New Jersey acquired Kelvin Ransey from Dallas on August 12, 1983 for Foots Walker plus the picks that became Tom Sluby and Bill Wennington. Ransey played 240 regular-season games for the Nets across three seasons and started 94, averaging 9.5 points and 6.0 assists in his first year. Dallas waived Walker before the season; he later re-signed with New Jersey. Sluby played 31 Mavericks games with no starts, while Wennington played 209 Dallas games with 12 starts over four seasons. The two drafted players therefore matched Ransey's 240-game total exactly, but Ransey carried a much larger role and starting burden. The realized franchise value gives New Jersey a modest edge, not Dallas.
Basketball-Reference and the Dallas media guide agree on the August 12, 1983 package. Dallas sent Kelvin Ransey to New Jersey for Foots Walker, a 1984 second-round pick and a 1985 first-round pick. The completed outcomes are unusual: Ransey played exactly 240 regular-season games for New Jersey, while Tom Sluby and Bill Wennington combined for exactly 240 games for Dallas. The difference is role and impact.
Ransey played 80 games for New Jersey in 1983-84 and started 50. He averaged 9.5 points and 6.0 assists in 24.2 minutes as the Nets won 45 games and reached the Eastern Conference semifinals. He followed with 81 games and 29 starts in 1984-85, then 79 games and 15 starts in 1985-86. Across three Nets seasons, Ransey totaled 240 games and 94 starts. He also appeared in 11 playoff games for New Jersey across those seasons, starting six. The Nets received a real rotation point guard rather than a short rental.
Dallas acquired veteran guard Foots Walker in the deal but waived him on October 11, 1983 before the regular season. New Jersey later re-signed Walker as a free agent, and he played 34 more Nets games. This review does not count those 34 games as a direct trade return because the Mavericks had already waived him and the Nets reacquired him separately. For Dallas, Walker's branch produced zero regular-season games.
Dallas used the 1984 second-round pick at No. 41 on Notre Dame guard Tom Sluby. Sluby played 31 regular-season games for the Mavericks in 1984-85, made no starts and averaged 4.9 minutes. That was his entire NBA career.
The 1985 first-round pick became No. 16 Bill Wennington. He played 56, 58, 30 and 65 games for Dallas over four seasons, totaling 209 regular-season appearances and 12 starts. Wennington had a long NBA career, but his later championship years with Chicago are not credited to Dallas. The relevant Mavericks return is four seasons of mostly reserve-center minutes.
Dallas did realize value from both draft picks. Sluby and Wennington combined for 240 games, matching Ransey's Nets total exactly. Ransey's 94 starts versus 12 combined Dallas starts tell the more important story. He handled regular point-guard responsibility for three playoff-caliber Nets seasons, while Dallas's return was almost entirely bench depth.
Nets Win, B+/B. New Jersey receives a B+ for 240 games, 94 starts and three years of useful point-guard play from Ransey. Dallas receives a B because the two picks produced 240 games of legitimate depth, but the outgoing package did not generate the stronger franchise-specific role or impact. The legacy Dallas-win framing is replaced by a modest Nets edge.