After the Houston Rockets won their second title in a row in the 1994-95 season, they were beaten soundly by Shawn Kemp and the Seattle SuperSonics in the following playoffs. After that, the front office took a huge gamble in the hopes of continuing short-term success, trading away Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Chucky Brown and Mark Bryant for Charles Barkley.
Since then, the move has been judged harshly in NBA circles and has even recently been questioned by players on those 90s squads. For all the bad press this trade received, though, the season right after was still one of the Rockets’ best.