NBA free agency is one of the highlights for basketball. Although it takes place after the seasons, both teams and fans' expectations can be dramatically altered based on happens during the summer. Many decisions that seem wise in July can look awful come February. Players don't fit in with what a team is doing and their production doesn't justify their high salaries. But sometimes there are players whose work far outweighs what it cost to lure them to a new city.
The most successful NBA free agent acquisitions can be measured in many ways. For starters, a player's move, much like Amare Stoudemire's from Phoenix to New York or Vlade Divac's from Charlotte to Sacramento, helps jump start a previously moribund franchise and gives a team new found credibility amongst free agents. Other types of successful acquisitions can be when a new player gives his name great bang for the buck, like Chauncey Billups whose time in Detroit saw the team turn into a perennial title contender, while he averaged less than $6 million per season.
But the granddaddy of all successful NBA team switches is also the league's most controversial. In 2010, LeBron James broke many team's hearts, including spurning his hometown Cavaliers, when he decided to take his talents to South Beach. The decision proved to be a wise one. So far, James has won two championship as a member of the Miami Heat with no signs of letting up anytime soon.
Feel free to rank, re-rank and add players as you please. The one stipulation is that they had to have switched teams, not re-signed with the team they were with prior to their contract's expiration
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Joe Johnson to Atlanta (2004)
Robert Horry to San Antonio (2003)
Steve Nash to Phoenix (2004)
Chauncey Billups to Detroit (2002)
Vlade Divac to Sacramento (1999)
Chris Bosh to Miami (2010)
Ray Allen to Miami (2012)
Shaquille O'Neal to the Lakers (1996)
Dikembe Mutombo to Atlanta (1996)
LeBron James to Miami (2010)