Nowitzki was selected with the 9th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks for their sixth pick, Robert Traylor. The trade ended up being a steal for Dallas as Nowitzki blossomed into an all-star while Traylor was out of the league in less than five seasons. Nowitzki is widely regarded as one of the best players in the NBA today. Although there have been numerous German players in the NBA, in 2006 Nowitzki became just the second German-born player (after Detlef Schrempf) to make it to the Finals.
It isn't really as bad as it sounds. They had a pre-arranged deal to take those respective players for each other, sort of like Pippen's draft day trade. While it is technically a trade or players it is more like the picks were traded before the draft and each team selected the guy they eventually ended up with.
