Best Los Angeles Lakers trades of all time: 8. Landing Gail Goodrich
Goodrich and Counts had some odd connections in their careers. After starring on UCLA’s first two championship teams, Goodrich was drafted by the Lakers and had three pretty good but not great seasons before being selected by Phoenix in the expansion draft. He stepped up into a starting role for the Suns and had two outstanding years until he was then traded back to the Lakers for Counts.
In four of his next six seasons with LA, Gail averaged over 20 points including a career-high 25.9 PPG as the leading scorer for the champion 1971-72 Lakers. He made the all-star team four consecutive years, is generally considered one of the team’s top 10-12 all-time players, and his jersey number 25 is retired. He left the Lakers in 1976, signing as a free agent with the Jazz (more about that later).
Meanwhile, Counts was a man ahead of his time, a 7-footer with an excellent outside touch in the days before the three-point shot existed. Midway in his third NBA season, he was traded to the Lakers, where he had three pretty good years, averaging about 12 PPG off the bench before he was swapped for Goodrich. But, at least in part due to injuries, his playing time dropped along with his scoring output for the Suns to just 8 PPG.
In 1972 he was traded back to LA where he joined Goodrich, but Mel was less effective in his second Lakers stint, averaging only about 4 PPG. Ultimately Counts was traded to the Jazz where, like Goodrich, he played the final two years of his career.
The trade for Goodrich was a big win for the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was a huge factor when they garnered their first LA championship in 1972.