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With the All-Star weekend over, the second half of the NBA season is upon us. Not only is it time for NBA teams to shift to a higher gear, but also be on the lookout for upgrades with the trade deadline approaching and some notable veterans choosing to enter the buyout market.
Just recently, we witnessed Blake Griffin’s departure from the Detroit Pistons, as he chose to reunite with former Clippers teammate DeAndre Jordan. In the process, he also joins the stacked Brooklyn Nets that already has Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. Aside from the Brooklyn Nets, we also know that the defending champions, Los Angeles Lakers, are looking into the buyout market to see whether they can snag some upgrades to successfully defend their title as the postseason nears.
Throughout NBA history, we’ve seen some teams make crucial last minute roster additions to win a championship. For this piece, let’s take a look at the five greatest late roster additions that helped teams win a championship.
Markieff Morris
In a quest for a championship, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to nab stretch forward Markieff Morris in late February, after agreeing to a buyout with the Detroit Pistons. Although the Lakers didn’t make any significant moves to upgrade their roster before trade deadline that season, acquiring Morris became a critical piece in their championship campaign.
For the Lakers, Morris averaged 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game off the bench. Although his numbers aren’t flashy, the 6’9 forward gave the team its much needed knockdown shooter in the Orlando bubble. This allowed LeBron James and Anthony Davis to get to the paint easier, with Morris giving the team some perimeter shooting.
In fact, during the playoffs, he fired 16 points in Game Five of the second round against the James Harden led Houston Rockets. He made six of his seven shots, while making all four of his shots from rainbow country. Morris also made 42% of his three point shots during the entire 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Marc Gasol
The Toronto Raptors have always been stopped by LeBron James, when he was in the East. But when James finally moved to Los Angeles, the Raptors were willing to go all in to take the crown with Kawhi Leonard on board. To boost their chances, Ujiri made the final move of putting together his championship roster by adding former Defensive Player of the Year Awardee Marc Gasol. It was a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies right at the day of the trade deadline. In getting the Spanish big man, the team had to give up Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles, and a 2024 second round pick.
Although Toronto may have given up a good number of players, it was worth it in the end. Gasol helped anchor the team’s defense. Furthermore, he also helped space the floor while being a solid playmaker on the post. In the 2019 NBA Playoffs, Gasol averaged 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.0 dimes per game to help the franchise win its first and only NBA championship at the expense of the defending champs, the Golden State Warriors who were led by Stephen Curry.
Peja Stojakovic
Peja Stojakovic was an elite shooter in his peak years. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t win a championship during that segment of his career. It was only in his final year that he was able to win a championship to cap off his legacy. With Peja looking to play for a legitimate playoff contender, and the Mavericks looking for a small forward to offset Caron Butler’s season-ending injury, the 6’10 deadeye shooter’s entrance to Dallas was arguably the greatest buyout market pickup in league history.
After agreeing to a buyout with the Toronto Raptors in January, Stojakovic joined the Western Conference contender to play alongside Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki. The three time All-Star emerged to be one of their best catch-and-shoot players, as he put up 8.6 points per game off the bench while knocking down an efficient 40% clip from downtown.
Stojakovic was also instrumental in the postseason, particularly in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant. In Game 4, Stojakovic had a perfect shooting from the field, en-route to 21 points off the bench where he made all six of his three point shots. His hot shooting performance helped propelled the Mavs complete a four game sweep against the defending champs which eventually allowed Dallas to the NBA Finals and to win a championship.
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Rasheed Wallace
The Detroit Pistons were a rising team in the early 2000s. However, they wouldn’t win a championship until 2004 when they pulled off a mighty upset against the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and that wouldn’t be possible without the presence of Rasheed Wallace. It is worth noting that Wallace only joined the team during the day of the trade deadline. In getting Rasheed, the Pistons gave up a string of players in Chucks Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca, and two first round picks.
Although it seemed like a lot of players were given up, the fact that the Pistons got a starting big man in Wallace without giving up anyone in their core was obviously a big lift to their championship aspirations.
According to Pistons President at that time Joe Dumars, he said “That fact that we didn’t have to break up our team and we were able to add the guy we did, it made it a no-brainer move for us, it created cap space and we didn’t mess with our core, so it was a great deal for us.”
After bouncing around that season from Portland and Atlanta, Wallace immediately made an impact for the Pistons. In the final 22 games of the season, he averaged 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing.
The Stretch forward was just as lethal come postseason, as he proved to everyone that he was the final piece of Detroit’s championship puzzle. With his hot shooting on offense and ability to play along the team’s brand of defense, Wallace even registered a monster double-double in Game Four of the NBA Finals as he tallied 26 points and 13 rebounds to propel his team to a championship.
Clyde Drexler
After winning the NBA championship in 1994, it didn’t look like the Houston Rockets were favored to repeat. However, the last minute addition of Clyde Drexler changed all of that. Just nine days before the trade deadline, the Rockets acquired the 6’7 guard and Tracy Murray for Otis Thorpe, Marcelo Nicola, and a first round draft pick.
Despite the Rockets entering the postseason as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, the dynamic duo of Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon proved to be unstoppable given that they had a great inside-and-outside punch. In the postseason, Drexler averaged 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 dimes per game.
With Drexler’s late addition to the team, it allowed the Rockets to make history by not only repeating as champions but also becoming the lowest ranked team to be crowned the champions of the NBA.
