5 most important Los Angeles Lakers trades in NBA history
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most decorated NBA franchises in the league and have won 16 NBA championships so far, second only to Boston Celtics (17). They are also one of the richest teams in the league and boast of fans from all around the world.
A long list of basketball legends have played and continue to play in the NBA donning the purple and gold. This includes players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, to name just a few.
The Lakers front office has a good history of putting together talented teams on the court and in today's article, we take a look at the five most important Los Angeles Lakers trades in NBA history.
#5 Pau Gasol's arrival in Los Angeles
In 2007, the Lakers failed to reach the second round of the playoffs for the third straight season and there were rumors that Kobe Bryant wanted out.
In a move to pacify Bryant and propel the team's chances of winning the title, the Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol and two draft picks (Donte Green and Greivis Vasquez) to the Memphis Grizzlies, in exchange for Pau Gasol and a draft pick (Devin Ebanks).
Pau made an immediate impact on the team as they went on to reach three straight NBA finals, winning two championships. He was the perfect foil for Bryant and they became one of the best duos in the Lakers history.
It is safe to say that the Lakers one-upped the Grizzlies with this trade, because while the Lakers went on to win multiple NBA championships, the Grizzlies never even reached the finals.
Barring Marc Gasol who led the team to the Conference Finals in 2013, winning Defensive Player of the Year award, none of the other players involved in this trade made any impact on the team.