Welcome to the Worst Trades for Each Team in NBA History— a series of stories that looks at arguably the most disastrous move made during a franchise’s time in the league. Per team, we’ll nominate two deals and look at who and what were involved in the trade, the immediate consequences of the move, and the long-term implications it had for whichever teams took part.
These deals are justified as the “worst” using historical context and analyzing what happened because of the trade.
Staff Writers Yazin Ahmed and Dominic Chiappone contributed to this article.
The Worst Trades in Magic History
Dominic Chiappone: All-in on Elfrid Payton
Trade details:
- ORL receives: No. 10 pick in 2014 (Elfrid Payton)
- PHI receives: No. 12 pick in 2014 (Dario Šarić), future ORL first-rounder in 2017, 2015 second-round pick
Explanation:
Talk about a forgotten disaster from the 2010s.
Elfrid Payton originally heard his name called by Philly during the 2014 draft. The Magic acquired him shortly after. The value wasn’t insane, but surrendering a first and a second to move up just two spots is hardly defensible.
Especially for a guy like Payton. While Šarić remains in the league today, Payton played four years with the Magic. He had a pretty decent fourth year, but it still wasn’t good to the point he got traded to Phoenix for just a single second-rounder.
Moves like these symbolized the Magic’s failure to rebuild properly in the post-Dwight Howard era. And that’s before we get to…
Yazin Ahmed: A Serge Of Stupidity
Trade details:
- ORL receives: Serge Ibaka
- OKC receives: Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, Domantas Sabonis
Orlando’s side:
For a second, place yourself in the shoes of the Orlando Magic’s GM at this point in the franchise’s history. A few years removed from the Dwight Howard trade, Orlando was building a pretty solid young core. They had young big man Nikola Vucevic from the deal, a solid wing coming into his own in Evan Fournier and loads of decent draft selections.
They took Victor Oladipo second overall in 2013, Aaron Gordon fourth and Elfrid Payton tenth (see above for how awful this was) in 2014 and were building a competent squad. So why did GM Rob Hennigan trade two role players and a lottery pick for an aging shot blocker? Your guess is as good as mine.
For Orlando, Ibaka was solid, but not the elite shot blocker he once was. The assumption is that they could take away from a strong OKC squad, but both had far too different timelines. Serge opened up his perimeter game but stunted Aaron Gordon’s development severely. It also made no sense as they were in a win-now situation and didn’t even have a reliable No. 1 option on the team.
In 2017, Ibaka was sent to Toronto for Terrence Ross, who played a few years in the O as a decent wing never amounting to much.
OKC’s side:
For OKC, they are so lucky this happened. Yes, this was the same off-season they lost Kevin Durant, but this helped them significantly as this same package was used to acquire Paul George that next offseason. People forget how good prime MVPG13 was being a top-three player in basketball at one point. They obviously would net SGA, Gallo and seven FRPs in return for him solidifying his future.
And for Indiana trading PG? They got back two All-Stars in a wild trade tree. 2018 Oladipo may be the most forgotten superstar season in recent memory. He was forcing prime LeBron James to a game seven— insane. They’d move him to Houston for Caris LeVert in the 2021 James Harden trade. LeVert would be dealt to Cleveland for Ricky Rubio and a future first. Domantas Sabonis is now an elite All-Star big man, who eventually supplied Indy Tyrese Haliburton.
So could this trade be one of the most lopsided deals ever? Heck yes.
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