It is constantly repeated that the best basketball league in the world is a business. However, some players experience this aspect earlier than others, often finding themselves involved in trades, sometimes simply as salary fillers, during the initial stages of their careers.
Below is a list of the youngest players who have been traded in the NBA. (For this exercise, we only included players who had already made their NBA debuts at the time of the trades).
- Maciej Lampe: 18 years, 334 days - Traded from New York to Phoenix in 2004.
- Derrick Favors: 19 years, 223 days - Traded from Brooklyn to Utah in 2011.
- Noah Vonleh: 19 years, 305 days - Traded from Charlotte to Portland in 2015.
- Keon Johnson: 19 years, 331 days - Traded from LA Clippers to Portland in 2015.
- Maciej Lampe: 19 years, 350 days - Traded from Phoenix to New Orleans/Oklahoma City in 2005.
- Javaris Crittenton: 20 years, 32 days - Traded from LA Lakers to Memphis in 2008.
- RJ Hampton: 20 years, 46 days - Traded from Denver to Orlando in 2021.
- Bill Willoughby: 20 years, 116 days - Traded from Atlanta to Buffalo in 1977.
- Jalen Lecque: 20 years, 126 days - Traded from Phoenix to Oklahoma City in 2020.
- Tony Wroten: 20 years, 131 days - Traded from Memphis to Philadelphia in 2013.
- Zaza Pachulia: 20 years, 134 days - Traded from Orlando to Milwaukee in 2004.
- Jalen Lecque: 20 years, 135 days - Traded from Memphis to Philadelphia in 2013, and from Oklahoma City to Indiana in 2020.
- Diamond Stone: 20 years, 146 days - Traded from LA Clippers to Atlanta in 2017.
- Jeremy Lamb: 20 years, 150 days - Traded from Houston to Oklahoma City in 2012.
- Martynas Andriuskevicius: 20 years, 159 days - Traded from Cleveland to Chicago in 2006.
- Tyler Ennis: 20 years, 179 days - Traded from Phoenix to Milwaukee in 2015.
- Marko Milic: 20 years, 198 days - Traded from Philadelphia to Phoenix in 1997.
- Sasha Pavlovic: 20 years, 221 days - Traded from Charlotte to Cleveland in 2004.
- Tobias Harris: 20 years, 221 days - Traded from Milwaukee to Orlando in 2013.
These players, at a young age, faced the commercial nature of the NBA, being part of trades that marked the beginning of their promising careers in the league.