Boston traded Dennis Awtrey to Seattle on January 17, 1979 for a 1979 first-round pick plus cash. Awtrey played 40 regular-season games for the SuperSonics and appeared throughout their 1979 championship playoff run, giving Seattle immediate depth on a title team. Boston never used the pick directly: it became the No. 21 selection later associated with Sly Williams, but the Celtics sent it with two other first-rounders and Tom Barker to New York for Bob McAdoo. McAdoo played 20 games for Boston before becoming part of another major asset chain. Seattle got the cleaner direct basketball return; Boston preserved comparable transaction value.
Boston's transaction log records Dennis Awtrey going to Seattle for a 1979 first-round pick. The league ledger also records the first-rounder as the selection later used on Sly Williams. Boston's source record includes cash coming back as well, but the amount is not documented in the reviewed sources.
Awtrey played 40 regular-season games for Seattle after the trade. He logged 499 minutes and averaged 5.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per 36 minutes, serving as a low-usage reserve center. The more important context is the postseason. Seattle won the 1979 NBA championship, and Awtrey's playoff game log shows him appearing in 16 of the team's 17 postseason games. His minutes fell as the run progressed, but he was part of the rotation throughout the title path. That gives Seattle a concrete championship-season return from a player who had appeared in only 23 games for Boston earlier that year.
The incoming first-rounder did not become a Celtics draft selection. On February 12, Boston sent that pick, two other 1979 first-round picks and Tom Barker to New York for Bob McAdoo. McAdoo then played 20 games for Boston and averaged 20.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. The following September, Boston moved McAdoo to Detroit for two 1980 first-round picks. Those later picks became part of the famous June 1980 trade that brought Robert Parish and the No. 3 pick used on Kevin McHale to Boston. This review does not assign Parish or McHale to this single Seattle pick because the chain required multiple assets at every step. The important point is narrower: Boston's incoming first-rounder retained real transaction value and was used in a premium package rather than expiring unused.
Seattle received the more direct benefit. Awtrey gave the SuperSonics 40 regular-season games and 16 playoff appearances on a championship team. Boston received less immediate on-court value, but the first-round pick remained a meaningful piece of a larger McAdoo transaction that later fed another major asset chain. The cash amount is unknown, so it cannot be scored. Neither side clearly separates from the other once the difference between direct championship depth and diluted downstream trade value is respected.
Even Trade, B/B. Seattle receives a B because Awtrey became a real reserve on the 1979 champions. Boston also receives a B because the first-round pick retained premium transaction utility and helped form the package for McAdoo, even though later Parish-McHale value cannot be credited to this pick alone.