Stars who asked to be traded

[Robert Bradley]

NBA STARS WHO ASKED TO BE TRADED -

1968 - Wilt Chamberlain, PHI - Traded to LAL 9Jul68
1969 - Elvin Hayes, SDR - Traded to BAL 23Jun72
1969 - Don Kojis, SDR - Traded to SEA 15Apr70
1969 - Jerry Lucas, CIN - Traded to SFW 25Oct69
1970 - Oscar Robertson, CIN - Traded to MIL 21Apr70
1970 - Bob Rule, SEA - Not traded
1971 - Earl Monroe, BAL - Traded to NYK 10Nov71
1972 - Lenny Wilkens, CLE - Not traded
1975 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, MIL - Traded to LAL 16Jun75
1975 - Dave Bing, DET - Traded to WSB 28Aug75
1975 - Bob Dandridge, MIL - Not traded
1975 - Spencer Haywood, SEA - Traded to NYK 24Oct75
1977 - Nate Archibald, NYN - Traded to BUF 1Sep77
1978 - George Gervin, SAS - Not traded
1978 - Truck Robinson, NOJ - Traded to PHO 12Jan79
1978 - Bill Walton, POR - Not traded
1979 - Pete Maravich, NOJ - Not traded
1979 - Bob Lanier, DET - Traded to MIL 4Feb80
1979 - Maurice Lucas, POR - Traded to NJN 8Feb80
1979 - Bob McAdoo, BOS - Traded to DET 6Sep79
1979 - Jo Jo White, BOS - Traded to GSW 30Jan79
1980 - George Gervin, SAS - Not traded
1980 - Paul Westphal, PHO - Traded to SEA 4Jun80
1981 - Magic Johnson, LAL - Not traded
1981 - Marques Johnson, MIL - Traded to LAC 29Sep84
1982 - John Drew, ATL - Traded to UTH 2Sep82
1982 - Artis Gilmore, CHI - Traded to SAS 22Jul82
1983 - Robert Parish, BOS - Not traded
1984 - Terry Cummings, LAC - Traded to MIL 29Sep84
1984 - Dan Roundfield, ATL - Traded to DET 18Jun84
1986 - Jack Sikma, SEA - Traded to MIL 1Jul86
1988 - Kiki Vandeweghe, POR - Traded to NYK 23Feb89
1989 - Mark Aguirre, DAL - Traded to DET 15Feb89
1989 - Alex English, DEN - Not traded
1991 - Patrick Ewing, NYK - Not traded
1992 - Charles Barkley, PHI - Traded to PHO 17Jun92
1992 - Hakeem Olajuwon, HOU - Not traded
1993 - Steve Francis, VAN - Traded to HOU 27Aug99
1993 - Danny Manning, LAC - Traded to ATL 24Feb94
1993 - Dennis Rodman, DET - Traded to SAS 1Oct93
1994 - Scottie Pippen, CHI - Not traded
1994 - Chris Webber, GSW - Traded to WSB 17Feb94
1995 - Derrick Coleman, NJN - Traded to PHI 30Nov95
1995 - Clyde Drexler, POR - Traded to HOU 14Feb95
1996 - Tim Hardaway, GSW - Traded to MIA 22Feb96
1996 - Charles Barkley, PHO - Traded to HOU 19Aug96
1996 - Jason Kidd, DAL - Traded to PHO 26Dec96
1997 - Shawn Kemp, SEA - Traded to CLE 25Sep97
1997 - Chris Mullin, GSW - Traded to IND 12Aug97
1997 - Scottie Pippen, CHI - Traded to HOU 22Jan99
1997 - Mitch Richmond, SAC - Traded to WSB 14May98
1998 - Karl Malone, UTH - Not traded
1999 - Latrell Sprewell, NYK - Not traded
2001 - Hakeem Olajuwon, HOU - Traded to TOR 2Aug01
2004 - Vince Carter, TOR - Traded to NJN 17Dec04
2004 - Tracy McGrady, ORL - Traded to HOU 29Jun04
2004 - Shaquille O’Neal, LAL - Traded to MIA 14Jul04
2006 - Allen Iverson, PHI - Traded to DEN 19Dec06
2007 - Pau Gasol, MEM - Traded to LAL 1Feb08
2007 - Kobe Bryant, LAL - Not traded
2007 - Kevin Garnett, MIN - Traded to BOS 31Jul07
2007 - Shawn Marion, PHO - Traded to MIA 6Feb08
2008 - Jason Kidd, NJN - Traded to DAL 19Feb08

in some instances the players weren't traded immediately (Elvin Hayes & Danny Manning for instance), but one has to wonder if the trade request damaged the relationship between the player and team enough that the trade was inevitable.

[todd_spehr35]

Couple of very interesting ones there. Gervin in '78 seems an odd one. Parish in '83--was that perhaps Fitch-related? And Olajuwon "survived" two trade demands for the better.

[Robert Bradley]

Couple of very interesting ones there. Gervin in '78 seems an odd one. Parish in '83--was that perhaps Fitch-related? And Olajuwon "survived" two trade demands for the better.

i removed one of the early ones for olajuwon after reading an article summary that made it sound more like they were discussing trading him, rather than him asking to be traded.

as for parish, it was a case of "pay me better or trade me" and the same with gervin's trade demands, he always seemed to be unhappy with his contract.

[meej]

I think Moses Malone demanded a trade from the Sixers in 1986.

[tpakrac]

Scottie Pippen, February 1991.

[tpakrac]

How many players had veto on trades? Oscar Robertson is one of them. Bill Reynolds wrote about it in "Cousy: His Life, Career, and the Birth of Big-Time Basketball:"

Oscar was in the last year of a contract, the word being he was going to want big money in his next one, something Cousy and Axelson were reluctant to give him. Besides, there was also some speculation he was going to jump to the ABA. At first, Cousy tried to trade him to Baltimore for Gus Johnson. Robertson, who had veto power over any trade, said no. Eventually, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk. It was another trade that, in retrospect, the Royals did not get good value in return, giving credence to the theory that Cousy had given Robertson away.

Also, this reply gave me an interesting idea about our next list: superstars or All-Stars that were traded for very little in return. Players like Pau Gasol (traded for Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton plus draft picks), Baron Davis traded for Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton. Also aforementioned trade for Oscar, Wilt's trade in 1968, Kareem trade to the Lakers, even Garnett's trade to the Celtics. Every single player that the Timberwolves received from Boston was a bust, including Al Jefferson. But Jefferson suffered severe knee injury while playing for Minnesota, before the injury his play was phenomenal.

[Bob Kuska]

A quick comment about the little-in-return topic and the mention of the 1968 Chamberlain trade. I've read numerous times that the 76ers got very little in return for Chamberlain. Today, it's often repeated as fact - but it's not true. Jack Ramsay had just taken the 76ers' helm, and he was a pressing, fast-breaking former college coach. Chamberlain couldn't play his style, and Ramsay didn't want him. Wilt mentions this in the David Shaw autobiography, and it was repeated in the Philadelphia newspapers before the trade. True, Ramsay claims otherwise these days, but his disclaimer doesn't make sense 40 -50 years later.

In any case, Ramsay traded for (1) Archie Clark, a young All-Star guard, (2) Jerry Chambers, a highly regarded scorer who had star written all over him, (3) Darrall Imhoff, who was a functional-to-good NBA center. Those were three great pieces for a team that already had Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson. In short, the trade gave Ramsay the needed depth to play his college-style, pressure basketball for 82 games. So, no, the 76ers did not get rolled. What ultimately happened is Ramsay put his system before his talent. That became a problem for Clark. He couldn't play the wide open game in which he excelled for LA and would do so later in Baltimore. In fact, if Clark had stayed with Chamberlain and the Lakers, his star surely would have risen even higher. Chambers never found his NBA stride after pulling two years of military service. That had nothing to do with the Chamberlain trade. What happened is Ramsay or possibly GM DesJardines traded him to Phoenix. He never got a chance in Philly. Imhoff, meanwhile, had two good seasons with the 76ers. When Imhoff finally demanded a decent contract, Ramsay signed and traded him to Cincinnati. And that's a key point. Ramsay traded away, piece by piece, a fantastic team. He traded Chet Walker, Imhoff, Chambers, Wally Jones, and Clark. Cunningham jumped to the ABA. Again, this had nothing to do with the Chamberlain trade. But it did have everything to do with Ramsay.

[tpakrac]

A quick comment about the little-in-return topic and the mention of the 1968 Chamberlain trade. I've read numerous times that the 76ers got very little in return for Chamberlain. Today, it's often repeated as fact - but it's not true. Jack Ramsay had just taken the 76ers' helm, and he was a pressing, fast-breaking former college coach. Chamberlain couldn't play his style, and Ramsay didn't want him. Wilt mentions this in the David Shaw autobiography, and it was repeated in the Philadelphia newspapers before the trade. True, Ramsay claims otherwise these days, but his disclaimer doesn't make sense 40 -50 years later.

In any case, Ramsay traded for (1) Archie Clark, a young All-Star guard, (2) Jerry Chambers, a highly regarded scorer who had star written all over him, (3) Darrall Imhoff, who was a functional-to-good NBA center. Those were three great pieces for a team that already had Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson. In short, the trade gave Ramsay the needed depth to play his college-style, pressure basketball for 82 games. So, no, the 76ers did not get rolled. What ultimately happened is Ramsay put his system before his talent. That became a problem for Clark. He couldn't play the wide open game in which he excelled for LA and would do so later in Baltimore. In fact, if Clark had stayed with Chamberlain and the Lakers, his star surely would have risen even higher. Chambers never found his NBA stride after pulling two years of military service. That had nothing to do with the Chamberlain trade. What happened is Ramsay or possibly GM DesJardines traded him to Phoenix. He never got a chance in Philly. Imhoff, meanwhile, had two good seasons with the 76ers. When Imhoff finally demanded a decent contract, Ramsay signed and traded him to Cincinnati. And that's a key point. Ramsay traded away, piece by piece, a fantastic team. He traded Chet Walker, Imhoff, Chambers, Wally Jones, and Clark. Cunningham jumped to the ABA. Again, this had nothing to do with the Chamberlain trade. But it did have everything to do with Ramsay.

I'll open another thread for trades and teams who received little in return. This Chamberlain trade was one of the reasons the 76ers had the worst record ever in 1972-73:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

Sure, their draft picks were disastrous but Clark, Chambers and Imhoff were not impact players. In my opinion, it is a bad trade. But Wilt's 1965 trade is probably the worst ever. San Francisco Warriors traded Wilt to Philadelphia 76ers for Lee Shaffer (who because of an illness never showed up), Paul Neumann, and Connie Dierking. Wilt didn't force this trade, the Warriors could not afford to keep Wilt, whose salary was more than that of the rest of the team combined, writes Robert Cherry in his masterpiece book called "Wilt: Larger Than Life." Cherry adds that Wilt was diagnosed with pancreatitis during that season, even though the San Francisco doctors stuck by their opinion - Wilt had heart trouble.
Years later Mieuli admitted in an interview with Robert Cherry: "I was young and dumb. I didn't get enough for him."

[Robert Bradley]

three trades that were blocked by players involved were -

1969-70 - Oscar Robertson [CIN] for Gus Johnson [BAL] - blocked by Robertson, who had a no-trade clause in his contract
1993-94 - Isiah Thomas [DET] for Tony Campbell, the rights to Tim McCormick and a first-round draft choice [NYK] - blocked by Thomas, who had a no-trade clause in his contract
1996-97 - Derek Harper [DAL] for Greg Foster, Jamie Watson and a first-round draft choice [UTH] - cancelled when Harper expressed his unwillingness to play in Salt Lake City.

San Diego approached Philadelphia about trading for Julius Erving in 1984 (offering Terry Cummings for Erving & the #10 pick in the 1984 draft), apparently the deal was close to consummated, but it never got tot the point where a trade was agree upon, and Erving expressed his reluctance to play for the Clippers.

[edited to correct Jamie Watson's name]

[mtamada]

1996-97 - Derek Harper [DAL] for Greg Foster, Earl Watson and a first-round draft choice [UTH] - cancelled when Harper expressed his unwillingness to play in Salt Lake City.

I think I recall Derek Harper vetoing a trade, but I don't think Early Watson was involved: Watson didn't enter the NBA until the 2001-2 season, and Harper's last NBA season was 1998-9.

[Robert Bradley]

My bad, it was Jazz forward Jamie Watson.