The blockbuster trade of Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers this past weekend joins a group of other crazy sports trades. After this move, I began to think about other crazy sports trades in sports history so, in no order, here are five more crazy trades in sports.
1) Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees
Babe Ruth is synonymous with the New York Yankees, but The Great Bambino started his career with the Boston Red Sox. After five years of two-way success, Ruth was traded to the Yankees in 1919 for $100 thousand and a mortgage on Fenway Park. He went from 29 home runs in his last season in Boston to 54 home runs in his first season in New York, which is more than he hit in his entire tenure in Boston.
Over the next 14 years, The Sultan of Swat would crush an average of 41 home runs every year, peaking at 60 in 1927. This trade also had an unintended effect, what came to be known as the curse of the Bambino. This was the superstition of the 86-year World Series drought for the Red Sox after the departure of the Babe. With all those stats and the curse in mind, Babe Ruth being swapped for money and the mortgage of Fenway is outrageous even 106 years later.
2) Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings
From 1979 to 1988, Wayne Gretzky cemented himself as a hockey legend, winning four Stanley Cups and eight straight Hart Memorial trophies and scoring over 1,650 points. After nine years of sustained excellence, The Great One was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.
The trade ended up being Gretzky to the Kings in exchange for center Jimmy Carson, left winger Martin Gélinas, two first-round picks and $15 million in cash to the Oilers. The crazy part of this trade is not the players as much as it was the Canadian government. A member of Canada’s Parliament said, “the Oilers without Gretzky is like apple pie without ice cream, like winter without snow, like Wheel of Fortune without Vanna White.” The Canadian Government did everything in its power to keep Gretzky in Canada, but their efforts were eventually in vain as Gretzky went on to play eight years and win another Stanley Cup in Los Angeles.
3) Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers
Going into the 1996 NBA draft, Kobe Bryant was not on many people’s radars. In hindsight, more teams should have paid more attention to him, but he was the first guard to make the jump from high school to the NBA. Bryant’s agent set up a pre-draft workout for Kobe in front of NBA legend and Lakers general manager, Jerry West. This workout enamored West, and he was determined to get the young star out of Lower Merion High School.
Leading up to the draft, Jerry West and Kobe’s agent deterred teams from taking him in the draft. When Kobe came off the board at thirteen, the Lakers swooped in and snagged the future Hall of Fame guard for 27-year-old Serbian center, Vlade Divac. After this trade went down, the rest was history. The Black Mamba went on to play 20 years, win five championships and solidify himself as the greatest Lakers to ever put on the purple and gold.
4) Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers
Coming off a first-round exit to the Portland Trailblazers in the 2019 playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder were looking to change up the roster and start a rebuild. Thunder general manager Sam Presi used the value of Paul George coming off an MVP-caliber season to acquire a massive haul of players and picks.
The Clippers became a possible landing spot for the All-Star after the signing of the 2019 final most valuable player and two-time defensive player of the year, Kawhi Leonard. The deal went down with Paul George headed out west in exchange for all-rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, veteran Danilo Gallinari and five first-round picks.
In 2025, this trade was won by the Thunder as SGA has become an MVP candidate and one of the best scorers in the league today. Another star included in this was a 2022 first-round pick from the Clippers which the Thunder used to select Jalen Williams. J-Dub. As his nickname, he is on track to become a first-time all-star and averaged 21 points per game this year. As for the Clippers, the team went on to miss the conference finals appearance as injuries derailed their “super team.” The Paul George era in Los Angeles officially ended when PG13 signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in July of last year.
5) Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson was coming off a lost 2021 season, during which he did not even suit up for the Houston Texans due to disagreements with the team’s front office and numerous sexual misconduct allegations. With these allegations in mind, the Texans began to shop him around, as they did not want him on their team given everything going on off the field. They eventually found a suitor in the Cleveland Browns, who agreed to take on Watson despite his allegations.
In return for Watson, the Texans received three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and two fourth-round picks. All this draft capital did not seem like much back in early 2022, but one of the first-round picks obtained in this trade, Will Anderson Jr., has been named a pro bowler and the 2023 defensive rookie of the year. The 2023 third-round pick was Tank Dell, a standout wide receiver out of the University of Houston.
As for Watson and the Browns, they have been flat-out terrible. Deshaun Watson has looked like a shell of his former self and due to suspension and injury, he has only played 19 of 57 possible games for the Browns. In the Watson era, the Browns have been as depressing as ever, playing some of the worst football in the league over the past few years.
