You’ve heard it countless times: the NBA is a business. However, some players experience this aspect earlier than others, often finding themselves involved in trades, sometimes merely as salary cap fillers, early in their careers.
Below, you can see a list of the youngest players ever to be traded in the NBA. (For this exercise, we only included players who had already made their NBA debut when the deals went down).
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Traded from New York to Phoenix in 2004
Abbie Parr/Getty Images
Traded from Brooklyn to Utah in 2011
Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Charlotte to Portland in 2015
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from LA Clippers to Portland in 2015
The Players Pick
Traded from Phoenix to New Orleans/Oklahoma City in 2005
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Traded from LA Lakers to Memphis in 2008
Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Traded from Denver to Orlando in 2021
Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images
Traded from Atlanta to Buffalo in 1977
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Phoenix to Oklahoma City in 2020
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Memphis to Philadelphia in 2013
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Orlando to Milwaukee in 2004
Traded from Memphis to Philadelphia in 2013
Traded from Oklahoma City to Indiana in 2020
David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Traded from LA Clippers to Atlanta in 2017
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Houston to Oklahoma City in 2012
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Traded from Cleveland to Chicago in 2006
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Traded from Phoenix to Milwaukee in 2015
Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
Traded from Philadelphia to Phoenix in 1997
Dale Zanine for the Akron Beacon Journal via USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Charlotte to Cleveland in 2004
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from Milwaukee to Orlando in 2013
