Jalen Hood-Schifino Isn’t The First Former Indiana Hoosier Involved In Big NBA Trade

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Outside Hoosier Nation, it is unlikely that the headline player in the blockbuster three-way trade between the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz was Jalen Hood-Schifino.

Luka Doncic went to the Lakers and Anthony Davis went to the Mavericks in the headline-making deal late Saturday. Hood-Schifino, who played one season for Indiana in 2022-23 before he was drafted by the Lakers in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, went to the Jazz along with a pair of second round picks. Utah gave up $55,000 to both the Lakers and Mavericks in return.

For Hood-Schifino, it’s a chance to revive his NBA fortunes in a new locale as part of one of the biggest mid-season trades in recent NBA memory.

However, Hood-Schifino is hardly the first Indiana player to be involved in a big NBA deal. Former Indiana Hoosiers have been involved in blockbuster deals before. Several former Indiana players have been part of deals involving Basketball Hall of Famers or perennial All-Stars, either as an integral part of the trade or as a throw-in.

Here’s a list of some NBA deals involving former Indiana players in big-name deals.

• 1965: Walt Bellamy, a Basketball Hall of Famer who played at Indiana from 1958-61, was himself the big target in a deal as he was traded by the Baltimore Bullets to the New York Knicks for three players and cash early in the 1965-66 season. At the time, Bellamy was coming off a season with the Bullets where he averaged 24.8 points and 14.6 rebounds.

• 1968: Bellamy is traded again. This time, early in the 1968-69 season the Knicks send him and point guard Howard Komives to the Detroit Pistons for Dave DeBusschere. This would prove to be a good deal for the Knicks as DeBusschere helped them win the NBA championship one season later. Bellamy would be traded by the Pistons to the Atlanta Hawks in a less-visible deal two seasons later.

• 1975: Reaching back to the ABA, Indiana great Steve Green, who played for the Hoosiers from 1972-75, went with Hall of Famer Moses Malone and two other long-term pros (Ron Boone, Randy Denton) from the Utah Stars to the Spirits of St. Louis for cash. There’s a very good reason Green was traded. The Utah Stars folded early in the 1975-76 season and were selling off assets for cash in the final season of the ABA.

• 1977: Nearly every member of the famed 1976 unbeaten Hoosiers was involved in a big trade. The first was Bob Wilkerson. He was traded by the Seattle SuperSonics to the Denver Nuggets for Paul Silas and several others. Silas is not in the Hall of Fame, but he was a two-time NBA All-Star.

• 1978: George McGinnis, who played one memorable season at Indiana in 1971, is a Hall of Famer himself and was twice traded for Hall of Famers. The first of those deals was in 1978, when McGinnis was dealt by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nuggets for Bobby Jones, Ralph Simpson and a first round draft pick. Jones is in the Hall of Fame and was an integral part of the 76ers’ great early 1980s teams.

• 1980: Kent Benson, another 1976 Hoosier and the first pick in the 1977 NBA Draft, was traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to the Pistons for Hall of Famer Bob Lanier. The Pistons acquired Benson in a youth movement that would also see Isiah Thomas drafted a year later.

• 1980: McGinnis is dealt again, and once again, for a Hall of Famer. The Nuggets sent McGinnis to his hometown Indiana Pacers for Alex English and a first round draft pick. While McGinnis’s career declined with the Pacers, English was one of the most prolific scorers of the 1980s with the high-scoring Nuggets.

• 1982: Yet another 1976 Hoosier is dealt for a Hall of Famer. Quinn Buckner was traded by the Bucks to the Boston Celtics for Dave Cowens, who had come out of retirement. This worked out well for Buckner, who won a championship with the Celtics two years later.

• 1986: Like McGinnis, Benson is also involved in a second trade that included a Hall of Famer. Benson was traded by the Pistons with Kelly Tripucka to the Utah Jazz for Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley and draft picks.

• 1986: Not a trade involving Hall of Famers, but an interesting one from an Indiana perspective. Mike Woodson and Larry Drew were traded by the Sacramento Kings to the Los Angeles Clippers for Junior Bridgeman, draft picks and a couple of other players.

What made it interesting was that the second-round draft pick the Clippers got was used in 1989 to draft another Indiana player – Jay Edwards.

• 1989: Randy Wittman, an Indiana player from 1978-83, was involved in two relatively big trades in two years in the late 80s. The more interesting of the two was when he and LaSalle Thompson were traded by the Kings to Wittman’s hometown Pacers for Wayman Tisdale and a draft pick. Tisdale was the second pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.

• 1999: Brian Evans, a Hoosier from 1992-96, was traded by the New Jersey Nets as part of a 3-team deal that moved Evans to the Minnesota Timberwolves. All-Stars Terrell Brandon, Sam Cassell, Stephon Marbury and Wally Szczerbiak were all components in the deal.

• 1999: Late NBA bloomer Dean Garrett, a Hoosier from 1986-88, was traded by the Nuggets to the Timberwolves as part of a 3-team deal that had Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups going to Denver.

• 2010: Jared Jeffries, an Indiana player from 2000-02, was traded by the Knicks to the Houston Rockets as part of a 3-team deal that involved Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady and many others.

• 2011: Eric Gordon, a Hoosier during the 2007-08 season, has had a long NBA career and has been involved in two big deals. The first was in 2011, when Gordon and others were traded by the Clippers to the New Orleans Hornets for Chris Paul, a likely future Hall of Famer.

• 2013: D.J. White, a Hoosier from 2004-08, was traded by the Celtics with Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and long-time NBA point guard Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets for several players and draft picks.

• 2017: Victor Oladipo, a Hoosier from 2011-13, was traded with Domantas Sabonis by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Pacers for Paul George, a possible future Hall of Famer. Oladipo had one great season with the Pacers in 2017-18, when he averaged 23.1 points as the Pacers unexpectedly won 48 games.

• 2021: Oladipo was traded by the Pacers to the Rockets as part of a four-team deal involving several draft picks and future Hall of Famer James Harden among many others.

• 2023: OG Anunoby, a Hoosier from 2015-17, was the big catch for the Knicks when he was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in a six-player deal.

• 2023: Gordon was traded by Rockets to the Clippers in a three-team trade involving All-Star John Wall and draft picks going several ways.

• 2025: Jalen Hood-Schifino is sent to the Jazz by the Lakers in the trade that sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic and Davis could be Hall of Fame-bound.

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