In one of the most controversial trades of the last decade two summers ago, the Boston Celtics traded the heart of their team in Isaiah Thomas along with what was projected to be a top pick to acquire Kyrie Irving. While many bias Boston fans believed Thomas was just as good if not better than Irving, it was clear to most NBA experts Irving was easily the better player.
In such a superstar driven league, in a majority of deals across the NBA, the team who winds up with the best player wins the trade. This ended up being the case for the Raptors with Kawhi Leonard, the Thunder with Paul George and the Rockets with James Harden.