Those miscarriage deals that almost changed the league 3.0

Jabbar joins the Knicks?

Looking at NBA history, for the legend of Jabbar, he only played for two teams in his glorious 20-year career, playing for the Bucks from 1969 to 1975, and then stayed in the Los Angeles Lakers for 14 years. It seems to be a stable two careers, but in these two careers, Jabbar actually had the idea of leaving the team.

As early as 1974, Jabbar publicly expressed his hope that he could leave the Bucks and head to a larger and more attractive city. Although he later joined the Lakers as he wished, in 1981, Jabbar was once again dissatisfied with the team's current situation and took the initiative to apply for a deal from the team. This time, his goal was the Knicks or the Nets.

On the eve of the 1982 draft, Jabbar almost put on the Knicks jersey as he wished. Although the Lakers had just won the NBA championship the previous season, they successfully won the No. 1 pick in 1980 and some instant players because of a deal from 1979. They packed the first-round pick in 1980 and some instant players to the Cavaliers in exchange for Butch Lee and a 1982 unprotected first round, and successfully won the No. 1 pick in that year.

Although the Lakers finally chose James Worthy with this No. 1 pick, according to reports, the Lakers actually wanted to get the second pick at that time. The well-known reporter Brent Musberg even broke the news on a show that a three-party deal had been negotiated: Jabbar will be sent to the Knicks, Bill Cartwright will go to the Jazz, and the Lakers also have the No. 1 pick and the No. 1 pick in the draft that year.

It is said that the Lakers' original plan was to select Ralph Sampson and James Worthy at the 1982 draft to create a future dual-core system. Although later history proved that Sampson was unable to meet expectations in the end, at that time, he was regarded as a super potential stock that changed the alliance structure without any problem.

But at the last moment, Sampson announced that he would not participate in the 1982 draft and chose to return to college to complete his senior year, which also broke the deadlock.

Judging from the subsequent results theory, this has become a great luck for the Lakers. According to rumors, the trading proposal at that time even included Moses Malone in the trading plan, which was enough to show how determined the Lakers were to update the lineup at that time.

For Jabbar, who was born in 1947, although he was no longer at the peak at that time, even in the late stages of his career, his contributions on the field were still far beyond Sampson, and James Worthy proved that he was a better choice to help the Lakers compete for the championship.

Charles Barkley almost joined the Lakers?

Compared with many superstars in the one-man and one-city era, Barkley's career has a much more obvious swaying color. In the summer of 1992, Barkley was traded for the first time, ending eight years with the Philadelphia 76ers and was sent to the Suns. The Sixers used this to exchange for immediate players such as Jeff Hornersek, Andrew Ran, and Tim Perry. This deal also directly helped the Suns return to the NBA Finals since 1976.

But at that time, Barkley was almost traded to another giant team: the Los Angeles Lakers.

But just two months before the trade, Magic Johnson retired due to HIV, resulting in Lakers' senior executives' extreme desire to fill in a player with star appeal to fill the gap. So they offered a quote to the 76ers in January 1992, including James Worthy and Elden Campbell.

reporters revealed that according to sources, a deal that could have allowed Barkley to join the Lakers failed a few days ago. Although the 76ers management denied the matter, they did take the initiative to advance the negotiations, almost allowing Barkley and Worthy to switch between the east and west. Although it ultimately failed, it is generally believed within the league that the 76ers are indeed actively looking for Barkley's next home in the market.

And for this memory, Barkley also recalled:

"Yes, the 76ers quit the trade. I was going crazy in those two weeks and didn't know where I would go in the end. I suddenly said it was the Trail Blazers, the Lakers and the Suns. Until one morning, I received a call from the agent, who told me that the 76ers had traded me to the Lakers. I was very excited at the time and ran to celebrate because I was going to the Lakers. After three hours, he called again and said that the 76ers quit the trade. What else can I do? I'd go out for a party all night."

In the end, Barkley joined the Suns and led the team to the finals with Kevin Johnson and Dan Maggill the next year. Although he lost to the Bulls led by Michael Jordan, that period of time was already the peak highlight of Barkley's career. But if he had really joined the Lakers back then, would the end of the Showtime combination usher in another legend? All of this can only become a historical assumption after all.

Wade returned to his hometown of Chicago

Since the moment he entered the NBA, Wade's name has been closely linked to the Chicago Bulls. In fact, this connection has existed long before he entered the league.

Wade is a native of Chicago. He was selected by the Heat with the fifth pick in the 2003 draft, two picks ahead of the Bulls who held the seventh pick that year. The Bulls chose Kirk Hinrich at the time, but there were also news that they were trying to trade upwards to Wade.

In fact, there were even rumors that the Heat might trade their first-round draft pick for Machey Lampé, giving Wade a chance to come to Chicago. But none of this happened in the end, and as time went by, this dream gradually faded out of the fans' horizons.

A few years later, the Heat made it to the finals and successfully won the championship, while the Bulls gradually entered the trough of reconstruction. But in 2008, the two teams once again faced each other head-on in the draft. The Heat won the second place with a record of 15 wins and 67 losses, while the Bulls won the No. 1 pick with the good luck of the lottery draw.. At this time, Chicago became interested in Wade again.

According to ESPN reporter Chad Ford,

"How much is the Bulls' No. 1 pick value? Will it help the team get a superstar? According to the Chicago Forum, the Bulls may try to exchange the No. 1 pick for Wade."

And for these rumors, Wade himself said:

"I did hear some voices talking about me, but I am not worried that in this league, there are some things that you can control. If there is a team If you want you, you should be happy, which means you are valued."

However, combined with the Heat insiders, they don't care about this rumor at all:

"If there were no Wade, then what is left of the team we built around him? We will not trade Wade."

But looking back at that time, the Heat also laughed at the rumors about trading O'Neal. As a result, we all know what happened later, and O'Neal still fell in Miami without any surprise.

According to follow-up reports from reporter Chad Ford, if the Bulls make a offer such as the second pick, several potential rookies and an expiring contract, it may not be an inappropriate choice for the Heat.

In this case, the Heat can use the first two picks to pick Ross and Michael Beasley, and then use Sean Marion's expiration contract as a bargaining chip for the summer, so that the Heat can not only rebuild the team, but also pave the way for chasing top free agents in 2010.

At that time, there were many rumors that the Heat did not actually want to choose Beasley, but in the end they did it. Chicago seems willing to give up Ross, a talented defender who also comes from Chicago, in order to win Wade, who was missing that year. Considering the Heat's hesitant attitude towards Beasley, letting them let Wade go and accept a draft pick-based deal was a challenging gamble from the beginning.

Jeren Brown was traded for Jail Al Okafor

On the eve of the 2016 trading deadline, then Celtics general manager Danny Ange was generally believed to be chasing a potential player with all his might. Although he has never disclosed the specific target player, according to the Boston Herald, the player was the young center of the Philadelphia 76ers at the time: Jalier Okafor.

News pointed out that the offer made by Danny Angie at that time was exactly the assets obtained from the Nets, the 2016 first-round draft pick that had not yet been cashed out, from the deal between Garnett and Pierce, which was regarded as a valuable and valuable draft pick by the outside world at that time.

Combined with internal reports, 76ers finally stopped the deal. The Celtics at that time seemed to be anxious to accelerate the championship model of changing from future potential to an imminent rookie. They tend to get a young player who has entered the league and has a certain performance base rather than holding a draft pick that is still uncertain whether it can fall into the lottery zone.

The results later proved that the draft pick ended in the third pick, and the Celtics used it to select Jaylen Brown from the University of California. Today, Brown has grown into one of the best forwards in the league, which is the key to the Celtics' final victory.

In contrast, Okafor, who was regarded as a bargaining chip at the time, was highly anticipated in the draft that year and averaged 17.5 points per game in the rookie season, but then fell into the dilemma of injury and disagreement. After a few years, he gradually faded out of the team rotation and the last time he appeared in the NBA arena was many years ago.

And this almost came true deal not only prevented the Celtics from repeating the same mistakes, but also once again confirmed Danny Angie's fierce vision in the draft. At some point, it was the deal you were rejected that was the beginning of the real foundation of the dynasty.