and the Magic were looking to offload him before he could leave in free agency. In August of 2012, the Lakers, Magic, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a four-team trade, one of the largest in NBA history.

 

LA received Dwight Howard, Earl Clark and Chris Duhon. Clark played one season (59 games) with LA, and recorded 7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He recorded career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Chris Duhon played with LA for one unremarkable year, before being waived in June 2013. Howard would stay in LA for one controversy filled year before departing to the Houston Rockets in 2013.

The Denver Nuggets received Andre Iguodala, who had just made the All-Star game in 2012. He stayed with Denver for one season and after a first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors, joined them in the summer of 2013.

The Philadelphia 76ers received Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. Orlando actually declined a Bynum trade, because they were concerned about his recurring knee injuries, in an extraordinary moment of foresight. Bynum would never play for the 76ers, and his career would never be the same again. Jason Richardson would play for Philadelphia from 2012 to 2015, appearing in 52 games, before retiring in 2015.

The Magic, who gave up the best player in the deal, received the most compensation. Arron Afflalo played in Orlando for 2 years, recording a career high 18.2 points per game in 2013-14 before going back to Denver. Al Harrington played for 10 games with Orlando before being waived. Maurice Harkless, who was a first round pick in 2012, played for the Magic for 3 relatively successful seasons before moving on to the Portland Trail Blazers. Josh McRoberts played for one season and Christian Eyenga was cut immediately. Nikola Vucevic was the best player for the Magic. He has become a consistent 18 point and 10 rebound game, and he made his first All-Star game in 2019.

Purely from the players’ careers for their teams, this trade is more uneventful than bad. However, it was how the trade affected the futures of the teams involved that really consigned the trade to ‘lose-lose’ status. The Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets, who played minor roles in this trade, were not directly affected by it. However, the main participants in this trade, LA and Orlando, were both consigned to downward spirals for the next few years.

The Orlando Magic, who made the NBA Finals in 2009, would never again make it far in the playoffs. Despite receiving an All-Star and a plethora of draft picks, the Magic would again reach the heights they did under Howard. They would become stuck in NBA purgatory, too good to get a high draft pick and too bad to make a run in the playoffs.

For the Lakers, the fall from grace was even more public and drawn out. After adding Howard to their core line up, they had 5 All-Stars (Howard, Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace). As such, expectations were sky high for the Lakers. However, things did not get off to the best start. Howard had back surgery in the offseason as wasn’t slated to play until December, but rushed back in October, which had a negative impact on his game. Nash and Gasol also suffered injuries which kept them out for extended periods. After firing coach Mike Brown early in the season, the Lakers hired the decorated Mike D’Antoni. However, injuries and a failure to adapt to D’Antoni spread system resulted in prolonged losing. Despite every member of their starting being injured at one point or another during the season, the Lakers were still in playoff contention until Bryant tore his Achilles tendon with two games left. The Lakers would then sneak into the playoffs as the 7^th seed on the last day of the season.

After a first-round exit at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, Howard left in free agency, and feuded with Bryant over injuries and the state of the team. The Lakers would miss the playoffs for six seasons between 2013 and 2019, when LeBron James and Anthony Davis teamed up.

This trade also had many repercussions on the players’ careers. Howard became a pariah and a ‘locker room cancer’ after his falling out with Stan Van Gundy in Orlando and Bryant in LA. Bryant’s Achilles tear robbed of his athleticism, making him a completely different player once he returned.

All of the ruin and damage that this trade caused will endure long past these players’ careers, and will ensure that it lives on in infamy.