Detroit reacquired Kevin Porter from New Jersey on September 8, 1978 for Eric Money, and both clubs extracted real value from the swap. Porter played all 82 games for the Pistons in 1978-79, averaged 15.4 points and an NBA-leading 13.4 assists, then left for Washington as a veteran free agent; Detroit received two first-round picks as compensation, one in 1980 and one in 1982. Money gave the Nets 47 games at 16.7 points and 5.3 assists before New Jersey included him with Al Skinner in a February 1979 trade for Harvey Catchings, Ralph Simpson and cash. Catchings was later moved for John Gianelli and the 1979 first-round pick used on Calvin Natt, but that downstream branch came from a multi-player package and cannot be credited entirely to Money. Detroit therefore gets the stronger source-traceable return: a league-leading season from Porter plus two directly attributable first-round compensation assets.
New Jersey and Detroit list the September 8, 1978 transaction identically: the Nets sent Kevin Porter to the Pistons for Eric Money. The league transaction ledger confirms the same one-for-one swap. The legacy asset label called Porter "Kevin Porter (Sr.)," but the historical player record is simply Kevin Porter. This review normalizes that name rather than preserving a misleading generational suffix.
Detroit received much more than ordinary rotation production. Porter played all 82 games in 1978-79, started all 82 and averaged 15.4 points, 13.4 assists and 1.9 steals. The NBA's official 1978-79 season review lists Porter as the league assists leader at 13.4 per game. Basketball-Reference records 1,099 assists in the season. That gives Detroit a full season of high-end direct value from the acquired player even though the Pistons finished 30-52.
Porter signed with Washington as a veteran free agent on July 12, 1979. Detroit's transaction ledger records two first-round picks as compensation: a 1980 first that eventually landed at No. 13 and a 1982 first that eventually landed at No. 12. Those picks retained real transaction value even though Detroit did not simply draft both named players. The 1980 first later identified with Rickey Brown was included with another first-round pick in the Bob McAdoo transaction. The 1982 first later identified with John Bagley was included with Phil Hubbard, Paul Mokeski and a second-round pick in the 1982 deal that brought Kenny Carr and Bill Laimbeer to Detroit. This review does not assign all of McAdoo or Laimbeer's value to Porter's compensation picks because both were multi-asset packages. It does, however, credit Detroit for preserving two first-round assets directly tied to Porter's departure.
The Nets also got useful immediate production. Money played 47 games for New Jersey in 1978-79 and averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 30.5 minutes. On February 7, 1979, New Jersey traded Money and Al Skinner to Philadelphia for Harvey Catchings, Ralph Simpson and cash. Because Skinner was an additional outgoing player, the entire return cannot be assigned solely to Money.
Catchings later became the clearest downstream branch from that Philadelphia return. On May 31, New Jersey traded Catchings to Milwaukee for John Gianelli and a 1979 first-round pick that became No. 8 Calvin Natt. Natt then played 53 games for the Nets as a rookie, averaging 19.7 points and 9.7 rebounds. In February 1980, New Jersey traded Natt to Portland for Maurice Lucas and two first-round picks that became Mike Gminski and Albert King. That chain became extremely valuable for the Nets, but source-backed grading has to preserve the attribution problem: Catchings was received for Money plus Skinner, not Money alone. This review records the downstream sequence as shared package value rather than pretending every later Nets asset came only from the original Porter-for-Money exchange.
Pistons Win, A+/A-. Detroit receives an A+ because Porter supplied a complete 82-game season, led the NBA at 13.4 assists per game and then generated two first-round compensation picks. New Jersey receives an A- because Money was productive for 47 games and participated in a trade package that fed a valuable Catchings-to-Natt downstream chain. The Nets did well, but Detroit's strongest outcomes are more directly attributable to the single incoming asset. Confidence is high.