The Worst Trade in NBA History Keeps Benefitting the OKC Thunder

The OKC Thunder are in the midst of one of the most dominant stretches in NBA history. The team is entering the playoffs as the top team in the Western Conference for the third straight season. They won the NBA Finals last year and will try to repeat as NBA champions for the first time in franchise history. The last team to repeat was the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

The team most responsible for the Thunder's potential dynasty? The Los Angeles Clippers. Back in 2019, the Clippers traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a monstrous number of draft picks for Paul George. Nobody thought SGA would turn into the player he is today, but even seven years ago, it was clear the Clippers were giving up too much draft capital for PG-13.

The full trade was as follows:

The Clippers received:

• Paul George

The Thunder received:

• Shai-Gilgeous Alexander
• Danilo Gallinari
• 2021 first-round pick (Tre Mann)
• 2022 first-round pick (Jalen Williams)
• 2023 first-round pick (Cason Wallace)
• 2024 first-round pick (Nikola Topic)
• 2026 first-round pick (currently number 11 pick)
• 2 pick swaps

Fast forward to the present, and the Clippers just lost a heartbreaker to the Warriors in the play-in game last night. This means Los Angeles will be picking in the lottery and it will give the Thunder yet another great draft prospect in a year in which the draft is considered very strong.

There isn't another trade in NBA history that serves as a gift that just keeps giving like this one. The Thunder will finally stop getting assets from the Clippers after this draft, but in the seven years since the trade, they've built the core of their team with this trade. The two best players on the roster, a solid role player, and potentially another good player will be on the Thunder because of this disaster.

Clippers' owner Steve Ballmer and the rest of the Los Angeles brain trust were way too hasty in 2019 to give away their entire future for a player in Paul George who was never worth that much. George has never been as good as SGA, and he's never helped a team even go to the NBA Finals.