Celtics Win
Boston acquired Nate Archibald; Marvin Barnes; Billy Knight; 1981 second-round pick (#31 Danny Ainge); 1983 second-round pick (#28 Rod Foster) from Clippers in exchange for Kevin Kunnert; Kermit Washington; rights to Freeman Williams; Sidney Wicks (future consideration).
Boston Celtics Received
- Player Nate Archibald
- Player Marvin Barnes
- Player Billy Knight
- Draft Pick 1981 second-round pick (#31 Danny Ainge )
- Draft Pick 1983 second-round pick (#28 Rod Foster )
LA Clippers Received
- Player Kevin Kunnert
- Player Kermit Washington
- Draft Rights rights to Freeman Williams
- Player Sidney Wicks (future consideration)
LA Clippers
Trade Analysis
Boston Celtics Perspective
Archibald became a 6-time All-Star and starting PG on the 1981 champions. Ainge became a 2-time champion starter and later architect of the next dynasty. Washington and Kunnert were solid but never approached that value.
LA Clippers Perspective
San Diego acquired useful veterans and Freeman Williams' rights, but Boston received Tiny Archibald, Billy Knight, Marvin Barnes and draft capital that included the pick used on Danny Ainge. The Clippers franchise received Kevin Kunnert; Kermit Washington; rights to Freeman Williams; future considerations (Sidney Wicks on 1978-08-15) and sent Tiny Archibald; Marvin Barnes; Billy Knight; 1981 second-round pick (#31-Danny Ainge); 1983 second-round pick (#28-Rod Foster). The downstream player and draft outcomes created a clear value gap in the counterpart's favor. Because this was a franchise-level transaction, the evaluation gives extra weight to star-level production, years of control, playoff impact and identifiable downstream draft conversion rather than treating the assets as interchangeable. This transaction belongs to the San Diego Clippers era of the same continuous Buffalo-to-San Diego-to-Los Angeles Clippers franchise, so the historical team label is preserved rather than rewritten as a modern Los Angeles transaction.