The Los Angeles Clippers included Shy Gilgauss Alexander in the 2019 trade with Paul George in 2019, but another team signed a similarly bad deal.
On May 21, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA MVP Award and will be in a major position to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the next few seasons. They finished as the best team in the regular season and remained a favorite of the title, and he quickly became one of the best players in the world.
In 2019, after a promising rookie season, the Los Angeles Clippers chose to trade Gilgauss Alexander for the Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as the Gilhoma City Thunder and the Draft Pick War Chest for Paul George. George and Kawi Leonard were expected to win the first title in the history of the Clippers franchise, but injuries constantly caught up with them.
Meanwhile, SGA has developed into a better player than George, and Thunder appears to be poised to enjoy long-term success.
However, the Clippers were not the only team to make an important mistake.
In 2018, the Charlotte Hornets chose 11th overall SGA. He was soon traded to the Clippers for Miles Bridge and two second round picks.
The Bridges have discovered NBA success (and many court issues), but two rounds of Pixcotti Lewis and Vernon Carry Jr. have combined in just 39 NBA games.
Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander appears to be poised to lead the next NBA dynasty.
The Hornets have not made the playoffs since 2018. They have a promising young core built around Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller, but the duo fails to stay healthy enough to make a push, and again this year they’ll be in the draft lottery, finishing fourth overall.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Charlotte has drafted, quickly drafted an MVP and traded immediately, but there are cases where Gill Alexander hasn’t changed to an All-Star or MVP if he spent his developmental year with the Hornets.
In 1996, the Hornets were only eight years old, but were already successful as an expansion team, winning two postseasons. They selected Kobe Bryant, 13th overall overall in the 1996 draft and traded him for the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac.
Divac only played for Charlotte two seasons. Bryant became one of the best players in Lakers history, spending all 20 seasons in Hollywood.
The best players in Hornets’ history include three seasons: Kemba Walker, Larry Johnson, Magsy’s Borg and Glenn Rice.
While it seems wrong to imagine Kobe or SGA in purple and teal, the ardder franchise has come very close to boasting the two best security guards in recent memory. Instead, they traded two MVPs for Bridge, Divac, and two players that had no impact.
