20 best NBA Draft trades ever
By John Buhler
The best draft day trade of all-time happened back in 1956 between two rivals of the era: the Boston Celtics and the St. Louis Hawks. The Hawks held the No. 2 overall pick in the 1956 NBA Draft, ultimately taking center Bill Russell out of the University of San Francisco.
Celtics general manager Red Auerbach knew that the Hawks coveted his six-time All-Star and St. Louis native Ed Macauley and promptly pulled off the deal to acquire Russell’s draft rights. In 13 seasons with the Celtics, Russell would 11 times win the NBA Championship, often times pitted against Western Conference Champion St. Louis.
Russell is considered the greatest defensive center of all-time and one of the best big men to have ever played the game of basketball. He’s one of the game’s greatest champions and helped solidify the NBA to be a big man’s game.
He was a five-time MVP and a 12-time All-Star. Russell would serve as player/coach in his final three seasons in Boston, winning back-to-back NBA Finals in 1968 and 1969 to close out his unbelievable Hall of Fame career.
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