Every once in a while, there’s a trade in the sports world that makes everyone stop in their tracks and dive into their group chats to share the shock of the deal.
Saturday night, NBA fans experienced a different kind of alarm, wondering if reports of a Luka Dončić–Anthony Davis blockbuster trade were real. There was no hacking involved, though, and once reality set in, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks had agreed to a three-team deal that stunned the sports community.
Days later, even as more details emerge, the trade still seems outrageous.
But is it the most shocking in sports history? Here’s our list of 10.
10 most shocking trades
Junior Griffey was arguably the biggest star in baseball when he was unexpectedly traded by the Mariners at the peak of his career. Already a 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner before turning 30, Griffey appeared destined to break the all-time home run record and was in the midst of one of the greatest ever starts to a career.
But behind the scenes, Griffey wanted out of the Pacific Northwest for family reasons. He’d grown up in Cincinnati and welcomed the idea of raising his children there. Moreover, his father was a bench coach with the Reds.
Griffey got his wish after the 1999 season. After vetoing a trade to the Mets, he was sent to Cincinnati — in exchange for Mike Cameron and Brett Tomko — where he quickly signed a long extension. Alas, Griffey wasn’t able to stay healthy and his play soon declined. A compromised second half of his career has perhaps dampened the memory of how much this trade rocked the baseball world at the time.
After two unfulfilling seasons in Oakland, the Raiders and Moss were more than ready to part ways. The Packers were ready to pounce in hopes of pairing the future Hall of Famer with Brett Favre. Green Bay offered a young Aaron Rodgers, who’d attempted all of 31 passes after two seasons in the league.
The Raiders declined, however, and drafted JaMarcus Russell instead. That allowed the Patriots, who were annual contenders and coming off an AFC title game appearance, to swoop in and acquire Moss during the draft for a mere fourth-round pick. Moss later shared that he got a surprise phone call from Bill Belichick in the middle of the night, asking him to fly from Texas to Foxborough and clear a physical that day.
Moss and the Pats made history a few months later. New England became the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season, setting the record for points in a season, while Tom Brady broke the TD passes mark and Moss the TD receptions mark. The Pats experienced a shock of their own in the playoffs when their perfect season was spoiled by the Giants in the Super Bowl. Moss would play two-and-a-half more seasons in New England, but nothing matched his connection with Brady during that 2007 campaign.
Rodriguez was just three years into his landmark 10-year, $252 million deal when the Rangers, who’d finished in last place all three years, surprisingly began to shop the reigning MVP. The shock lies in what happened next.
The Red Sox orchestrated a three-team deal that also included the Chicago White Sox that would’ve involved A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Jon Lester and Magglio Ordonez switching teams. The deal was nixed at the 11th hour, however, when the MLBPA wouldn’t allow Rodriguez to take the pay cut that he and the Red Sox had agreed to.
As Rodriguez remained with the Rangers late in the 2003-04 offseason, Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone tore his ACL playing basketball right before spring training. That prompted the Yankees to gauge A-Rod’s interest in playing in the Bronx. With Derek Jeter entrenched at shortstop, and Rodriguez having just won back-to-back Gold Gloves and widely regarded as the best all-around player in baseball, the thought of A-Rod switching positions and joining the Yankees seemed unfathomable.
But he consented, and the Yankees sent fellow young star Alfonso Soriano to Texas.
The move added a fascinating wrinkle to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry just months after the two heavyweights squared off in the postseason. They would, of course, meet again the following October, with Boston rallying back from the first 0-3 deficit in MLB history. Rodriguez would go on to earn two more MVPs and eventually win a World Series with the Yankees while spending the final 13 years of his career in New York.
7. Shaquille O’Neal to Miami Heat (2004)
Shock waves were felt across ther NBA landscape in the summer of 1996 when the Orlando Magic allowed O’Neal to sign with the Lakers just four years after making him the No. 1 pick in the draft. Predictably, he became a cultural icon and grew into the most dominant player in basketball. But while leading the Lakers to a three-peat and winning Finals MVP for each series, he and Kobe Bryant began to feud publicly. The situation had became untenable by the summer of 2004, and the Lakers had to decide which of them they were keeping.
Bryant figured it would be Shaq and had already begun exploring his options in free agency. That plan was put to an immediate halt when the Lakers stunningly sent O’Neal to the Miami Heat in exchange for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a first-round pick.
The Heat were initially the big winners, as a motivated Shaq finished second in MVP voting the following season and helped lead Miami to its first NBA crown in Year 2. The Lakers, meanwhile, scuffled for three seasons before executing another stunning trade, acquiring Pau Gasol in 2008. His arrival gave Kobe the support he needed to lead the Lakers to back-to-back titles (and three consecutive Finals appearances). He’d spend his entire 20-year career with the Lakers.
Three years after an MVP season and a deep playoff run, and Minnesota in desperate need of a rebuild, Garnett and the Timberwolves agreed it was time to part ways. The only question was where he’d land. The Lakers and Phoenix Suns were initially at the forefront of the sweepstakes, with each offering a budding star (Los Angeles offered Andrew Bynum, Phoenix offered Amar’e Stoudemire) to try to form a top-tier contender in the West. The Suns eventually bowed out, which seemingly gave the edge to the Lakers.
Boston, which was coming off two losing seasons, wasn’t an attractive destination for KG. Years later, Garnett shared that the Lakers were his first choice, only he was unable to get in contact with Kobe Bryant despite numerous attempts. The Celtics, meanwhile, acquired perennial All-Star Ray Allen in a draft-day deal to pair alongside Paul Pierce, tipping the scale enough for Garnett to eventually sign off on a trade to Boston. The Celtics gave up a five-player package centered around young center Al Jefferson plus two first-round picks for Garnett, marking the largest deal for a single player in NBA history.
More importantly, the transaction unofficially ushered in the modern superteam era. The three stars proved to be a perfect fit and took the league by storm, winning 66 games in their first season before toppling the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Boston would remain a title contender for four more years and appear in another Finals with Garnett. The Timberwolves went another decade without making the playoffs.
The Cowboys became the NFL’s team of the ‘90s thanks in large part to one trade.
In the middle of the 1989 season, first-year Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson decided to part ways with their best player, two-time Pro Bowler Herschel Walker, in order to rebuild a roster that would finish the year 1-15. After creating a bidding war behind the scenes and nearly trading the running back to the Cleveland Browns, the Cowboys took advantage of an opportunistic Vikings team seeking to make a title run and parted with Walker for three draft picks and five players.
Dallas then utilized a loophole by cutting four of those players to recoup four conditional picks (two firsts, one second and a third) and trading Darrin Nelson to the Chargers for another conditional pick (1992 second round). The Cowboys turned all that draft capital into future standouts Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, Clayton Holmes and Darren Woodson, and would soon become a dynasty.
Walker, meanwhile, helped the Vikings reach the playoffs in 1989 but would spend just two more years in Minnesota before bouncing around the league and eventually ending up back with the Cowboys.
The deal that saw the San Francisco Warriors trade Chamberlain to the 76ers might be the NBA trade most comparable to the Dončić deal.
The move came during All-Star weekend in 1965, with the Warriors trading a 28-year-old Wilt after he helped them reach the NBA Finals the season prior. The Warriors’ poor start to the season and Chamberlain’s unpopularity in San Francisco made him expendable in the eyes of management, which moved him for three players that had a combined one All-Star appearance (with one of the players retiring shortly after the trade) plus $150,000.
The Hall of Fame center responded by winning three consecutive MVPs with the 76ers and leading them to the title in 1967, all while the Warriors struggled. Wilt wasn’t long for Philadelphia, however, despite having started his career there with the Warriors before the franchise moved to the Bay. After four seasons with the Sixers, he orchestrated a trade to the Lakers in what some regard as the first example of the player empowerment movement.
You know a trade is controversial when the government tries to get involved. That was the case when the Edmonton Oilers moved Gretzky shortly after winning their fifth Stanley Cup with the all-time great in 1988. The trade had actually been in the works for much longer than anyone had known at the time, with Gretzky’s father informing him just hours after their Cup win that he learned months prior that Gretzky was on the market. As Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was in financial trouble, they agreed to deal Gretzky to the Kings for center Jimmy Carson, left wing Martin Gélinas, two first-round picks and $15 million in cash. The Oilers also gave up a pair of lesser players (Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski) at Gretzky’s wish.
The deal proved traumatic for Gretzky, who tearfully said goodbye to the Oilers in a press conference. Edmonton wound up having more team success than L.A. in the immediate aftermath, winning another Stanley Cup two years later (while sweeping the Kings in the process). Still, it’s hard not to imagine the Oilers’ dynasty lasting into the ‘90s had they not traded Gretzky, who won an MVP and led the league in scoring three more times after the deal. He eventually led the Kings to their first Stanley Cup. More importantly, he helped popularize the sport in the United States, as the NHL has added 11 franchises stateside since Gretzky’s monumental transfer.
2. Babe Ruth to New York Yankees (1920)
The baseball player many regard as the best of all time was moved for a sum of cash to help finance a theater play. No, really. Ruth was only 24 years old at the time, had just set the single-season home run record and had already helped the Red Sox win three World Series, thanks to his two-way exploits. But new team owner Harry Frazee was facing financial pressure and agreed to sell Ruth’s contract to the Red Sox for $100,000 along with a $325,000 loan from Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert ahead of the 1920 season.
The stunning swap changed the fortunes of the two franchises overnight.
Boston, which had won five of the first 16 World Series, didn’t make the playoffs again for 26 years. The Yankees, who had never played in the postseason, appeared in 29 of the next 45 World Series. Ruth would play 15 years in New York, winning four titles and becoming the all-time home run leader. (He also started just four games on the mound while in pinstripes.) It would be 86 years before the Red Sox finally won a World Series, while the Yankees lead all North American pro franchises with 27 championships.
That’s why they call it the “Curse of the Bambino.”
1. Luka Dončić to Los Angeles Lakers (2025)
Dončić is, conservatively, one of the five best basketball players in the world. Many would assert he’s behind only the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić. Whatever the case, the 25-year-old Slovenian superstar was assumed to be untouchable. Dončić had just won the scoring title and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last summer.
So, calling their decision to trade the perennial MVP candidate to the Lakers a shock actually feels like an understatement. The move, which featured future Hall of Fame center Anthony Davis in return, came completely out of nowhere and involved zero speculation prior. Credit to the Lakers on that front. As Dallas general manager Nico Harrison confirmed, he contacted the Lakers a few weeks back to gauge their interest in Dončić. There were seemingly no leaks, as other teams and the players directly involved in the eventual swap were completely unaware of these conversations.
While the deal — and the Mavericks not holding a bidding war before unloading Dončić — still has the NBA community reeling, one potential motivating factor for them might have been Dončić being eligible for a $345 million extension this summer. Time will tell if the Mavericks’ bet on a soon-to-be 32-year-old Davis, promising guard Max Christie and a future first-round pick pays off.
Dončić, meanwhile, like so many of the greatest players in basketball history, will play for the Lakers.
HONORABLE MENTION
- Mike Piazza to the Marlins/Mets
- Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors
- Jon Gruden to the Buccaneers
- Matthew Stafford to the Rams
- Chris Paul to the Clippers
- James Harden to the Rockets
- Curt Schilling to the Red Sox
- Justin Verlander to the Astros
- Eric Dickerson to the Colts
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers
- Chris Webber to the Bullets
- Marshall Faulk to the Rams
- Ricky Williams to the Saints
- Frank Robinson to the Orioles
- Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins
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Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
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