20 best NBA Draft trades ever
By John Buhler
15. Charles Oakley from Cleveland Cavaliers to Chicago Bulls.
While the Cavaliers would make a brilliant trade to acquire Price in 1986, Cleveland would have probably liked a do-over with regards to their No. 9 overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft in bruising power forward Charles Oakley.
Oakley was one of the better examples of the importance of having a physically tough big man to wreak havoc in the front court. He would put together a fantastic nearly 20-year NBA career with five teams, most notably with the Chicago Bulls (1985-88) and the New York Knicks (1988-98).
Cleveland traded Oakley’s draft rights to the rival Bulls and he became a key front court player in the early years of the Michael Jordan era in Chicago. While the emergence of Horace Grant in the late 1980s made him a redundancy, Oakley would best epitomize the ultra-physical Pat Riley/Jeff Van Gundy era of the 1990s Knicks teams.
Had Cleveland have kept the power forward out of Virginia Union University, perhaps the Cavaliers could have had the front court toughness required to knock off other great teams in the East like the Boston Celtics, the Detroit Pistons, and Jordan’s Bulls to contend for a championship?
Next: 14. Pau Gasol from Atlanta Hawks to Memphis Grizzlies.