As long as trading and demanding trades in the NBA has existed, people have speculated about huge trades that could end up happening. While some trades do end up being closer to others in terms of actually happening, just the mention of a high-profile trade can catch the attention of the entire NBA fanbase.
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What makes a trade huge can mean a lot of things to different people. A huge trade could involve a lot of moving parts, seeing players shift from team to team in large groups, while others could simply involve a single game-changing star. Even worse, some can make no sense. There have been plenty of big trades proposed, but they are surprisingly rare across the history of the sport.
10 Kobe Bryant To The Chicago Bulls
That’s right. At one point, Kobe Bryant could have found himself playing on the Chicago Bulls. It would have been a renaissance for the team, one that hadn’t seen since Michael Jordan graced their team in the nineties.
The trade would have cost the Bulls quite a bit in order to steal Bryant away from the Lakers, but it’s hard to say it wouldn’t have been worth it. It’s also worth noting that this trade was proposed just after the middle of his career, meaning Bryant would have had a lot of time to turn the Bulls around.
9 Kevin Garnett To The Phoenix Suns
While they don’t come across all the time, it is always exciting when a high-profile trade is announced to have some potential. In 2007, it seems that the Phoenix Suns were quite interested in landing themselves Kevin Garnett.
It wasn’t just a mild interest from the team either, Garnett has admitted that the Suns were one of the few teams he was keeping his options open for. It seems that the team wound up changing their mind and instead went for a different leader in Shaquille O’Neal later on.
8 Ben Simmons To The Houston Rockets
A more recent potential trade that enticed more than a few people was the idea of Ben Simmons potentially heading to the Rockets. NBA fans love Simmons and everything he did on the 76ers, and he’s yet to make a mark for the Nets, potentially leaving room for a trade.
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The biggest issue that most fans can see is that Simmons had to undergo surgery, putting his remaining play time in the league in question. A big trade to the Rockets could be great, but only time will tell if anything ends up happening.
7 Scottie Pippen To The Seattle SuperSonics
The situation with Scottie Pippen and the Seattle SuperSonics was basically a done deal. Unfortunately, the deal had the rug pulled out from under it by fans of the SuperSonics when they made their unhappy voices heard.
The issue was surrounding how Pippen was viewed in the league by fans, but it’s clear that not taking him was a major misstep. His six championships were all with the Bulls, and him not being on the team could have changed how many wins the team ultimately racked up.
6 Kyrie Irving To The Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks seem to have been interested in landing Irving more than a few times over the years, but they may have come close back in 2017. The Bucks were willing to put up a few solid players to land Irving, but another team put in a better offer.
That team ended up being Boston, and with Irving deadset on being traded, the deal was ultimately pushed through. Seeing Irving adjust to playing with Giannis and Bledsoe would have been interesting, but most Irving fans are probably happy with how things worked out.
5 James Harden To The Golden State Warriors
The deal that would have seen James Harden moving to the Golden State Warriors was definitely a big one. It couldn’t have been an easy trade to propose as it would have seen Harden landing there in return for Klay Thompson and another player.
Obviously, both men have made their own marks on the league with their unique styles of play, but it is hard to imagine the Warriors without Thompson. It’s likely that Thompson would have become a star of his own on the Thunder, but the world will never know.
4 Stephen Curry To The Phoenix Suns
\n "">It won’t shock anyone to learn that Stephen Curry has pretty much always been in high demand. Thanks to his skill, the Pheonix Suns were one of the teams scheming to pick him up early into his NBA career.
Rather than letting Curry go to the Warriors, the Suns tried to make a deal with them since they believed Curry would be the next big thing. The Suns were right, but the deal that they made wasn’t good enough to make the Warriors compromise on their intentions.
3 Joel Embiid To The Golden State Warriors
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It’s hard to imagine a deal like Joel Embiid for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson ever going through, but it was a serious potential trade at one point. There’s no way any team would part with two huge stars in return for a single one, especially while they find so much success with their makeup.
Related: 10 Things NBA Fans Should Know About Tim DuncanThe trade became a thing mostly because of Embiid’s comments on the rumors, and that’s it. It would have been a colossal trade, and a bonehead move on the part of the Warriors staff, so it is an interesting thing to think about at the very least.
2 Charles Barkley To The Los Angeles Lakers
Apparently, Charles Barkley was a sure thing for the Lakers until the absolute last minute of the trade deal. Some say that Barkley became a Lakers player for the day, but the deal was cut short while Barkley had already begun to celebrate.
Exactly what it was that caused the deal to fall through doesn't seem to be widely known, but it’s likely that the 76ers were afraid of what may happen when they lost a star player. Fans can only dream of what it would have been like to have Barkley on the Lakers.
1 Michael Jordan To The Los Angeles Clippers
It’s probably hard for a lot of people to believe that the Bulls would ever want to trade Michael Jordan, but any player can be up for grabs with the right deal on the table. The Bulls were in search of some solid draft picks, something the Clippers were willing to offer.
The Clippers then sweetened the deal by being willing to throw in three players on top of multiple high draft picks. Unfortunately for the Clippers, Jordan had already proved how good he was on the court, so the Bulls didn’t end up following through.
