The Los Angeles Lakers franchise is one of the most prolific in sports history. Since relocating to Los Angeles in 1960, they’ve often depended on Hollywood allure to build dynasties, enabling them to acquire Westward-looking stars in deals that either seem lopsided in the moment or in retrospect. The franchise has traded for many superstars over the decades—Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis. All those deals, though, occurred in the offseason.
At the most recent trade deadline, the Lakers stood pat, instead signing Markieff Morris. Hopefully, the 2019-20 season can resume and we’ll find out if that was an oversight. For now, let’s revisit every trade the Lakers have made around the deadline, ever.
Feb 7, 1949: The Minneapolis Lakers purchased Whitey Kachan from the Chicago Stags.
Jan 27, 1952: The Lakers purchased Pep Saul from the Baltimore Bullets (BAA). Saul is one of three players (Steve Kerr, Patrick McCaw) to win championships for two teams over three straight seasons.
Feb. 2, 1954: The Lakers sold Bob Harrison to the Milwaukee Hawks.
Feb. 17, 1955: The Lakers acquired Lew Hitch from Milwaukee.
Feb. 5, 1958: The Lakers acquired Bo Erias from the New York Knicks for Art Spoelstra.
Feb. 16, 1958: The Lakers acquired Frank Selvy from the St. Louis Hawks for Dick Boushka and Terry Rand. Selvy was an All-Star (1962) and the only Division I player to drop 100 points in a game. Unfortunately, he’s best remembered for missing a would-be buzzer-beater in Game 7 of the 1962 Finals (Boston won in OT).
Jan 24, 1960: The now-Los Angeles Lakers acquired Ray Felix and a 1960 4th-round pick (Ben Warley) from New York for Dick Garmaker and a 1960 2nd round pick (Dave Budd).
Feb. 1, 1960: The Lakers acquired Charlie Share, Nick Mantis and Willie Merriweather from St. Louis for Larry Foust.
Jan. 16, 1967: In a three-team swap, L.A. acquired Mel Counts from Washington and traded Rudy LaRusso and a 1967 first-rounder (Sonny Dove) to the Detroit Pistons. Detroit traded Ray Scott to the Bullets and received a 1st-round pick back.
Jan. 9, 1968: The Lakers acquired Erwin Mueller from the Chicago Bulls for Jim Barnes and a 1968 3rd-round pick (Dave Newmark).
Jan. 20, 1976: The Lakers acquired the rights to John Roche from the Phoenix Suns for future considerations.
Feb 13, 1980: The Lakers acquired Mark Landsberger from Chicago for Ollie Mack, a 1980 2nd-round pick (Sam Worthen), and a 1981 2nd-round pick (Gene Banks).
Feb. 15, 1980: The Lakers acquired Butch Lee and a 1982 1st-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers for Don Ford and 1980 1st round pick (Chad Kinch). Cleveland wound up with the worst record in basketball, turning that Lakers pick into no. 1 overall. L.A. selected North Carolina’s James Worthy, three years after drafting Magic Johnson via similar means. Big Game James had a Hall-of-Fame 12 year stint with Los Angelesla.
Feb. 15, 1983: The Lakers acquire Dwight Jones from Chicago for a 1985 2nd-round pick (Adrian Branch).
Feb. 13, 1987: The Lakers acquire Mychal Thompson from the San Antonio Spurs for Frank Brickowski, Petur Guomundsson, a 1987 1st-round pick (Greg Anderson) and a 1990 2nd-round pick (Sean Higgins).
Thompson was another former no. 1 overall pick (Portland, 1978) that ended up on the Showtime Lakers. This was a shrewd move by Jerry West: Thompson, as an overqualified backup, helped the Lakers win back-to-back championships. Brickowski bounced around in the 1990s, while Gudmunddson went to the CBA.
Feb. 22, 1993: The Lakers acquire Benoit Benjamin and Doug Christie from Seattle for Sam Perkins. This was a rare head-scratcher from West. Perkins was putting up almost 14 and 8, while Benjamin and Christie were bit players.
Jan. 11, 1997: The Lakers acquired Robert Horry and Joe Kleine from Phoenix for Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson. Horry was available after throwing a towel at head coach Danny Ainge, and the Lakers capitalized. Cellabos was pretty much done, while Big Shot Bob helped Lakers three-peat.
Feb. 20, 1997: The Lakers acquire George McCloud from the New Jersey Nets for Kleine, a 1997 1st round pick (Anthony Parker) and an unexercised conditional 2nd-round pick.
March 10, 1999 (lockout season): The Lakers acquired Glen Rice, J.R. Reid, and B.J. Armstrong from the Charlotte Hornets for Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones.
Rice was a solid third banana on the 1999-00 championship team (15.9 PPG), but didn’t stick around after that year. Jones was redundant with Kobe, but was better than Rice, making the All-Star team (20.1 PPG, 2.7 SPG) in 2000.
Feb. 1, 2008: The Lakers needed a big-man after Andrew Bynum went down for the season—and a second star to appease Bryant. Somehow, Kupchack convinced Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace to send him All-Star Pau Gasol and a 2nd-round pick (Devin Ebanks) for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Pau’s brother, Marc, a conditional 2008 1st-round pick (Donte Greene), a conditional 2010 1st-round pick (Greivis Vasquez), and cash.
This exchange is slightly less ridiculous in retrospect after Marc’s stellar run in Memphis, but It immediately paid dividends for the Lakers, who went 27-9 after the trade on their way to a Finals appearance followed by two titles ('09, '10).
Feb. 7, 2009: The Lakers acquired Vladimir Radmanovic from the Charlotte Bobcats for Shannon Brown, Adam Morrison, and a Traded Player Exception (TPE).
Feb. 18, 2009: The Lakers acquired a conditional 2013 2nd-round pick (not exercised) and a TPE from Memphis for Chris Mihm and cash. Both 2009 deadline deals cleared salary to help re-sign Lamar Odom.
March 15, 2012 (lockout): The Lakers acquired Jordan Hill and a TPE from the Houston Rockets for Derek Fisher and Dallas’ conditional 2012 1st-round pick (Mitch McGary).
March 15, 2012: The Lakers acquired Christian Eyenga, Ramon Sessions, and a TPE from Cleveland for Jason Kapono, Luke Walton, a conditional 2012 1st-round pick (Jared Cunningham), a 2013 1st-round pick swap (Cavs took Nemanja Nedovic), and cash.
Feb. 19, 2014: The Lakers acquired MarShon Brooks, Kent Bazemore and a TPE from the Golden State Warriors for Steve Blake and multiple TPEs.
Feb. 23, 2017: The Lakers acquired Tyler Ennis, Corey Brewer, a 2017 1st-round pick (Tony Bradley), the draft rights to Brad Newley, and a TPE from Houston for Lou Williams, Marcelo Huertas, and two TPES.
Feb. 8, 2018: The Lakers acquired Channing Frye, Isaiah Thomas, a conditional 2018 1st-round pick (Moritz Wagner), and a TPE from Cleveland for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Feb. 6, 2019: The Lakers acquired Reggie Bullock from Detroit for Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a 2012 2nd-round pick, and a TPE.
Feb. 7, 2019: The Lakers acquired Mike Muscala and a TPE from the L.A. Clippers for Michael Beasley and Ivica Zubac.