St. Louis Swapped Dave Plunkett for Walt Davis
St. Louis sent Dave Plunkett to Philadelphia on January 19, 1958 for Walt Davis. Basketball-Reference records the same exchange on the Hawks, Warriors and league-wide transaction pages, and both franchise executive ledgers preserve it as well. The old Atlanta-source record used 'Buddy Davis,' but Basketball-Reference identifies Buddy as a nickname for Walter Francis Davis. That alias has already been merged into the canonical Walt Davis player shell, and this pass aligns the trade asset itself with that verified identity.
Davis Contributed During a Championship Season
Davis gave the Hawks useful depth immediately. He played 26 regular-season games after the trade, totaling 287 minutes, 127 points and 86 rebounds. That works out to 11.0 minutes, 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. More importantly, he remained on the roster for the postseason and appeared in nine playoff games while St. Louis won the 1958 NBA championship. His playoff role was small, but the Hawks received a real rotation piece during the most successful season in franchise history.
Philadelphia Received No Post-Trade NBA Games from Plunkett
Plunkett had been St. Louis' sixth-round pick in the 1956 draft and had already made his NBA debut before the exchange. Basketball-Reference lists his career length as one rookie season and does not show a 1957-58 Philadelphia line or any later NBA season. The Warriors therefore acquired player rights that produced no documented post-trade NBA contribution. That makes this materially different from a low-minute swap where both teams at least received some floor time.
The Only Realized Value Went to the Hawks
St. Louis received the only realized post-trade NBA value and did so during a championship run. Davis was not a major part of the Hawks' core, so the deal should not be inflated into a franchise-changing transaction. Still, 26 regular-season games plus nine playoff appearances are clearly preferable to an incoming player who never appeared for Philadelphia. The source-backed evidence supports a solid Hawks win rather than the legacy even-trade framing.
Final Verdict
Hawks Win — St. Louis B+, Philadelphia D+. St. Louis traded Dave Plunkett to the Philadelphia Warriors for Walt Davis on January 19, 1958. Basketball-Reference's St. Louis, Philadelphia and league transaction logs all verify the exchange. The legacy TradeVerdicts record called the incoming Hawk 'Buddy Davis'; Basketball-Reference identifies Buddy as the nickname of Walter Francis 'Walt' Davis, so the canonical asset is normalized to Walt Davis. Davis appeared in 26 regular-season games for St. Louis after the trade and nine playoff games during the Hawks' 1958 championship run. Plunkett's Basketball-Reference career ends before a Philadelphia season appears, leaving St. Louis with the only documented post-trade NBA value.