The 5 greatest NBA trade deadline deals ever

With plenty of potential for blockbuster trades at the upcoming NBA trade deadline, what are the greatest deadline deals of all-time?

As the NBA trade deadline edges ever closer, there’s no better time to take a step back in time to remember and examine some of the most significant deals to have been completed at trade deadlines past.

With a host of deals already completed in 2017, measuring a Kyle Korver, Miles Plumlee or Jusuf Nurkic trade isn’t all that easy until you decide what truly defines a great trade. It’s the nature of the risk inherent in trading assets that happen to be real life human beings, that a trade ultimately proven to be very lopsided could still be judged as either a good or a bad trade.

Really, it all depends on which side of the fence you’re sitting on. A really good trade for one team could simply see them get the better assets of the exchange, but by the same token, it may never truly redefine the course of either franchise involved in the deal.

So, for this exercise of defining the greatest trades, the focus will stay locked firmly on deals that were completed at the NBA trade deadline that helped to turn a team stuck in the pack into a bona fide contender, or even better again, a bona fide contender into a champion.

In other words, these are the boldest of trades. It’s not easy when things are going well to go out and risk disrupting something that may still have room to grow organically, but in the cases you’ll find on this list, the general managers struck an important balance in doing so.

So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the five greatest NBA trade deadline deals.