New Jersey traded rookie forward Calvin Natt to Portland on February 8, 1980 for Maurice Lucas plus two first-round picks. Lucas gave the Nets 90 regular-season games across parts of two seasons, while the picks became Mike Gminski at No. 7 in 1980 and Albert King at No. 10 in 1981. Gminski played 550 regular-season games for New Jersey across eight seasons, and King added 410 games over six seasons. Portland still received an excellent player: Natt logged 333 regular-season games in five Trail Blazers seasons and scored 5,738 points. The Nets nevertheless turned one young scorer into three long-lasting rotation assets and win the hindsight verdict.
Basketball-Reference records the February 8, 1980 deal as Calvin Natt to Portland for Maurice Lucas, a 1980 first-round pick and a 1981 first-round pick. The selections later became No. 7 Mike Gminski and No. 10 Albert King.
Lucas played 22 games for the Nets after the trade in 1979-80, averaging 15.2 points and 9.6 rebounds in 32.2 minutes. He returned for 68 games in 1980-81 and averaged 16.6 points and 9.6 rebounds. That gives New Jersey 90 regular-season games from the veteran portion of the return. Lucas was not a long-term Net, but the club received productive frontcourt minutes immediately while waiting for the two draft picks to mature.
New Jersey used the No. 7 pick in the 1980 draft on Mike Gminski. He played 550 regular-season games for the franchise from 1980-81 through the first 34 games of 1987-88. Gminski developed from a reserve into a full-time starting center, starting 78 games in 1985-86 and 66 in 1986-87. His eight-season Nets tenure gives this branch the largest volume of direct realized value in the trade.
The second first-rounder came from Golden State originally and landed at No. 10 in the 1981 draft. New Jersey selected Albert King. King played 410 regular-season games for the Nets across six seasons. He averaged 17.0 points in 1982-83 and remained a regular wing through 1986-87. Between Gminski and King, the two picks produced 960 regular-season Nets games. Adding Lucas brings the direct New Jersey total from the incoming assets to 1,050 games.
Natt was far from a miss for the Trail Blazers. He averaged 20.4 points in 25 games immediately after the trade and went on to play 333 regular-season games for Portland over five seasons. Basketball-Reference credits Natt with 5,738 points and 2,297 rebounds as a Trail Blazer. He gave Portland multiple productive seasons and was a legitimate high-level starter rather than a short-term rental.
Portland acquired the best single scorer in the deal and received five productive years from him. That return deserves a high grade. New Jersey, however, converted one player into a productive veteran plus two first-round selections that became long-tenured rotation players. Gminski and King alone combined for nearly a thousand regular-season games for the franchise, and Lucas added two useful seasons on top of that.
Nets Win, A+/A-. New Jersey receives an A+ for 90 Lucas games, 550 Gminski games and 410 King games from the three incoming assets. Portland receives an A- because Natt produced 333 games and 5,738 points across five seasons. Both teams received substantial value, but the depth and longevity of the Nets return are too large to ignore.