The 5 worst NBA trade deadline deals ever

5. Michael Carter-Williams, Miles Plumlee, Tyler Ennis to the Bucks, Brandon Knight, Kendall Marshall to the Suns, protected first round pick to the 76ers

With the benefit of hindsight this is a deal that could easily have been written off as a series of low-cost failed gambles all around, if not for the fact that the team who prided themselves on having the longest view in the room proved it by emerging as a runaway winner on this occasion.

It’s rare that a Rookie of the Year gets traded in his second season, but what’s even rarer is a player of that status being traded without another player coming back to that team in return. That’s exactly what the Philadelphia 76ers did when they traded Michael Carter-Williams though.

In the middle of a surprisingly competitive season, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to pursue Carter-Williams in the hope that his length would make him the perfect point guard for the switching based defensive system Jason Kidd was already having his long-armed squad operate. Who better to mold a lengthy, do-it-all point guard than Kidd, after all?

With Brandon Knight set to hit free agency at the same time as Khris Middleton, the Bucks were prepared to let Knight walk rather than paying him, which was music to the ears of the Phoenix Suns who were guarding against the departure of the unhappy Goran Dragic.

With one point guard going to Milwaukee and another going to Phoenix, this left the asset-collecting 76ers needing a reward for facilitating the deal. The motivation for Sam Hinkie’s 76ers to pull the trigger came in the form of a lightly protected first round pick from the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

Although each of Plumlee, Ennis and Carter-Williams briefly got a taste of meaningful roles in Milwaukee, all three have since been traded elsewhere. Brandon Knight remains in Phoenix, but not for lack of trying. Knight’s production has fallen off dramatically since the move and he’s been a constant feature on the trade block ever since. All the while, Philadelphia continues waiting for the Lakers’ pick to convey with an increasing likelihood that it will be no worse than top-five overall.

Milwaukee was said to have had the option of swapping Knight for the pick straight up, while for the production the Suns have received from the point guard there can be no doubt they’d have preferred to have stayed pat if given a chance to do it all again.

With the pick protected for the top-three this year, and then unprotected next year, it seems ever more likely that the Bucks and Suns will live to rue picking up Carter-Williams and Knight over the chance of a potentially transcendent talent via the draft.