Top Ten Worst NBA Moves of the Last Half-Decade

Over the course of the past five years, hundreds of moves have been made by general managers throughout the NBA. Through the draft, the free agent crop, and trades, every single team expects to improve over the course of the summer and season. Unfortunately, not every move made by a general manager works out as expected. In actuality, many fail.

Here is a list of the ten worst failures of the last five years in the NBA. Moves that, for the most part, had a negative impact on both the short-term and the long-term success of the team involved.

10. The Detroit Pistons draft Darko Milicic

Going into the 2003 draft, the Pistons seemed to have the world in their hands. They had just finished the regular season with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, yet held the number-two selection in one of the most loaded drafts in recent memory. So what do they do? They pass on Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh for a seven-foot European unknown.

At the time the Pistons drafted Darko, Milicic had yet to log serious minutes for his Serbian team. He hadn't even had the basic experience high school players have before being drafted to the NBA. Many point out that others, such as former Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe, also were on record as saying they would also have taken Darko. But the decision was made by Joe Dumars and Joe Dumars alone and he deserves his licks here.

Of course, the Pistons went on to win a championship the season following their draft blunder and have been an annual title contender since. And Dumars is the architect of the very successful team. So maybe we can forgive one bad mistake.

9. The Los Angeles Lakers trade Caron Butler for Kwame Brown

The actual trade was Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown and Larry Profit, but the two throw-ins in the deal don't really matter. Kwame Brown, one of the biggest busts ever in draft history, never fully lived up to his potential in Washington, but the Lakers were willing to take a chance on him. So they gave up Caron Butler, who at the time was averaging over fifteen points and five rebounds a game.

Bad move. Kwame Brown never grew as a player in Los Angeles while Caron Butler has slowly developed into one of the best small forwards in the league as a Wizard. The only reason the Lakers aren't higher on this list for making this trade is because, just recently, they were able to parlay Kwame Brown's expiring contract into Pau Gasol. That move makes amends for taking the losing end of one of the most one-sided deals in recent history.

8. The Atlanta Hawks draft Marvin Williams

In actuality, this draft pick may not have been a bad thing. Marvin Williams may, one day, become the elite level talent that the Hawks thought he was. The problem with the move, however, was more about who Atlanta passed on then who they took.

Going into the draft, the Hawks where chockfull of forwards. They had just selected both Josh Smith and Josh Childress the year before. The position they really needed to address was point guard. At the time, I believe they were starting Tyronn Lue, which is about as bad as it gets. And luckily for them, the 2005 draft featured an elite crop of point guards, including Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Raymond Felton.

So naturally, they choose another young, raw forward in Marvin Williams. Looking back now, the Hawks must feel pretty foolish for passing on Paul and Deron Williams, both of whom look like career All-Star-type players.

7. The Denver Nuggets sign-and-trade for Kenyon Martin

Not only did Denver give Martin a maximum contract worth in-excess of ninety million dollars, they also forked over three first-round draft picks to the New Jersey Nets to complete the deal. The Nuggets, as a team, are an amalgam of bad contracts, but this has to be the worst one.

Just about everyone across the NBA knew that Martin was a middle-tier player whose play had been raised by Jason Kidd in New Jersey. Kenyon had good athleticism and could run the break well, but never developed an offensive move-set that would allow him to excel on a team without an elite point guard.

Add in all the injury problems he has had over the years, and there is no question that the Nuggets would like a redo.

6. The Orlando Magic draft Fran Vasquez

The last of the three big draft blunders of the last half-decade, this one has to be the worst. Unlike Detroit and Atlanta, Orlando never even got its player onto the court. Almost right after drafting Fran, the team learned that he had no intention of leaving his European squad and coming to the NBA the upcoming season. In fact, he had no intention of coming to the NBA in the short-term future period.

This was a wasted draft pick, pure and simple. And when you look at the current Magic roster, top-to-bottom, and wonder what they are missing, it might just be a quality role player from this draft. Sean May and Danny Granger are just two players missed by the Magic that could be having big impacts right now.

Many Magic fans will complain that it isn't their fault that Fran decided not to come over, but the bottom-line is that it is unacceptable for a general manager to draft someone without knowing whether or not they will be in uniform in the lottery.

5. The Toronto Raptors trade Vince Carter

This is sure to be another controversial selection, because by the time Carter was traded he had become a team cancer and nuisance. He publicly admitted to tanking games after the trade and killed his own trade value in the weeks upcoming to his departure to New Jersey.

But what the Raptors got for Carter was absolute garbage, and it is simply unacceptable to trade an All-Star caliber player for nothing. Alonzo Mourning, part of the deal made, wouldn't even play in Toronto after the deal was made! You would think that the Raptors would have ensured that every player they were getting would actually report before making any deal, but they didn't.

The problem here, as is often the case, is that the team waited to long to get rid of Carter in the first place. Vince had long run out his welcome in Toronto, but the team stubbornly hung onto him, hoping for a turn for the better. Philadelphia did the same thing with Iverson. As a result, the team lost Carter for virtually nothing.

4. The Chicago Bulls Sign Ben Wallace

The main idea going into this free-agent signing was that Ben Wallace would provide the team with veteran leadership, defense, and that the deal would take away from division-rival Pistons playoff hopes. Unfortunately, after giving Wallace sixty million dollars, none of the three happened.

The problem with this deal was that the Bulls wasted their cap space for a player they really never needed. The team was already one of the top defensive units in the league, what they needed was interior scoring. And scoring is something Ben Wallace has never been good at. What's worse, Chicago let Tyson Chandler go for nothing to the New Orleans Hornets.

Before making this deal, the Bulls were in the best position of any team in the NBA. They had an astounding amount of young studs, high draft picks, and an enormous amount of cap space. After signing Wallace, however, the team has been on a slow but steady downturn, culminating in the present season where it seems likely that they will miss the postseason. Maybe next time, the Bulls should focus more on what they need then what they will be taking away from opponents.

3. The Orlando Magic trade Tracy McGrady

The only team with two mentions on this list, the Magic made their first huge blunder of the half-decade when they let superstar Tracy McGrady go to the Rockets. Going into the deal, the team was adamant in ensuring that McGrady would not remain in the Eastern Conference, a sentiment so stupid and short-minded that it still amazes me to this day.

So the team traded with Houston, and what did they get in return? Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Cato. No draft picks, no salary relief, nothing.

Wow...just wow. If you are looking for a reason why the Magic, a good team this season, aren't championship-caliber yet, this and the Fran Vasquez pick are why. I'm not even going to say anything else on this trade.

2. The Cleveland Cavaliers let Carlos Boozer go

Everyone remembers this story. Carlos Boozer, who at that point was making just over six-hundred thousand dollars a season, was let out of his contract early by the Cavaliers because the team thought they had a deal in place with Boozer for the forward to resign for six-years and thirty-nine million dollars. Instead, Boozer went out and got a seventy-million dollar offer from the Jazz and took it. The shocked Cavaliers called foul and lambasted Boozer in the media for breaking their agreement.

First of all, making an under-the-table agreement with a player who isn't a free agent is illegal in the NBA. You can't do it. It is unbelievably ridiculous that Cleveland would try to make an argument that they had a deal under-the-table with Boozer and he broke it. In fact, they are lucky they didn't face sanctions for making the deal.

Second of all, what player in their right mind would turn down an extra thirty-one million dollars? The Cavaliers could have resigning Boozer to any deal the next summer had they simply kept him under contract and the team probably would have a championship by now if they had. Instead, the team is struggling to find talent to put around LeBron James and Boozer is excelling as a regular twenty-ten guy in Utah.

What put this move over the last one was how much whining the Cavaliers, both management and fans, did after losing Boozer. Bravo Cleveland, bravo.

1. The New York Knicks hire Isiah Thomas as General Manager

Does anything else really have to be said? Didn't think so. Sorry Knicks fans...