Great Post from NBA.com… Good Job Fran Flinebury

I just read a post regarding this topic and I never had this idea until now… Awesome observation by Mr. Fran… Talks about trades/free agency that worked out really well… If you’re looking for the Ben Wallace to the Bulls, AI to the Pistons, T-Mac to the Rockets then it’s not here…

Change-of-scenery deals rarely work out as well as these
By Fran Blinebury, for NBA.com
Posted Aug 3 2009 7:57AM

Sometimes the best-laid plans of mice, men and NBA general managers just don’t work out. Sometimes the Xs and Os don’t add up to enough Ws no matter how many times they’re drawn on the dry erase clipboard.

See: Shaquille O’Neal in Phoenix, Allen Iverson in Detroit, Stephon Marbury at virtually any stop along the pot-holed road of his peripatetic career. There are times when what’s needed aren’t more minutes or shots, more heart-to-heart talks or tough-love lectures, but simply a change of scenery to re-light the fire. Over the past decade, loading up the moving van has been just the ticket for more than a handful of stars.

Latrell Sprewell — 1999
After his 1997 choking of Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo followed by the suspension and controversy, Sprewell’s time with the Warriors was up. When the Knicks traded John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings for Sprewell in the 1999 lockout-shortened season, the move was initially met with great criticism. But Sprewell’s on-court intensity made him an instant hit with the Madison Square Garden crowd and he played a key role in the No. 8-seeded Knicks advancing all the way to the NBA Finals, before falling to San Antonio.

Chauncey Billups — 2002
After bouncing around from Boston to Toronto to Denver to Minnesota and never quite fitting in during his first six NBA seasons, Billups signed a free agent contract with Detroit that was a match made in hoops heaven. Mr. Big Shot had finally found his home in the lineup with Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince and the Pistons had found the point guard to carry their fortunes and perform late-game heroics. He was named MVP of The Finals when the Pistons beat the Lakers in 2004. Billups led Detroit to six straight appearances in the Conference Finals before the November 2008 trade to Denver, where he joined the Nuggets and promptly pushed his conference final streak to seven in a row.

Rasheed Wallace — 2004
The Pistons had a solid core of Billups, Hamilton, Prince and Ben Wallace, but probably wouldn’t have gotten over the hump and won the NBA crown without the addition of ‘Sheed just before the trade deadline. After his Trail Blazers let the eventual champion Lakers off the hook in the fourth quarter of Game 7 in the 2000 Western Conference Finals, Wallace spent 3 1/2 more seasons in Portland, but steadily wore out his welcome with his flinty personality. Wallace was the inside and outside scorer, shot-blocker and defender the Pistons needed. Always volatile and seemingly always upset about one injustice or another, he committed himself to the team in a run to five straight East Finals.

Shaquille O’Neal — 2004
Three consecutive titles with Kobe Bryant as his running mate from 2000-02 couldn’t keep Shaq happy in LA. Instead the internal rivalry (or feud or cheap-shot contest) with Bryant only worsened with each passing season. After the Lakers were upset by the Pistons in the 2004 Finals, Shaq was upset at remarks made by general manager Mitch Kupchak and by the departure of coach Phil Jackson. It was time for Shaq to find a new playground and he wound up going coast-to-coast to Miami in exchange for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant. There’s no doubt that O’Neal played with a renewed passion alongside his new running buddy Dwyane Wade. After the Heat fell to Detroit in Game 7 of the 2005 East Finals, he suffered an ankle injury early the following season. But with his minutes managed carefully by coach Pat Riley through the rest of the 2005-06 regular season, Shaq was strong and often dominant in the 2006 Playoffs, racking up his fourth championship in seven seasons.

Michael Finley — 2005
He was a key part of the resurrection of the Dallas franchise from laughingstock to championship contender for nine seasons. As Dirk Nowitzki’s career blossomed, Finley played more of a supporting role with the Mavericks and he was waived so the team could drop his $51 million contract and avoid paying the luxury tax. Contenders in Phoenix, Miami and Detroit all pursued him, but Finley wound up staying in Texas to sign with San Antonio. Ironically, the Spurs were beaten by his former Mavs in the second round of the playoffs as Dallas advanced to the NBA Finals. But the Mavs lost there and one year later, Finley got his championship ring when the Spurs won the title.

Kevin Garnett & Ray Allen — 2007
There was nothing wrong with their respective careers at the time. Allen had just posted the highest scoring average (26.4) of his career the previous season in Seattle and Garnett was coming off his 10th consecutive year as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. But it was beginning to look like both would be ultimately unfulfilled until GM Danny Ainge pulled off the pair of summertime deals that brought Garnett and Allen to the Celtics. Both gave up shots and points for the team as they fit in with Paul Pierce. But both also brought the veteran smarts and a decade’s worth of playoff hunger to the once-proud, long-suffering franchise. They immediately delivered championship No. 17 to the Celtics and make them a threat next season for No. 18.

Pau Gasol — 2008
He was always going to be the focal point of the offense and the leading scorer in Memphis. But in seven seasons with the Grizzlies, he had not won a single playoff game and was never going to outrun the label of being soft and unable to carry his team. After the highway-robbery, beat-the-trade-deadline deal brought him to the Lakers in 2008, Gasol never had to be the lead horse pulling the wagon again. But he’s the perfect complement to Kobe Bryant and after winning his first NBA championship in 2009, is a key component in the Lakers’ bid to repeat in 2010.