5. Nate Robinson: Trade (2005)
Player rights traded for on draft night do not usually count towards official draft history, but the Nate Robinson acquisition in June 2005 was enough, since he filled in the middle of a solid class for the New York Knicks.
Robinson joined in the trade that sent him and Quentin Richardson to New York for Kurt Thomas and the rights to Dijon Thompson. It was in a stretch of Phoenix sending first-round picks away for veterans or cash, and this became the latest case.
Robinson had four-plus good seasons with the Knicks. While it all happened on mediocre teams, he still managed 17.2 points per game as a third-year player and only fell below double-digit points just once, in his rookie season.
While never a marquee distributor, the diminutive Robinson made up for it with terrific athleticism and that ability to score in volume. It kept him in the NBA for 10 years, bouncing between eight organizations.
The Knicks did not move Robinson until after Isiah Thomas’ departure during the 2009-10 campaign, when preparation continued for the 2010 offseason. The roster cleared, and this was one of the pre-free agency players to leave.
This did not become Thomas’ best pick, but a productive one who found a long career long after this executive stint closed.