The Original Package Is Fully Verified
Atlanta, New York and the league transaction ledgers all record the same November 14, 1977 transaction: the Hawks sent their 1978 second-round pick to the Knicks for Tom McMillen. There are no additional cash terms, protections or players in the cited ledgers.
The pick landed at No. 32 in the 1978 draft and New York used it on John Rudd. That makes this a straightforward realized-value comparison between a known veteran rotation player and the player actually selected with the acquired pick.
McMillen Became a Six-Season Atlanta Rotation Piece
McMillen gave the Hawks immediate and durable frontcourt depth. He played 68 games in 1977-78 after arriving in November, then appeared in 82 games in 1978-79, 53 in 1979-80, 79 in 1980-81, 73 in 1981-82 and 61 in 1982-83.
Across those six Atlanta seasons he played 416 regular-season games. Basketball-Reference credits him with 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in 21.3 minutes across that Hawks tenure. He was not a franchise star, but the trade did not require star-level production to be valuable. Atlanta spent a second-round pick and received six years of usable NBA minutes.
His first post-trade season was productive enough to make the immediate exchange look good on its own. McMillen averaged 9.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in 68 games for the 1977-78 Hawks. Later seasons moved him more firmly into a rotation role, but he remained available and useful through 1983.
Rudd Had a Much Smaller NBA Footprint
New York used the No. 32 pick on John Rudd out of McNeese State. The 1978 draft ledger shows one NBA season, 58 games, 723 minutes, 184 points, 167 rebounds and 35 assists.
That is real return from a second-round selection, but it is a fraction of McMillen's Atlanta tenure. The Knicks did not turn the pick into a long-term rotation player or a later premium transaction asset. In realized NBA terms, the player selected at No. 32 produced only one season.
Atlanta Preserved Some Downstream Value
McMillen also retained trade value after his six Hawks seasons. On July 5, 1983, Atlanta traded him and a 1984 second-round pick to Washington for Randy Wittman.
That later deal should not be credited entirely to McMillen because Atlanta included another draft asset. Still, his presence in the package shows that his value did not disappear when his direct Atlanta tenure ended. Wittman then became a multi-season Hawks guard, so the McMillen branch remained part of Atlanta's roster-building chain.
The Cost Was Modest and the Return Was Durable
The central hindsight point is not that New York made a reckless move with a second-round pick. Second-round selections are uncertain assets, and Rudd did reach the NBA. The problem for the Knicks is simply that Atlanta converted that pick into 416 games from a dependable big man.
That gap is large enough that the trade does not need speculative alternate-draft analysis. Atlanta's realized return is visible in the actual games McMillen played, while New York's realized return is visible in Rudd's single season.
Final Verdict
Hawks Win, A-/C. Atlanta receives an A- because one second-round pick produced 416 regular-season games over six seasons, plus some residual trade value in the later Wittman package. New York receives a C because Rudd reached the NBA and played 58 games, but the pick did not produce comparable duration or impact. The package and downstream record are well documented, so confidence is high.