New Jersey acquired James Bailey from Seattle on November 25, 1981 for Ray Tolbert and a 1984 second-round pick that became No. 39 Danny Young. Bailey played 73 regular-season games for the Nets, all off the bench, before being traded to Houston for two second-round picks. Seattle received 97 regular-season games and two starts from Tolbert, then used the No. 39 pick on Young, who played 235 regular-season games for the SuperSonics across four seasons with 55 starts. Young became a useful backcourt piece and Seattle later spent an expansion-draft asset to protect him. The Sonics' direct player return was clearly stronger, though Bailey's later flip preserved some value for New Jersey.
Basketball-Reference's New Jersey and Seattle transaction ledgers agree on the November 25, 1981 package. The Nets received James Bailey, while the SuperSonics received Ray Tolbert and New Jersey's 1984 second-round pick. That pick eventually landed at No. 39 and became Danny Young.
Bailey played 67 regular-season games for the Nets in 1981-82, all off the bench. He averaged 8.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.2 minutes while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. He returned for only six games in 1982-83 before New Jersey traded him to Houston on November 10. Across his Nets tenure, Bailey therefore produced 73 regular-season games and zero starts. New Jersey did not lose the asset for nothing. The Houston trade returned a 1983 second-round pick that became Horace Owens and a 1985 second-round pick that became Yvon Joseph. Those downstream picks had limited direct NBA outcomes. Owens never appeared in an NBA regular-season game, although New Jersey later included him in the package that acquired Reggie Johnson from Philadelphia. Joseph played one regular-season game for the Nets.
Ray Tolbert appeared in 52 regular-season games for Seattle after the trade in 1981-82 and 45 more in 1982-83. He made two starts across those seasons. His role was modest, but he gave the SuperSonics 97 games of frontcourt depth before being moved in a three-team transaction in February 1983. Seattle received Steve Hawes in that later structure, although this review does not assign the entire Hawes return to Tolbert because multiple teams and draft assets were involved.
Seattle used the incoming 1984 second-round pick on Wake Forest guard Danny Young at No. 39. Young appeared in only three games as a rookie, then became a regular rotation player. He played all 82 games in 1985-86 with 29 starts, followed with 73 games and 26 starts in 1986-87, and added 77 games in 1987-88. That gives Seattle 235 regular-season games and 55 starts from Young across four seasons. His strongest year was 1985-86, when he averaged 6.9 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 50.6 percent from the field. Seattle valued Young enough that in June 1988 it sent Miami a second-round pick in exchange for the Heat agreeing not to select him in the expansion draft. The SuperSonics waived him later that October, but the protection transaction confirms that he remained a meaningful roster asset deep into his Seattle tenure.
The direct player accounting strongly favors the SuperSonics. Tolbert and Young combined for 332 Seattle regular-season games and 57 starts. Bailey produced 73 Nets games and zero starts. New Jersey's later Bailey trade preserved some transaction utility through two second-round picks, which keeps the result from being a severe loss. The downstream player outcomes from those picks, however, were limited.
SuperSonics Win, B+/C+. Seattle receives a B+ because Tolbert supplied useful depth and the second-round pick became a four-season rotation guard in Young. New Jersey receives a C+ because Bailey was productive in a reserve role and later returned two second-round picks, but the direct realized player value fell well short of Seattle's package.