Milwaukee Swapped Don Sunderlage for Pep Saul
Milwaukee traded Don Sunderlage to Minneapolis for Pep Saul on September 18, 1954. Basketball-Reference lists the same exchange on both teams' 1954-55 transaction pages. The players entered from very different points. Sunderlage was 24 and coming off an All-Star rookie season for Milwaukee in which he averaged 11.2 points across 68 games. Saul was 30, a veteran guard and three-time champion with Minneapolis whose role had gradually declined. The swap therefore traded youth and recent peak production for a more experienced but lower-usage guard.
Saul Played 65 Games for the Hawks
Saul played 65 games for the Hawks in 1954-55, logging 1,139 minutes. Basketball-Reference credits him with 287 points, 134 rebounds and 104 assists, or 17.5 minutes, 4.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Those are modest numbers, but he stayed available for nearly the entire season and gave Milwaukee far more total minutes than the outgoing player produced for Minneapolis. The 1954-55 campaign was Saul's final NBA season, so his value was concentrated entirely in that one-year return.
Sunderlage’s Lakers Role Shrunk Sharply
Sunderlage's Lakers stint was much smaller than his All-Star year in Milwaukee. He appeared in 45 games but averaged only 9.0 minutes, 2.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists. His season totals were 404 minutes, 114 points, 56 rebounds and 37 assists. He did not play another NBA season. Minneapolis therefore acquired the younger player with the stronger recent résumé, but the realized result never matched that upside. His role collapsed, and the trade did not produce a long-term Lakers contributor.
One Final Season Favors Milwaukee
Milwaukee received the stronger post-trade return because Saul supplied almost three times as many minutes and materially more total production in the only season either player had left in the NBA. That does not make the swap a major win: Saul was a low-usage veteran on a 26-win team, and Sunderlage's Lakers tenure still produced 45 games. But hindsight should follow realized value rather than the players' pre-trade reputations. On that basis, the Hawks got the more useful final-season guard.
Final Verdict
Hawks Win — Milwaukee B-, Minneapolis C. Milwaukee traded Don Sunderlage to the Minneapolis Lakers for Pep Saul on September 18, 1954. Basketball-Reference's Milwaukee and Minneapolis transaction logs agree on the straight veteran-guard swap. Saul played 65 games for Milwaukee in 1954-55, totaling 1,139 minutes with 287 points, 134 rebounds and 104 assists. Sunderlage played 45 games for Minneapolis, totaling 404 minutes with 114 points, 56 rebounds and 37 assists, and neither player appeared in another NBA season. Because Milwaukee received substantially more minutes and total production from the only post-trade season either player played, the measurable hindsight edge goes to the Hawks.