The Exchange
Basketball-Reference's New York Nets, San Diego Conquistadors and league transaction logs agree on the September 14, 1972 exchange: New York sent cash to San Diego for Art Becker. Pro Sports Transactions records the same two-sided movement and identifies Becker as having reached San Diego in the August expansion draft from Denver. The amount of cash is not reported in the reviewed sources, so the Conquistadors' return has to remain unpriced. That uncertainty matters because this was not a player-for-player swap; the Nets can be graded on Becker's realized production and later resale value, while San Diego's financial return cannot be translated into invented roster value.
Why Becker Had Value
Becker was not a random camp body. He had played 84 games for Denver in 1971-72, averaging 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 26.1 minutes, and Basketball-Reference credits him with an ABA All-Star selection that season. San Diego selected him in the August 10 expansion draft, then moved him to New York just over a month later. The Nets were therefore buying a veteran forward with recent starting-level production, even though his role would shrink sharply once he joined a roster built around Rick Barry, Bill Melchionni and the newly signed Brian Taylor.
New York's Direct Return
Becker's direct Nets production was minimal. He appeared in eight games in 1972-73, logged only 46 minutes and averaged 2.9 points and 0.8 rebounds. He never became a meaningful part of Lou Carnesecca's rotation, and New York did not keep him long enough for the acquisition to influence the club's season in a substantial way. If the transaction ended there, paying cash for eight low-minute appearances would be a weak return regardless of Becker's prior reputation. The important part of the hindsight case is what New York did next.
The Dallas Flip
On December 4, 1972, less than three months after acquiring Becker, the Nets traded him to the Dallas Chaparrals for a draft choice and cash. Basketball-Reference's Nets, Dallas and ABA transaction ledgers all preserve that structure, and Pro Sports Transactions independently lists the same return. The reviewed sources do not identify the draft selection or the cash amount, so the archive does not assign downstream player value to the pick. Even with that limitation, New York converted a player who had produced only eight games for the club into two new forms of consideration. That makes the original cash purchase more defensible than Becker's stat line alone suggests.
San Diego's Side
San Diego received cash and gave up a player it had acquired through the expansion draft only weeks earlier. Because the dollar amount is unknown, there is no reliable way to say whether the Conquistadors made a strong financial sale or merely cleared a roster spot. Becker never played a regular-season game for San Diego, so the franchise did not surrender realized on-court production from its own 1972-73 roster. That keeps the San Diego grade respectable rather than punitive. The problem for the Conquistadors in a hindsight comparison is that New York later recovered a draft choice and additional cash while also getting Becker's brief eight-game stint.
Final Verdict
Nets Win, B-/C. New York receives a B- because the initial cash purchase produced very little direct basketball value but was successfully recycled into a later draft choice and cash return. San Diego receives a C because it converted an expansion-draft player into cash before the season, but the amount is unreported and no downstream basketball asset can be traced from that payment. Confidence is medium-high on the transaction structure, Becker's eight-game Nets tenure and the December resale, with the grade gap held in check by the unresolved cash values and unidentified Dallas draft choice. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.