Bad NBA trades have been a talking point of the league for years. Whether it’s Kobe Bryant being traded away from the Hornets on draft night or an old Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett heading to the Brooklyn Nets in return for the team’s entire future. Bad NBA trades happen all the time and yet there is a good chance the worst of all time happened in 2019. A trade made by the clippers that is still affecting the league seven years later.
To really understand the landscape of the NBA today you must look back to 2016 the Oklahoma City Thunder lost a 3-1 lead to the Steph Curry led 73-9 Golden State Warriors. After this loss the Thunder parted ways with superstar Kevin Durant. However, not all hope was lost as they made a very shrewd trade to get Paul George from the Indiana Pacers.
Paul George OKC Thunder Highlights
This move saw PG have the best year of his career placing top 3 in both the MVP and the DPOY. While he saw individual success the team’s disappointing playoff exits saw Paul George push for a trade to the LA Clippers after just two years in Oklahoma. The trade package that the Clippers gave up for George is one that will haunt their fans for years to come.
The OKC Thunder received 5 first round picks, 2 pick swaps, Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While SGA who was only a rookie at the time seemed promising the potential of an MVP candidate gave the Clippers GM tunnel vision. Since the trade SGA has lead the Thunder to an NBA Championship, collected the league MVP and has boasted the best record in the league twice.
On the flip side the Clippers have not made a deep playoff run, Paul George has walked from the team for the 2025/26 season and all of the team’s picks belong to the Thunder. All of this means that the only thing stopping the OKC Thunder from being one of the best teams in the league AND collecting a top lottery pick in this years loaded draft class is a regularly injured Kawaii Leonard and a 36 year old James Harden.
With a young MVP in SGA, a strong cast around him in players like Jaylen Williams and Chet Holmgren and lots of picks securing the teams future the hopes of a Thunder fan can only be looking up for years to come.
-Lewis Lloyd
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