NBA Lookback: 5 Lopsided Trades From The 2000s

#2 The Shaquille O'Neal trade

O'Neal and Bryant

The greatest 1-2 punch of all time was split in half when the Los Angeles Lakers decided not to cope with Shaq's wage demands, instead trading him away in the final year of his deal to the Miami Heat.

The big man was still the best center in the league at that time, although Hall of Fame assistant coach Tex Winter noted that in the 2004 NBA Finals, "Shaq defeated himself against Detroit. He played way too passively. He had one big game ... He's always interested in being a scorer, but he hasn't had nearly enough concentration on defense and rebounding."

The Lakers ended up getting some good pieces back from the Heat in the form of Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant in addition to a 2006 first-round pick and a 2007 second-round pick. But they wasted them all away with the exception of Odom, who stayed as a crucial component of their 2008, 2009 and 2010 Finals runs.

Shaq, meanwhile won an NBA title within 2 years of leaving the franchise, although he never got back to the heights as a dominant player which he touched with the Lakers.