Revisiting Some of the Biggest Deals in NBA History
- Jake C
- Jun 30
- 12 min read
Photo: Shaquille O’Neal as a Los Angeles Laker. O’Neal signed with the Lakers in the summer of 1996, paving the way for a Laker dynasty. Photo credit: Brian Spurlock, USA Today Sports.
On the eve of the official opening of the 2025 NBA Free Agency period, let’s take a look back at some of the biggest and most impactful signings in league history.
Tom Chambers to the Phoenix Suns - July 6, 1988
The NBA’s free agency frenzy that exists today was not that back in 1988. If a team wanted to part ways with you, compensation was needed in return. There was no leaving on your own accord to sign with who offered you the best deal or with whom you wanted to sign with. It was not until the summer of 1988 when free agency would take effect, courtesy of the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement gave unrestricted free-agent status to any player seven years in or more whose second contract had expired.
Going into the summer of 1988, Tom Chambers, an athletic 6 foot, 10 inch forward with a penchant for scoring, was 29 years old, and had averaged 20.4 points and 6.0 rebounds on 44.8% shooting in 1987-88 in what was his fifth season as a Seattle SuperSonic after his first two seasons with the San Diego Clippers, who drafted him eighth overall in 1981. In 1987-88, the Sonics had turned around from a 39-43 record in ‘86-‘87 to a 44-38 record.
Chambers was a one-time all-star (1986-87), a season in which he averaged 23.3 points and 6.6 rebounds on 45.6% shooting in all 82 games. He scored 34 points on 13-of-25 shooting in the ‘87 All-Star Game and was named game MVP. Overall in his time in Seattle, Chambers had averaged 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds on 46.9% shooting.
Forty games into the 1987-88 season, the Suns traded forward Larry Nance to the Cleveland Cavaliers, thus opening up a need at the forward position.
Cotton Fitzsimmons was the Suns’ head coach at the time, and it was assistant coach Paul Westphal who contacted Chambers on July 1, 1988. The sides struck a deal on the sixth of July, with the Suns signing Chambers to a five-year contract worth $9 million.
Chambers made All-NBA 2nd team in both 1988-89 and 1989-90. In his first season with the Suns, he averaged 25.7 points (47.1%) and 8.4 rebounds, and in 1989-90 averaged 27.2 points (50.1%) and 7.0 rebounds. He made his third consecutive all-star game in 1991, a season in which he averaged 19.9 points (43.7%) and 6.4 rebounds. In five seasons with the Suns, he averaged 20.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 46.3% shooting.
Chambers retired after the 1997-98 season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He scored over 20,000 points (20,049) for his career.
In the summer of 1988, he set a precedent with what would become a league changing element to the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal to the Los Angeles Lakers - July 18, 1996
The 1995-96 Los Angeles Lakers won 53 games led by Cedric Ceballlos’ 21.2 points per game. Magic Johnson had returned for thirty-two games, his first NBA action since 1991. Magic started nine of those thirty-two games and averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds. Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones, both seen as key pieces to the franchise’s future, were the 24-year-old kids in the backcourt.
The 1995-96 Orlando Magic won 60 games. Shaquille O’Neal’s 26.6 points and 11.0 rebounds along with Penny Hardaway’s 21.7 points and 7.1 assists led the team to the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals where they were swept at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. The Magic had won the Eastern Conference just one year earlier in ‘95, putting an abrupt stop to the Bulls’ title hopes after Michael Jordan’s March 1995 return.
O’Neal was 23 years old. And the league’s biggest free agent prize in 1996.
Laker legend Jerry West was the Lakers’ executive and had an eye towards the future. He had traded center Vlade Divac for high school draft pick Kobe Bryant (13th to the Charlotte Hornets) and with Van Exel and Jones in tow needed his big man to pair with Bryant.
On July 13, 1996, the Miami Heat signed Alonzo Mourning to a record seven-year, $105 million contract. At the same time, the Heat reached an agreement with Washington Bullets’ forward Juwan Howard on a seven-year deal worth $98 million. However, the league voided the Howard-to-Heat deal because it would have caused the Heat to exceed in the salary cap. And so Mourning was their guy.
O’Neal rightfully deserved more than Mourning, and West saw to it that he paid his new big man as such. Seven years and $120 million was O’Neal’s deal, eclipsing Mourning’s record $105 million from five days earlier.
The 1996-97 Lakers won 56 games. Three seasons later, they won their first championship since the 1987-88 season. The Shaq and Kobe Lakers are the last NBA team to win three consecutive championships.
Michael Jordan’s One-Year Contracts with the Chicago Bulls - 1996 and 1997
At the time of his first retirement after the 1992-93 season, Michael Jordan was a 9-time all-star and 3-time champion. Only one franchise prior (the Boston Celtics, with Bill Russell) in NBA history had three-peated before the Jordan-led Bulls did from 1991-1993.
After an eighteen-month reprieve from the game of basketball to try his hand at baseball, Jordan regained his basketball itch, and on March 19, 1995 returned to the NBA - wearing No. 45 - in a road game at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. In the playoffs, the Magic defeated the Bulls 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and Jordan spent the summer of ‘95 filming Space Jam and using a custom-built “Jordan Dome” on the Warner Bros. lot to play pick-up against fellow NBA stars to get himself back in basketball shape.
The 1995-96 season for the Bulls resulted in a 72-10 record (a new NBA record at the time, breaking the ‘72 Lakers’ 69 wins) and a 4-2 Finals win over the Seattle SuperSonics. Jordan and the Bulls had their fourth. Now it was time to repeat.
On July 12, 1996, Jordan re-upped with the Bulls for one year at $30.1 million. The Bulls won 69 games and championship No. 5 by defeating the Utah Jazz in the Finals 4-2. The repeat was complete. Now, another three-peat was on deck.
In the summer of 1997, Jordan inked a one-year, $33.1 million deal to stay with Chicago. At the time, it was the richest single-season number in NBA history. Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and head coach Phil Jackson all agreed too to come back for one more season. The Last Dance.
The Bulls completed their second three-peat with another 4-2 series victory over the Jazz in ‘98. Jordan retired, a sign-and-trade was completed between the Bulls and Houston Rockets to send Pippen off, Rodman signed with the Lakers, and Jackson took a one year hiatus before returning to coaching in 1999 to lead the Lakers until 2011.
Steve Nash to the Phoenix Suns - July 14, 2004
Following the 2003-04 season, point guard Steve Nash was a two-time all-star (2002, 2003) who had just become a full-time NBA starter in 2000-01.
Nash was drafted 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 1996 Draft, but with a crowded point guard crop consisting of himself, Kevin Johnson, and Jason Kidd, he saw only eleven minutes per game as a rookie and twenty-two minutes per game in his second season.
In 1998, Nash was dealt from the Suns to the Dallas Mavericks, where he teamed up with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley to create one of the league’s most exciting teams. In Nash’s all-star seasons of 2002 and 2003, the Mavericks won 57 and 60 games. The team lost in six games in the 2003 Western Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs.
Just twenty-one games into their 2003-04 season, the Phoenix Suns were 8-13 and General Manager Brian Colangelo knew that it was time for a change. He let go of head coach Frank Johnson, and replaced him with Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni coached the team to a 21-40 record the rest of the way and the club finished 29-53 overall.
In 1999, the Suns drafted a lanky forward out of UNLV by the name of Shawn Marion ninth overall.
Three years later, the Suns, picking ninth overall once again, drafted a high-school forward out of the state of Florida by the name of Amare Stoudemire.
On January 5, 2004, the Suns traded point guard Stephon Marbury, a two-time all-star, to the New York Knicks. Marbury was a Brooklyn kid. It made sense.
With the deal, the Suns had an opening at point guard. Marion was one of the NBA’s top defenders and Stoudemire was blossoming into one of its better power forwards. D’Antoni wanted his team to run but needed someone to guide the way.
Enter Nash, who signed on for five years at $65 million.
Nash was 30 years old entering the 2004-05 season. A team that won 29 games in 2003-04 went on to win 62 in 2004-05. Nash averaged 15.5 points and led the league in assists at 11.5 in his first Suns’ season and won the league MVP. The next season of 2005-06, he won the MVP award again, with averages of 18.8 points and 10.5 assists. In 2006-07, he averaged 18.6 points and 11.6 assists, leading the NBA in assists for the third consecutive season. He averaged 11.1 dimes in 2007-08 and in 2009-10 and 2010-11 averaged 11.0 and 11.4.
From 2004-2008, Nash made four consecutive all-star teams and was also an all-star in 2010 and 2012. Marion was an all-star in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Stoudemire was an all-star in 2005 with his points per game increased from 20.6 to 26.0. He was also an all-star in Phoenix every season from 2007-2010.
The Suns from 2004-2010 with Nash:
2004-05: 62-20 (Lost WCF)
2005-06: 54-29 (Lost WCF)
2006-07: 61-21 (Lost WCSF)
2007-08: 55-27 (Lost 1st round)
2008-09: 46-36
2009-10: 54-28 (Lost WCF)
D’Antoni wanted an orchestrator in 2004, and the Suns needed a guy to run their system. Nash was that guy, and led the team in a unique “Seven Seconds or Less” offense that revolutionized the game.
LeBron James to the Miami Heat - July 8, 2010
Heading into the 2003 NBA Draft, LeBron James might have been the most hyped prospect in NBA history. Television programs and interviews were comparing him with the likes of Jordan and Chamberlain. The Cleveland Cavaliers had the first overall pick in ‘03, and James was a local kid from Akron. The Cavaliers won 17 games in 2002-03. James was the one to come in and change the entire course of the franchise. It was all on his shoulders.
Over the next seven seasons, the Cavaliers made the playoffs five times. From 2005-06 through to 2009-10, the team went 50-32 twice and 47-35, 66-16 and 61-21. The Cavaliers made the 2007 NBA Finals and lost in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.
In the summer of 2010, draft mates James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were all free agents. There were rumors about the New York Knicks. New York was, well, New York, so that just made sense based on locale. All three or two would go somewhere. Bosh was the Raptors’ star in the post-Vince Carter era but the best the team did with him was consecutive first round exits from 2007-2008. Wade won a title with the Heat in 2006, led the NBA in scoring in 2008-09 (30.2 points and placed third in MVP voting), and was fifth in MVP voting in 2009-10.
On Thursday July 8, 2010, James held a press conference-interview type thing at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Conn. to announce his decision on live television on ESPN. It wasn’t really an interview and wasn’t really a press conference. It was hosted by longtime sportscaster Jim Gray, who uncomfortably led James through a series of questions, leading to impatient viewers that just wanted to hear what James was going to do. The drawn out scene was on purpose, I guess. And then the bombshell dropped.
“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach, and join the Miami Heat.”
Cavaliers’ fans were saddened and stunned. Jerseys were burned. Heat fans rejoiced. Basketball fans were wondering how their favorite team was going to deal with an Avengers’ type of trio.
James and Bosh both signed six-year contracts worth $110.1 million, with Wade signing for six years at $107.5 million. The Heat made four straight Finals appearances with their Big 3, losing in 2011 to the Dallas Mavericks before back-to-back titles over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Spurs. The Heat lost in five games to the Spurs in 2014.
James left the Heat after the 2013-14 season and went back to the Cavaliers for two years at $42.1 million. After Bosh’s eleventh and final all-star recognition in 2016, the power forward was stricken with blood clots and sat out all of 2016-17 before ultimately retiring following that season at age 33. Wade stayed a loyal soldier for Pat Riley’s Heat through 2015-16 before going to the Bulls for 2016-17 and the Cavaliers for forty-six games at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season. He was then dealt back to Miami in 2018, where he would spend the final ninety-three games of his career before retiring in 2019. James in 2018 left the Cavaliers a second time for the Los Angeles Lakers (a four-year, $154 million deal that led to a championship in 2020). Remarkably, James is still going at age 40.
For the Heat of 2010-2014, it was four championship appearances in four years. Riley's most shrewd move had paid off, and Erik Spoelstra morphed into a Hall of Fame head coach.
Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors - July 4, 2016
In what seemed like a deja-vu LeBron-to-Miami redux, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors on July 4, 2016. Durant’s deal was two years at $54.3 million and included a second year player-option.
Durant in 2007 was drafted No. 2 out of the University of Texas by the SuperSonics. He was one year in Seattle before the franchise moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. In 2008, the Thunder drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who along with Durant would form one of the league’s most formidable duos. Adding in future MVP James Harden, and there was a star trio of their own.
In 2012, Durant led the NBA in scoring (28.0 points) for the third consecutive season. That spring, Durant and Westbrook (both 23) and a 22-year-old Harden led the Thunder to the NBA Finals where they faced James, Wade, Bosh, and the Heat. The trio of future MVPs won Game 1 of the series but lost the next four.
In 2014, Durant was awarded the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, leading the league in scoring for the fourth time at 32.0 per game.
The 2015-16 version of the Thunder went 55-27 and met Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the 73-win Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder had a 3-1 series lead before losing the series in seven games. Thompson erupted for 41 points in Game 6 in Oklahoma City as the Warriors outscored the Thunder 33-18 in the fourth quarter of the game, and back on their home floor for Game 7 the Warriors prevailed 96-88.
If James-Wade-Bosh were the Avengers, then Durant-Curry-Thompson-Green were some sort of outer space formation. A super-duper quartet. Avengers 2.0. Maybe 3.0.
With now three of the best shooters in the game and the league’s best defender, the Warriors won two consecutive championships in 2017 and 2018. They won 67 and 58 games and took James and the Cavaliers in both Finals series’ - four games to one in 2017 and 4-0 in 2018. They had also beaten the Cavaliers in 2015, four games to two.
The 2018-19 Warriors won 57 games but were ultimately stopped by an achilles injury to Durant and a knee injury to Thompson that prevented a fourth championship in five years for the franchise.
On July 1, 2019, Durant signed a four-year, $164 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns on February 9, 2023 and on June 22, 2025 was traded to the Houston Rockets.
Durant has not won a championship, or reached a Conference Final even, since leaving the Warriors, but what he did there and the impact that his deal had on the league - in this player empowerment and player movement era - is still being felt today.
Other Notable Deals
Of course there have been other major contracts agreed to and trades completed between organizations in the hopes of capturing the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Here are some that hold historical significance:
In 1997, Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves agreed on a contract extension worth $126 million over six years. It was the richest deal in NBA history at the time. Garnett led the Timberwolves to seven consecutive playoff appearances, culminating in 58 wins in 2004 and a Western Conference Final appearance in 2004.
Upon drafting Patrick Ewing first overall in 1985, the Knicks signed their new star to a 10-year, $31.2 million deal. In the 1995-96 season, Ewing became the first player in NBA history to make over $15 million for a season when he made $18.7 million. The Knicks made it to the second round each of the following three seasons before a Finals’ appearance in 1999, where they lost to the Spurs without Ewing, who only played in thirty-eight games that season. The center averaged 17.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in the thirty-eight games played.
When it comes to trades, rewind the tape all the way back to 1956 to find one of the most significant, when the St. Louis Hawks traded the draft rights to Bill Russell to the Celtics. The move propelled the Celtics into the stratosphere, the precursor to eleven championships.
On January 15, 1965, the San Francisco Warriors traded megastar center Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann, and $150,000 cash. The move gave the Sixers the centerpiece to their ‘67 title.
On July 9, 1968, Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark, and Darrall Imhoff. That move paved the way for four Finals’ appearances (1969, 1970, 1972, 1973), and the 1972 team title that won 69 games.
In 1970, the Cincinnati Royals traded superstar guard Oscar Robertson to the Milwaukee Bucks for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk. The Bucks proceeded to go 66-16 in ‘70-‘71, with Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading the franchise to a 4-0 Finals’ sweep of the Baltimore Bullets.
The Lakers on June 16, 1975 traded Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Meyers to the Bucks for Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. This deal led to five Laker championships between 1980-1988, giving the Lakers their franchise face post Baylor, West, and Chamberlain.
In a more modern trade of a superstar, the Philadelphia 76ers on June 17, 1992 traded Charles Barkley to the Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry, and Andrew Lang. Barkley won league MVP in 1992-93 and led the Suns to 62 wins and the Western Conference title.
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