NBA Trade Deadline: Top 10 deadline trades of all time

2. The 76ers find a defensive monster to help their offensive one.

Allen Iverson was never one to back down from a challenge (unless it was during practice). The diminutive guard had heart that surpassed the listed 6-foot, 165-pound frame he carried, but heart and determination can only do so much on defense where teams punished him and the Philadelphia 76ers.

For all his offensive grittiness, Iverson was still Michael Jackson without Tito, Captain without Tennille, Ash without Pikachu. Though the 76ers were just talented enough around Allen Iverson to get to the playoffs, there was no clear-cut number two that could help Iverson take the next step while still allowing him to keep the ball in his hands. The 76ers eventually found their man at the NBA trade deadline.

Philadelphia was able to acquire the human eraser in Dikembe Mutombo by giving the Atlanta Hawks Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc, Nazr Mohammed, and Pepe Sanchez. Ratliff was an All-Star in 2001 averaging 3.7 blocks, and he was younger than Mutombo by about seven years, so the trade made sense for the Hawks. Only Ratliff would miss the second half of the 2000-01 season.

The 76ers on the other hand had a proven all-star who was perfectly content in playing the role of rebounder and shot rejecter while Iverson did his thing on offense. The perfect combination of offensive and defensive brilliance allowed the 76ers to make the NBA Finals the same year that Mutombo was acquired in 2001. Though they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers, the trade was about as instant a success as it could have been for the 76ers.

Next: Rasheed liked it, so he put a ring on it