Winning trades in the NBA is difficult, especially when draft picks are involved.
That’s because not only do you not truly know what a player you draft is going to become, but you also don’t even know what place you’ll be drafting in until after the lottery. And if you’re trading away draft picks from years in the future, good luck, because then you are truly flying blind, as you have no idea if your team will be contending for years or if you’ll bottom the very next season.
Add in the fact that draft pick protections in trades weren’t even a thing until 1980 and you can see how so many picks that were traded away by NBA teams turned into gold for other franchises.
Below, we present 12 examples of draft picks that were traded away before turning into elite players for the teams that acquired them.