5 best midseason trades in Los Angeles Lakers history
By Jason Reed
2. Los Angeles Lakers trade for a pick that turns into James Worthy
In terms of overall legacy, I would say that James Worthy is the biggest Lakers legend of anyone on this list. However, the no. 1 trade on this list directly led the Lakers to win multiple championships. While Worthy was a key part in winning three titles, the Lakers still had Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Plus, it is not like they traded for the pick like they did with Kobe Bryant and knew Worthy was going to be something special. They traded for a pick that was a few years in advance and lucked out that the Cavaliers turned into an awful team.
The Cavs and Lakers swapped Butch Lee and Don Ford in 1980 and swapped a pair of first-round picks as well. The Cavaliers got the 22nd overall pick in the 1980 NBA Draft and took Chad Kinch, who lasted two years in the NBA.
The Cavaliers did not get better as the team was expecting and instead got worse. The 1981-82 Cavs went on to have a 15-67 record and had the joint-worst record in the NBA. This was three years before the NBA Draft lottery and the worst team from the East and West would flip a coin for the no. 1 overall pick.
It was between the Clippers and Cavaliers (Lakers) and the Cavaliers won the coin toss. The defending NBA Champions got the no. 1 overall pick while the worst team in the league got the second pick and, ironically, took Terry Cummings.