Boston traded longtime guard Jo Jo White to Golden State on January 30, 1979 for a 1979 first-round pick. White played 107 regular-season games over parts of two Warriors seasons, averaging 13.8 points and 4.6 assists across that stint, before Golden State sold his rights to Kansas City in September 1980. Boston never used the incoming pick at the draft. Twelve days later, the Celtics bundled it with two other 1979 first-rounders and Tom Barker to acquire Bob McAdoo from New York. The pick retained real transaction value, but White supplied the cleaner direct return, giving Golden State the slight retrospective edge.
Boston's transaction log and Golden State's matching ledger record the January 30, 1979 exchange: Jo Jo White to the Warriors for a 1979 first-round pick that was later associated with No. 9 Larry Demic. White had already played 47 games for Boston that season. After the trade, he appeared in 29 games for Golden State and averaged 12.3 points, 4.6 assists and 30.4 minutes.
The Warriors kept White for 1979-80. He played 78 games, logged 2,052 minutes and averaged 9.9 points and 3.1 assists in 26.3 minutes. Across his two partial/full Golden State seasons, White appeared in 107 regular-season games and 2,935 minutes. Basketball-Reference's career split credits him with 13.8 points and 4.6 assists per 36 minutes over that Warriors stint. On September 10, 1980, Golden State sold White's player rights to Kansas City. The reviewed transaction record does not state the cash amount, so this review does not assign a specific additional value to that sale.
The Celtics did not select Larry Demic themselves. On February 12, only twelve days after acquiring the pick, Boston sent it to New York with two other 1979 first-round picks and Tom Barker for Bob McAdoo. McAdoo played 20 games for Boston before being traded to Detroit the following September for two 1980 first-round picks. Those picks later became part of Boston's June 1980 trade for Robert Parish and the No. 3 pick used on Kevin McHale. That downstream history proves the No. 9 pick retained meaningful trade utility, but this review does not credit Parish or McHale to this one branch. Boston needed three first-rounders and Barker to acquire McAdoo, and later transactions required additional assets.
The Warriors received two seasons of usable veteran guard play and then retained enough rights value to sell White to Kansas City. Boston received a premium draft asset, but its direct contribution was one component of a larger McAdoo package. Both sides extracted value. Golden State's 107 games of direct production are easier to isolate than Boston's diluted downstream branch.
Slight Warriors Edge, B+/B. Golden State receives a B+ for 107 White games across two seasons plus the later rights sale. Boston receives a B because the first-round pick retained premium transaction value and helped acquire McAdoo, while the much larger later Parish-McHale return cannot be assigned to this pick alone.