Top 10 NBA Trades of All Time

While Miami Heat fans are still basking in the glow of a second-straight championship, the rest of the basketball world has turned their focus to next season. Thursday's blockbuster trade between the Nets and the Celtics sent shockwaves through the NBA and paved the road for what will undoubtedly be a wild offseason.

While the Nets will see an immediate impact with the addition of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the Celtics have opted to rebuild, taking on five role players and three future draft picks. Only time will tell which team got the best out of this trade, but chances are it will be talked about for years to come.
Thursday's trade could go down as one of the most impactful of all time, but until then, here are the top 10...

10. Charles Barkley: 

The Phoenix Suns stole Barkley away from the Philadelphia 76'ers and entered an era of successful basketball behind the big personality. Barkley, who went on to win an MVP title, was traded to the Suns in exchange for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang.

9. Dirk Nowitzki: 

Dirk was an unknown when the Bucks drafted him in 1998, but he would make a home in Dallas after being traded for Robert Taylor. Nowitzki went on to a Hall of Fame career while Taylor started a total of 73 games.

8. Kevin Garnett: 

Before there was a big three in Miami, the Celtics formed a trio that would bring a 2008 championship to Boston. In the summer of 2007, the Timberwolves shipped Garnett to Bean Town in exchange for an army: Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, cash considerations and a 2009 first-round draft pick.

7. Shaquille O'Neal: 

When the Miami Heat traded for Shaq, they received the largest player in the league, the biggest personality and their first ever title. The fact that they only had to give up Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant had them smiling on their championship parade floats.

6. Scottie Pippen: 

The Seattle Supersonics of the 1990's dominated the West while the Bulls dominated the entire league, winning six NBA titles behind Jordan and Pippen. The fate of each franchise was set in 1987 draft when the Bulls acquired Pippen in exchange for Olden Polynice. Years later, Seattle fans could only dream of what a Payton-Pippen-Kemp trio could have accomplished.

5. Bill Russell: 

The St. Louis Hawks had the opportunity to draft Russell in the 1956 draft, but didn't have the funds available to sign him. In hindsight they should have taken out every loan possible to get the deal done, but instead traded him to Boston for Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley.

4. Chris Paul: 

In 2011, the Lakers agreed to a deal that would have brought Paul to the Lakers to play alongside Kobe, but Commissioner Stern squashed it, instead allowing the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets to send Paul to the Clippers in exchange for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Faroq Aminu and a draft pick. Lakers fans are still fuming over Stern's dubious decision.

3. Kobe Bryant: 

The Charlotte Hornets were looking for a player to make an immediate impact, so they traded away one of the greatest players of all time for three years of Vlade Divac. The center led the team to a couple of playoff appearances, but Kobe would climb the all-time points leader list while winning five championships.

2. Wilt Chamberlain: 

The Sixers thought the best player in the NBA was declining, so they traded him to the Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff. The Lakers knew Chamberlain still had several great years left and they were right. The center played five more seasons, leading the Lakers to a championship in 1971-72.

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 

While Kareem had several good years as a Milwaukee Buck, he will forever be remembered as a Laker. The larger-than-life center led the Lakers to five NBA titles while collecting three of his record six MVP awards with the team. The 1975 trade that sent Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman to the Bucks is still the best deal in Laker history.