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The Five Worst Trades in Atlanta Hawks History

By Tyler Sellers

Apr 19, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) is guarded against Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier (12) near the Atlanta Hawks logo in the fourth quarter of game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 89-72. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) is guarded against Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier (12) near the Atlanta Hawks logo in the fourth quarter of game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 89-72. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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1. Hawks trade Bill Russell

Celtics trade Ed Maculey and Cliff Hagan

On 04/30/1956 The St. Louis Hawks traded Bill Russell, who they had selected with the No. 2 pick in the draft, to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley, the Celtics’ star bigmanand Cliff Hagan, who was serving in the military and had yet to play for the Celtics. The deal proved to have enormous dividends for Boston, as Russell fit perfectly into coach Red Auerbach’s offensive system.

Over the course of his 13-year career, Russell averaged a superb 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds a game, while his Celtics won the NBA title 11 times — including eight in a row at one point. Russell would leave the game as the greatest winner and the greatest defender the NBA ever saw; he also finished his career as a player/coach and would later coach the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings.

But the deal was not a total loss for the St. Louis Hawks, as both Macauley and Hagan wound up being Hall of Famers. The team would make the playoffs in all but one season until 1973, and in 1958, they even beat Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Of course, the Celtics won 11 championships with Russell, so there’s no doubt who got the better end of the deal.

The Hawks already had the best power forward in the game with Bob Pettit. Had they kept Russell, it would have been the equivalent of pairing a 22 year old Tim Duncan with David Robinson before he entered his prime. Pettit is the only player to ever average over 20 points and 12 rebounds per game for his entire career. He was the first recipient of the MVP award, taking home his first of two. He was also a 2x scoring champion and was named to the all star team all 11 seasons of his career.

There would definitely be more titles to the Hawks name with Bill Russell. At the time there was no way to know he would become one of the greatest and most dominant players in the history of basketball. With that said, this was even worse than the Falcons trading Brett Favre.

Next: Kris Humphries will be key in frontcourt rotation

information from Wikipedia, Google newspapers, tumblr.com, SBnation and Inside Hoops was used in this report 

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