Ranking the Los Angeles Lakers’ best trades with each team, numbers 16-13:
16. Atlanta Hawks
The best trade in team history with the Atlanta Hawks yielded a player that many Laker fans might not know about, Frank Selvy. Selvy was acquired all the way back in 1958 and played 364 games for the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers.
He was a two-time all-star and averaged 10.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The numbers were not great by today’s standards, but compared to his peers, he was a solid player.
15. Sacramento Kings
The Los Angeles Lakers have not done business with the Sacramento Kings in quite some time and the best trade with their Western Conference Rivals came all the way back in 1957. It was a seven-player trade that was highlighted by Hot Rod Hundley and Ed Fleming.
Hundley played 431 games for the Lakers and was a two-time all-star, averaging 8.4 points 3.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Fleming played 170 games, averaging 8.6 points per game. Both are not great numbers, but in their era, they were two solid players.
14. Detroit Pistons
We round out the trio of really old trades that Laker fans might not even know about with the 1969 trade that landed Happy Hairston in LA. Hairston was a part of the 1972 title-winning team and was a pretty important role player. He played 394 games and averaged 15.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.
13. Dallas Mavericks
Maybe it is recency bias, but the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring A.C. Green for the 1999-00 season ranks ahead of the team getting Hairston, who was the better player at this point in their respective careers.
Green is most remembered as being the iron man of the Showtime Lakers that almost never missed a game and was a huge role player for those teams. After seven years away from the Lakers, the team re-acquired him to be a veteran presence on the 2000 title-winning team. He, of course, played all 82 games.