Looking Back at the Baron Davis Trade

When I first heard of the trade that sent Baron Davis from the Clippers to the Cavaliers in exchange for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon, it looked like a fairly even trade, with possibly a slight edge for the Clippers. I think of Mo Williams as a young (28), scoring point guard, as opposed to an aging (32) Baron Davis who looked to be on the down swing of a solid career.

Williams averaged 15.2 ppg along with 5.6 assists. Throw in 3.5 points from Jamario Moon, and you have decent production from that end of the trade. Baron Davis averaged 13.9 ppg plus over 6 assists, only playing 15 games in Cleveland. All that said, it looks like a slight edge to the Clippers, right? Wrong.

We often overlook the addition of draft picks in trades, and the pick included in this trade was a big one. The Cavaliers got an unprotected 1st round pick from the Clippers as part of this trade, a pick which turned out to be the lottery winner. So in the end, what looked like a fairly even trade may haunt the Clippers for years.

Final trade evaluation:

Cavaliers Get - Baron Davis, 2011 1st overall pick (Kyrie Irving)

Clippers Get - Mo Williams, Jamario Moon

Edge - Cavaliers