Lakers trade rumors: Four ridiculous NBA Trade Machine trades
By Jason Reed
The last four first overall picks:
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Lakers receive: Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins
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Timberwolves receive: Brook Lopez, Thomas Bryant
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76ers receive: Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. Jamal Crawford
I was pretty blown away by the fact that the last four first overall selections in the NBA Draft play for just two different teams; the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers. While the 76ers have had their fair share of terrible seasons and acquiring draft picks, the Timberwolves made the most of Kevin Love and turned it into two potential superstars.
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Wiggins is the oldest on this list, selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 NBA Draft. Of course, this was the year LeBron James came back home to create a super team with Kyrie Irving. In was Kevin Love, out was Andrew Wiggins.
Thus, the young Minnesota Timberwolves stumbled to a 16-66 record, the worst in the league. The NBA Draft Lottery behaved as it should and the Timberwolves were able to secure the first overall pick and select Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015 NBA Draft. Now, just three years later, Minnesota is a legit contender for the NBA Championship.
The 76ers took a slightly more conventional route to their two first overall selections; they sucked. Philadelphia won just 10 games in the 2015-2016 season to get the honors of selecting Ben Simmons with the first overall pick. Simmons, in typical 76er fashion, missed his entire rookie year with injury.
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The next season the 76ers swapped picks with the Kings and turned a fifth overall selection to a third overall selection. Then, a nifty trade landed them the first overall pick to select Markelle Fultz, who, of course, has not played yet.