The Basketball Section

It's May 5th, 2006. The Sacramento Kings have just been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, falling to the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games. It's the second year in a row where the Kings have been bounced in the first round, and the heartbreak of their controversial loss in the Western Conference Finals four years prior still lingers. Only Mike Bibby and coach Rick Adelman, but the additions in the last four years have proven successful enough to continue to make the playoffs, albeit with less success. The strongest addition is Ron Artest, a controversial yet talented player who won Defensive Player of the Year, was selected as an all-star, and made the All-NBA 3rd Team two seasons ago, but had missed just about the entire previous season after his involvement in the infamous Malice at the Palace. The additions, along with Artest, included other players like Brad Miller, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Bonzi Wells, and a young Kevin Martin. There's a solid base t...

There aren't many things that a team can do that are riskier than trading draft picks. While doing so can help a team win at the moment, the possibility of missing out on a future star by sending the pick, even if it's a second round pick, to another team can harm the future success of the team. The moments on this list are exactly that. Now, this list only counts for picks traded before the actual draft, so the Charlotte Hornets trading Kobe Bryant won't be on this list. With that out of the way, these are 8 traded draft picks that came back to haunt teams. Phoenix Suns Traded Away Ron Artest (1999) The Phoenix Suns looked to be on the cusp of a championship run following the 1997-98 season. With a core of Rex Chapman, Antonio McDyess, and Jason Kidd, the team went an impressive 56-26, but a disappointing first-round exit in the playoffs made it clear they needed another piece to complete the puzzle. During an extended offseason thanks to a lockout, the Suns took a...