The 5 greatest NBA trade deadline deals ever

1. Pau Gasol, 2010 second round draft pick to the Lakers, Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, 2008 first round pick, 2010 first round pick to the Grizzlies

In an ideal world, the purpose of a trade is to execute a deal that could improve both teams. Of course, this rarely happens, and NBA decision-makers will always enter a deal interested in coming out as the transaction’s biggest winner. Every now and then there’s an exception, though.

Although the deal was widely criticized by fans, media and those around the league alike, perhaps the best example of this comes in the trade that brought Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Searching for a skilled big who could join Kobe Bryant to cement a championship-caliber post-Shaq duo, the unsettled Pau Gasol seemed like a natural fit at the 2008 NBA trade deadline.

Having never tasted anything better than a first round sweep, it was no secret that Gasol had grown weary in Memphis and was in need of a change of scenery. The Lakers offered that opportunity with a package that looked to most to be nothing more than a group of mediocre role players and a couple of picks that promised to be less than stellar.

For the Lakers, the move proved a resounding success. With Pau Gasol in tow, they made it to the Finals in 2008, before losing in six games. The Lakers would return to that stage in the following two seasons, though, defeating the Magic and Celtics in five and seven games respectively.

While the Lakers had two championship banners to show for the trade, the Grizzlies also got the centerpiece of what would become the most successful spell in the franchise’s short history. The rights to Marc Gasol, Pau’s brother, may not have seemed so important before he’d even stepped foot on an NBA court, but he gave the Grizzlies a future All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year to build around.

As Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace reflected years later, that deal also gave Memphis the cap space to take on Zach Randolph from the Clippers. Having never finished a season below .500 since 2010, and reaching the conference semi-finals twice and conference finals once, the Grizzlies maximized what they could get from a player who wanted to move on.

Next: The 20 best NBA players who could be available at the trade deadline

This was the rare case of a trade ultimately proving to be a franchise changing success for both sides.