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NBA Trade Deadline 2018: 5 worst trade deadline deals ever

By Jerry Christodoulatos

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: NBA Commissioner David Stern and number one overall pick Kyrie Irving shake hands during the 2011 NBA Draft at The Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2011 NBAE (Photo by Dov Freidman/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: NBA Commissioner David Stern and number one overall pick Kyrie Irving shake hands during the 2011 NBA Draft at The Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2011 NBAE (Photo by Dov Freidman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The NBA trade deadline is one of the most highly anticipated events in the NBA calendar. Why not review some deadline deals that are best left forgotten?

Every season NBA junkies anticipate the February trade deadline with glee. What teams will make a push to acquire a star late in the season? Who’s activating tank mode and who’s firing shots in the dark hoping to mix up their team with a crazy trade? These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves each season as the deadline approaches.

During most NBA seasons the deadline passes without major fireworks. There are notable exceptions of course. Every so often we’ll get a crazy slew of major transactions at the eleventh hour; the insanity of the 2015 deadline comes to mind in particular. And then every few seasons we’ll see a trade that sets a franchise back for years. Reminiscing on those catastrophic deals is always a fun exercise! Let’s take a few at some of the worst we’ve ever seen.

5. February 2011: Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder; Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a 2012 first rounder (became Fab Melo) to the Celtics

On paper the teams’ rationale for making this trade is somewhat understandable. The aging Celtics were looking to get more athletic and add another wing player to counter the surging Heat. And the Thunder sought to acquire an experienced veteran that could guide and toughen up a young squad while contributing big minutes.  In what has become a retrospectively nonsensical deal, neither team really got what it wanted. Not only did the trade not help anyone involved, it pretty much hurt both sides.

At the 2011 deadline the Celtics seemed like a legit juggernaut, rebounding emphatically from their loss in 2010 Finals and blitzing the league with a 41-15 record. After trading Perkins, the fifth cog in Doc Rivers’ famous they “never lost a playoff series when healthy” lineup, the Celtics sputtered down the stretch. The team struggled to integrate Jeff Green, who became an increasingly frustrating and erratic player as his tenure in Boston wore on. The Celtics finished the 2010-2011 season at 56-26 before losing handily to LeBron and the Heat in round two of the playoffs.

The trade probably ended up being worse for OKC. Although the Thunder raved about Perkins as a locker room sage for years afterwards, on the court he quickly became a fossil. Perkins was a far cry from the gritty interior presence that helped the Celtics reach two NBA Finals. In the 2012 Finals, Scott Brooks’ decision to play Perkins heavy minutes against Miami’s proto-small ball lineups may have cost the Thunder the championship. OKC’s reluctance to use the amnesty provision on Perkins contributed to its decision to trade James Harden during the 2012 offseason… and we all know how that turned out.

This is perhaps Kendrick’s most notable highlight as a member of the Thunder:

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