Top Six February Acquisitions

The six most impactful acquisitions for the NBA's stretch run.

Feb 17, 2025

Cross-post from Statitudes

We are inching back to normalcy in terms of a publishing schedule but not quite there yet after the wildest NBA Trade Deadline in memory. Jake Fischer wrote a great piece in my usual Tuesday slot and today I wanted to share this educational story from my pal Justin Kubatko that re-tells some very useful deadline history. I have spoken often about the very few in-season trades in my 30-plus seasons covering #thisleague that have led to an immediate championship: Clyde Drexler to Houston in 1995, Rasheed Wallace to Detroit in 2004, Marc Gasol to Toronto in 2019 (after the Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard in the summer). Justin's piece stretches to include the Pistons' crucial acquisition of Mark Aguirre in 1989. Give it a read below: -

Marc Stein

Now that the NBA trade deadline has passed, I thought I’d revisit my list of the top February acquisitions. Last season I ranked my top five deals, but this season I decided to expand it to six. Given some of the headliner moves that were made earlier this month, there’s a decent chance at least one of these names will change next year.

My primary rule for assembling this list was the following: the player must have made an impact in the season the deal was made (i.e., trades for future draft picks who turned out to be stars did not count). Also, the team’s postseason success mattered, which eliminated players like Ray Allen with the 2002-03 Seattle SuperSonics (did not make the playoffs) and Carmelo Anthony with the 2010-11 New York Knicks (swept in the first round).

With that said, here we go…

6. Mark Aguirre, 1988-89 Detroit Pistons

One season after reaching the NBA Finals, the Pistons were 32-13 on the morning of February 15, three games out of the Eastern Conference lead. That’s the day they decided to shake things up by sending leading scorer Adrian Dantley (18.4 PPG) to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for fellow small forward Mark Aguirre (21.7 PPG).

It turned out to be the spark the Pistons needed, as they rolled to a 31-6 record the remainder of way, winning the conference by six games. Aguirre appeared in 36 of those contests, averaging 15.5 PPG and 4.2 RPG. More importantly, he sacrificed minutes and shots for the good of the team, something Detroit’s decision makers felt (rightly or wrongly) Dantley would not do.

In the 1989 NBA Finals, Detroit avenged its loss to the Los Angeles Lakers the previous season with a 4-0 sweep. Aguirre started all 17 games in that 15-2 postseason run, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.4 RPG.

The Pistons would win it all again the next season, as Aguirre averaged 14.1 PPG in 78 regular season games and 11.0 PPG in 20 playoff contests. Aguirre once again sacrificed for the good of the team, ceding his starting role to the emerging Dennis Rodman in the second half of the season.

5. Jeff Hornacek, 1993-94 Utah Jazz

The sweet-shooting Hornacek was acquired by the Utah Jazz from the Philadelphia 76ers on February 24, 1994, a trade that would give the Jazz one of the best backcourts in the NBA for the next six seasons.

Although Hornacek started just nine of his 27 games with Utah after the trade, he averaged 30.6 MPG, 14.6 PPG, and 3.9 APG with 50.9/42.9/89.1 shooting splits. He continued his solid play in the postseason, where he led the team in field goal percentage (47.5%), 3-point field goal percentage (44.1%), and free throw percentage (91.2%) while ranking second in scoring (15.4 PPG), assists (4.0 APG), and steals (1.5 SPG).

Despite entering the playoffs as the number-five seed, the Jazz advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual champion Houston Rockets in five games.

After a first round playoff exit in 1995, the Jazz advanced to the conference finals in each of their next three seasons, including two trips to the NBA Finals (where they lost to the Chicago Bulls both times).

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4. Dikembe Mutombo, 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers

Fresh off his seventh All-Star Game selection, Mutombo was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Philadelphia 76ers in a blockbuster deal on February 22, 2001. Mutombo had finished in the top three of the Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of the previous seven seasons (winning three times), a streak which eventually reached eight seasons (including his fourth win in 2000-01).

At the time of the deal, the Sixers were the runaway leaders in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-14. Although they went just 15-12 after the trade, Mutombo was not to blame, as he averaged 11.7 PPG, 12.4 RPG, and 2.5 BPG.

Mutombo continued to play well in the postseason — he averaged 13.9 PPG, 13.7 RPG, and a playoff-high 3.1 BPG — as the Sixers survived two tense seven-game series with the Toronto Raptors (conference semifinals) and Milwaukee Bucks (conference finals) to advance to the NBA Finals.

In Game 1 of the Finals, the Sixers handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the playoffs, but it was all downhill from there, as the Lakers won four straight games to claim the title.

Mutombo would spend just one more season in Philadelphia, but it wasn’t a particularly memorable one. The Sixers went 43-39 in the regular season (sixth in the conference) and fell 3-2 to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

3. Rasheed Wallace, 2003-04 Detroit Pistons

Wallace was actually traded twice within an 11-day span, first from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Atlanta Hawks on February 9, 2004, and then from the Hawks* to the Detroit Pistons on February 19, 2004.

* Trivia time: Wallace is one of only six players in NBA history with at least 1,000 career games played to appear in exactly one game for a franchise:

Walt Bellamy (New Orleans Jazz)
Tom Chambers (Philadelphia 76ers)
Jamal Crawford (Brooklyn Nets)
Rasheed Wallace (Atlanta Hawks)
Mark West (Milwaukee Bucks)
Herb Williams (Toronto Raptors)

The Pistons had a solid record of 34-22 before Wallace arrived, but after the trade they caught fire, winning 20 of their final 26 games. Wallace was a big part of that run, averaging 13.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 22 contests.

Wallace’s postseason numbers almost mirrored his regular season figures (13.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 23 games) as Detroit defeated the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals to claim the franchise’s third championship.

The Pistons advanced to the Finals once again in 2005, where they lost a hard-fought seven-game series to the San Antonio Spurs. They proceeded to make the conference finals in each of the following three seasons, but did not make another NBA Finals appearance.

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2. Clyde Drexler, 1994-95 Houston Rockets

An eight-time All-Star selection with the Portland Trail Blazers, Drexler grew disenchanted with the direction of the franchise and asked to be traded to a contender. That request was granted on February 14, 1995, when he was sent to the defending champion Houston Rockets.

Drexler played quite well for the Rockets — he averaged 21.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 4.4 APG with 50.6/35.7/80.9 shooting splits — but the team went just 17-18 in those games and entered the playoffs as the number-six seed in the Western Conference.

In the Western Conference playoffs, Houston won a close first round matchup with the Utah Jazz (3-2), came back from a 3-1 deficit in the conference semifinals to defeat the Phoenix Suns (4-3), and won a tough conference finals over the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs (4-2).

The NBA Finals was a relative breeze by comparison, as the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic to claim their second consecutive title. Drexler put up numbers in the postseason that were fairly typical (for him, anyway): 20.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG in 22 games.

Drexler spent three more seasons in Houston, but did not make a return trip to the Finals. The Rockets did advance to the Western Conference finals again in 1997, but they lost a six-game series to the Utah Jazz.

1. Pau Gasol, 2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers

Gasol spent the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, but on February 1, 2008 he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that included his brother Marc, whose rights were sent to Memphis. Gasol had reached the postseason three times with the Grizzlies, but each appearance ended with him on the wrong end of a four-game sweep.

Gasol averaged 18.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 27 games with the Lakers, shooting 58.9% from the field and 78.9% from the free throw line. The team splits with and without Gasol that season are striking:

With: 22-5 (.815), 110.4 PPG, +11.6 DIFF
Without: 35-20 (.636), 107.7 PPG, +5.1 DIFF

The Lakers stood in fifth place in the conference standings at the time of the trade, but finished the regular season as the number-one seed in the Western Conference.

Gasol continued to play well in the playoffs, where he averaged 16.9 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 21 games, leading all players in blocks with 40. However, the Lakers fell just short of a championship, bowing to the Boston Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals.

This was only the beginning, though, as the Lakers and Gasol advanced to the NBA Finals in each of the next two seasons, winning both times. Gasol was an All-NBA Third Team selection in 2008-09 and 2009-10, and earned a Second Team nod in 2010-11.