10 Trades That Changed The NBA Forever

If the Boston Celtics began the "superteam" era, Lebron James and Chris Bosh kicked it into overdrive with the "player empowerment" era.

After five straight playoff appearances with one finals sweep, it was obvious James was growing frustrated with the front office in Cleveland. Bosh had reason to be frustrated as well in Toronto after five All-Star games and two early playoff exits.

Together with Dwayne Wade, the trio pulled off the infamous "decision" that would rock the league. In July 2010, Lebron would announce that he's "taking his talents to South Beach". In order to pull off the move, a sign-and-trade was agreed upon with Miami, sending two 1st and two 2nd round picks to Cleveland. Two 1st round picks would also be sent to Toronto in exchange for Bosh.

Miami would go on to four straight finals and 2 championships before Lebron went back home to Cleveland, and Bosh was forced to retire for medical reasons.

Over those four seasons, Cleveland would fall into a tailspin without James as the draft picks they received only really amounted to Tyler Zeller and a broken Luke Walton. Finishing near the bottom each year allowed them to draft Kyrie Irving (from a Clippers' pick), Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett, and Andrew Wiggins.

Toronto did slightly better as DeMar DeRozan blossomed into a star. They used the picks they received to acquire James Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. A trade in 2012 brought in PG Kyle Lowry, and the Raptors have been in the playoffs every year since 2013.

Lebron's decision set the stage for future superstar players to decide who they wanted as teammates and where they would play.