Best Los Angeles Lakers trades of all time: 2. Landing James Worthy
Don Ford was a pretty good forward for the Los Angeles Lakers for the first three years of his career, starting in 1975. But he started to lose favor and his playing time decreased by half, down to just 11 minutes a game in the 1979-80 season.
The Cavaliers were in need of a small forward and a trade was agreed to that at the time seemed like just a minor deal. Ford went to Cleveland, Butch Lee to the Lakers, and a couple of draft picks were swapped.
Ford played 106 games for the Cavs and averaged just 4 PPG. Lee played only 11 games for LA, fewer than three minutes per game, with a 1.3 PPG average. With the 22nd pick of the 1980 draft, Cleveland chose Kinch, who played a total of 41 NBA games and averaged 3 PPG in limited action.
But it was the fourth player in the deal that made the trade completely one-sided. The Cavs win total tumbled from 37 wins that year to 25 the next, and down to just 15 in 1981-82. Suddenly the draft choice they traded to the Lakers turned into the #1 pick of the draft.
After considering both Dominique Wilkins and Terry Cummings, who each had stellar NBA careers, the Lakers selected Worthy, who was a perfect fit for the Showtime Lakers.
James spent his entire 12-year career with LA, compiling averages of 17.6 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. But his value exceeded even those statistics as he made seven all-star teams, averaging over 19 points in each of those seasons.
He earned the moniker “Big Game James” as he repeatedly used his ultra-quick first step and long arms to beat his defender to the hoop. He was at his best when the team needed him most. Worthy recorded his only career triple double in game 7 of the 1988 Finals to lead the Lakers to the title victory, their third championship since he joined them.
Looking back, what seemed like an innocent trade turned into one of the best all-time deals for the Los Angeles Lakers.