20 worst NBA Draft trades ever
By John Buhler
15. Vince Carter from Golden State Warriors to Toronto Raptors
Outside of the We Believe team from 2007 led by point guard Baron Davis, the Golden State Warriors were a terrible franchise between the end of the Run TMC Warriors in the early 1990s to the Splash Brothers era today. Golden State missed the Western Conference Playoffs 18 of 20 years during that time (1993-2012).
DUring their two-decade run of futility, Golden State was prone to making dozens of head-scratching personnel decisions. One draft day trade is particularly questionable in hindsight. The Warriors selected North Carolina’s Vince Carter No. 5 overall in 1998, but traded his rights immediately to the Toronto Raptors for Carter’s Tar Heel teammate Antawn Jamison.
Carter would become the face of basketball in Canada during his peak in his early years. He would be a key piece on some great New Jersey Nets teams and has been able to carve out key rotational roles with the Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies as his athleticism waned. Carter will make the Basketball Hall of Fame in a few years time.
Not that Jamison was bad or that Carter could have completely turned around the Warriors, but this was the type of trade that Golden State continued to make to keep the team down for most of the 1990s and 2000s. The Warriors would have made the NBA Playoffs at least a few times with Carter starring for them at small forward.
Next: 14. LaMarcus Aldridge from Chicago Bulls to Portland Trail Blazers.