ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings
What's the best NBA Trade Deadline trade ever?

BEST NBA TRADING DEADLINE TRADE EVER? WE'LL TAKE 'SHEED TO THE PISTONS.
What is "All-World Power Rankings?"
NBA trading deadline is pretty fun, overall. We don't personally think Brad Miller has a ton of value, but hey, we're hardly "experts." (John Salmons seems like he could be a B-level star down the line, tho.) We decided to rank the best trading deadline deals of all-time. This NBA.Com list is the best place to start your own research on the topic. One thing you should realize: certain deals, like Pau Gasol to the Lake Show last year, happen in February, but not at the deadline. We ain't including those. Final note: if you want to talk worst trades ever, this is a pretty good list to start the discussion. (If you only stumbled across this by Googling "Amar'e," then read this and watch this.)
| TOP 5 | |||
| RANK (YESTERDAY) | WHAT | WHY | |
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1 (14) | RASHEED WALLACE TO THE PISTONS (2004) | If you go through that entire list from NBA.Com above, the Pistons getting 'Sheed is one of the only major deals that resulted in a championship the same year. As a side note, although it makes us homers, this is probably the best feature article on 'Sheed you will ever read. |
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2 (410) | DIKEMBE MUTOMBO TO THE SIXERS (2001) | It helped 'em make the Finals that year, although they ran into a Lakers juggernaut that lost one game (in that series, actually) the entire playoffs. Dikembe won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award in that '01 season. |
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3 (21) | MARK JACKSON BACK TO THE PACERS (1997) | Jackson was a Pacer; they sent him to the Nuggets and fell to 10th in the East. Donnie Walsh, the dude currently waiting for LeBron James to become a free agent (we're kidding, Walsh is a legend as an exec), traded back for Jackson and as a result, the Pacers made the NBA Finals in 2000. It was Jackson's only Finals appearance, and they took a strong Lakers team to six games. While we're discussing this, whatever happened to the NYC point guard? Levance Fields is pretty skilled, but it seems it used to be a cooler concept. |
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4 (127) | JEFF HORNACEK TO THE JAZZ (1994) | We love Stockton and Malone like the next guy, but you could argue the Jazz don't make those '97 and '98 trips to the Finals without making this grab in '94. Thoughts? |
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5 (899) | BARON DAVIS TO THE WARRIORS (2005) | The Warriors never got past the second round with Boom Dizzle, but the time they did get to the second round, they had to beat the No. 1 seed Mavericks to do it, and that was thrilling. People think Davis' skills have eroded somewhat, but we still like the dude. |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |||
| RANK (YESTERDAY) | WHAT | WHY | |
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18 (144) | SAM CASSELL TO MILWAUKEE (1999) | The most relevant the Bucks have been since probably Lew Alcindor was that early 2000s period where they had Big Dog Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Cassell. This trade helped lock that up. We really like the Bucks, PS; we're not hating. We once outright lied to a kid and told him "The Bradley Center is the best arena in the NBA." We've never even had a layover in Milwaukee. |
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28 (701) | BRENT BARRY TO THE HEAT (1998) | This is preposterous (although he was pretty good with the Heat). We mostly put this here so we could reinforce the value of "The Brent Barry Ticket Experiment." The real trade that should probably go here is Ray Allen to the Sonics in '03. It helped the Sonics make the playoffs in '05. Shame what happened after that, though. |
| RISING AND FALLING | ||
| MOVEMENT | WHAT | |
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| WHATEVER HAPPENS THIS YEAR (If Amar'e moves, that could be big, no?) |
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| SEDALE THREATT TO THE SONICS IN 1988 (We loved Threatt, although his relationship with his son is dubious, so we're dropping this one.) |
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