New Jersey traded Darnell Hillman to Denver on January 30, 1978 for a 1979 second-round pick. The legacy archive entry also listed cash, but the Nets, Nuggets and league transaction ledgers all show only the player-for-pick exchange, so this review removes the unsupported cash term. New Jersey did not keep the pick to draft Clint Richardson. One day later the Nets bundled it with 1982 and 1983 picks for Wilson Washington, who played 86 regular-season games for New Jersey across two seasons. Denver received 33 games from Hillman at 7.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, then packaged him with Mike Evans in June for Ron Boone and another 1979 second-round pick. Both sides recycled their incoming asset with other pieces, limiting how much downstream value can be assigned to this trade alone. New Jersey gets a narrow edge because the pick helped produce a two-season Nets contributor, but the margin is small.
New Jersey, Denver and the league transaction ledgers all record the January 30, 1978 exchange as Darnell Hillman for Denver's 1979 second-round pick. The legacy archive entry also contained cash, but none of those authoritative ledgers lists a financial term. This review therefore removes the unsupported cash asset. The documented package is a clean one-for-one exchange between Hillman and the future second-round selection.
Hillman joined the Nuggets for the final 33 games of 1977-78. He averaged 7.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks in 22.6 minutes. That is useful frontcourt production for a second-round pick, but Denver did not retain him beyond the season.
On June 26, 1978, Denver traded Hillman and Mike Evans to Kansas City for Ron Boone and a 1979 second-round pick later associated with Mark Young. Hillman therefore retained transaction value, but this review does not credit the full Boone-plus-pick return to him because Evans was also outgoing. Denver then moved Boone again in a separate deal with the Lakers, further demonstrating how quickly the asset chain branched. For this trade, the responsible attribution stops at Hillman being one of two pieces used in the Kansas City package.
New Jersey held Denver's second-round pick for only one day. On January 31, the Nets sent that 1979 second-rounder plus a 1982 second-round pick and a 1983 third-round pick to Philadelphia for Wilson Washington. Philadelphia eventually used the Denver-derived pick at No. 36 on Clint Richardson. New Jersey never drafted Richardson, so this review does not credit Richardson's long NBA career to the Nets. Instead, the Nets receive partial downstream credit for Washington. He played 24 games for New Jersey in 1977-78 at 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, then 62 games in 1978-79 at 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds. That is 86 Nets regular-season games from the player acquired with a three-pick package.
The Wilson Washington return is meaningful, but the Denver pick was not sufficient by itself. New Jersey also sent a 1982 second and a 1983 third. This review therefore treats Washington as a shared downstream return rather than assigning all 86 games to the Hillman trade. That same caution applies to Denver's June package, where Hillman shared outgoing value with Evans.
Nets Edge, B-/C+. New Jersey receives a B- because the second-round pick was immediately useful trade currency in the Washington acquisition, and Washington produced 86 Nets games across two seasons. Denver receives a C+ because Hillman supplied 33 useful games and later remained one component of a two-player trade package. The Nets' downstream result is somewhat more durable, but both branches depended on additional assets, so the gap stays narrow. Confidence is high on the documented one-for-one core trade and the removal of the unsupported cash term.