Los Angeles Lakers: The 12 best trades in franchise history

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(Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Best Los Angeles Lakers trades of all time: 1. Landing Magic Johnson

Rules were different in 1976. When a team signed a free agent, they were required to compensate the team from which the player departed. As described earlier, after five outstanding seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Gail Goodrich opted to sign with the Jazz. To adhere to the rules, the teams agreed to what turned out to be a completely lopsided deal.

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Hollis was a second-round pick who never played for the Jazz. He logged 25 games for Detroit and averaged 3 PPG.

Givens, the star of Kentucky’s NCAA title team, didn’t fare nearly as well in the NBA. The Jazz traded him before his rookie season to the Hawks, where he played just two seasons and averaged 6.7 PPG.

Goodrich, 33 at the time of the trade, had three good seasons with the Jazz, averaging 14 points and 4.5 assists. But that of course fell far short of his production with the Lakers.

The Lakers used the 1977 draft pick to select Kenny Carr, who played two years for LA and averaged 7 PPG and 4 RPG. After leaving the Lakers, he played more effectively for Cleveland and Portland.

They also drafted Sam Worthen, who never played for the Lakers, in 1980. And they traded away a third pick, who was used by Boston to take Freeman Williams in 1978

But we all know that it was the other pick that Lakers fans will never forget. After three years of winning between 33 and 39 games, the Jazz sunk in the standings, winning just 26 games in the 1978-79 season. That allowed the Lakers to have the top pick of the 1979 draft, just as the Cavs would do three years later.

At the time, some speculated that the team might choose Sidney Moncrief, an excellent shooting guard to pair with Norm Nixon. But instead they settled on the hero of NCAA champion Michigan State, the man with the million-dollar smile, Magic Johnson.

To use an old expression, the rest is history. Showtime was born as the Lakers made 9 NBA Finals over the next 11 years, capturing five titles, including two victories over the Celtics. Magic is generally recognized as the finest point guard and one of the top players the NBA has ever seen.

Johnson ended up averaging 19.5 points (and he could have scored more but the Lakers had many scorers), 11.2 assists (the highest NBA career total ever) and 7.2 rebounds. He made 11 all-star teams, three MVPs and three more Finals MVPs.

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Magic rates high on the list of all-time Lakers greats (many would rank him #1), and just as high in the hearts of fans. His acquisition was the best trade the Los Angeles Lakers ever made.

All statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.

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