NBA Trade: 11 shocking NBA trades that almost happened

7. Julius Erving - Atlanta Hawks

In 1972, Julius Erving who was at the time playing for the Virginia Squires (ABA) was eligible for the NBA draft. He was picked twelveth by the Milwaukee Bucks. This would have seen him team up with Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabber.

Erving though had already signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks before the draft. He even played three exhibition games in Atlanta. But due to a legal injunction, was forced to return to the Squires. The Hawks were fined $25000 for each game he played.

Erving was eventually traded to the New York Nets (ABA) and won a title that same year.

When the Nets were absorbed by the NBA, the New York Knicks demanded that the Nets pay them $4.8 million for "invading" the Knicks' NBA territory. Due to this, the owner of the Nets was not able to fulfil his promise to give Erving a raise and led to Erving refusing to play under the given conditions and held out on training with the Nets.

The Nets offered to pay back the Knicks by offering them Erving's contract but were declined.

The 76ers eventually shelled out a mammoth six million to buy Erving from New York and pay his wages. A strong hunch tells me they made the right choice.