The legacy archive entry Was Missing an Entire First-Round Pick
New Jersey, Buffalo and the league transaction ledgers all record the September 1, 1977 deal the same way: the Nets sent Tiny Archibald to the Braves for George Johnson, Buffalo's 1978 first-round pick and Buffalo's 1979 first-round pick.
The legacy canonical record contained Johnson and the 1979 first but omitted the 1978 first entirely. This review repairs that structural error before grading the trade. The missing asset eventually became the No. 4 slot in the 1978 draft, where Michael Ray Richardson was selected after the pick changed hands again.
George Johnson Gave the Nets Three Full Seasons
Johnson immediately became New Jersey's starting-caliber interior anchor. He played 81 games in 1977-78 at 8.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. He followed with 78 games in 1978-79 and 81 more in 1979-80.
That is 240 regular-season Nets games from one of the three incoming assets. When Johnson left for San Antonio as a veteran free agent in 1980, New Jersey also received a 1981 first-round compensation pick that became No. 18 Ray Tolbert. This review does not need that later branch to make the original return valuable, but it reinforces that Johnson retained asset value after his playing tenure.
The 1978 First Became a Trade-Up Currency Asset
New Jersey did not directly draft Richardson with Buffalo's 1978 first. On June 8, 1978, the Nets sent that pick plus their own 1979 first-rounder to the Knicks for Phil Jackson and the 1978 No. 13 pick that became Winford Boynes.
Jackson played 75 regular-season games for New Jersey over two seasons. Boynes played 133 Nets games and scored 1,191 points. Because another 1979 first was also outgoing, this review does not assign the entire Jackson-Boynes return to Buffalo's 1978 pick. The important point is that the restored asset was real premium trade currency, not an unused draft entry.
The 1979 First Became Cliff Robinson and Then Otis Birdsong
Buffalo's 1979 first-round pick landed at No. 11 and became Cliff Robinson. Robinson played 70 games for New Jersey as a rookie and 63 more in 1980-81, scoring 2,180 points across those two seasons.
In June 1981 the Nets traded Robinson to Kansas City for Otis Birdsong and a second-round pick. Birdsong became a long-term New Jersey guard, giving the Robinson branch substantial additional downstream value. That branch alone is far more productive than the single pick line in the legacy summary suggested.
Archibald Never Played for Buffalo
The Braves acquired a Hall of Fame-level guard, but the realized Buffalo outcome was brutal. Archibald missed the entire 1977-78 season with an Achilles injury, so Buffalo received zero regular-season games from him.
After the franchise moved to San Diego, the Clippers traded Archibald in August 1978 as part of a much larger package with Marvin Barnes, Billy Knight and two second-round picks to Boston for Kevin Kunnert, Kermit Washington, Sidney Wicks and Freeman Williams. Archibald therefore retained trade value, but this review cannot attribute that whole return to him because five assets went to Boston.
Final Verdict
Nets Win, A+/D+. New Jersey receives an A+ because the club got 240 Johnson games, a premium 1978 first that helped produce Jackson and Boynes, and a 1979 first that became Robinson and later Birdsong. Buffalo receives a D+ because Archibald produced no Braves games and only later contributed as one component of a multi-asset Boston trade. The missing 1978 first materially changes the canonical record and makes the Nets' advantage much larger than the legacy archive entry showed. Confidence is high.