The Exchange
Basketball-Reference's Cleveland, Los Angeles and league transaction logs agree on the August 31, 1972 structure: the Cavaliers sent a 1974 second-round draft pick to the Lakers for Jim Cleamons. Those same records identify the selection as No. 21 Billy Knight. Pro Sports Transactions carries older uncertainty language around whether the undisclosed pick was that exact selection, but its 1974 draft ledger also notes an Associated Press attribution calling Knight the Los Angeles pick from Cleveland. With multiple independent transaction records now aligning, this review upgrades the asset from a probable linkage to a verified second-round pick that became Knight.
Cleamons' Cleveland Growth
Cleamons was a little-used Lakers rookie before the trade, but Cleveland turned the acquisition into five seasons of increasing responsibility. He played 80 games in 1972-73 and 81 in 1973-74, then became a full-time lead guard. In 1974-75 he averaged 11.9 points and 5.1 assists in 74 games. The next season he started all 82 games, averaged 12.2 points, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals, and made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. By the end of 1976-77, Cleamons had played 377 regular-season games for Cleveland and scored 3,532 points.
Playoff and Team Value
The 1975-76 season is the strongest evidence that Cleveland received more than accumulated regular-season minutes. The Cavaliers went 49-33, won their division and reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Cleamons played all 13 postseason games, averaged 38.7 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists, and remained one of the club's primary perimeter players. That postseason role, combined with his All-Defensive selection, turns the acquisition into a core-team result rather than a simple depth win.
The Lakers' Pick Outcome
Los Angeles used the acquired pick on Billy Knight at No. 21 in the 1974 NBA Draft. Knight became an excellent professional player, but not for the Lakers. Indiana had also drafted him in the ABA and signed him in July 1974. He played his first three professional seasons with the Pacers, including an ABA All-Star season and a 1976-77 NBA All-Star season, before Indiana traded him to Buffalo in 1977. The Lakers therefore made a strong talent evaluation with the Cleveland pick but received no realized Lakers games, points or later trade return from Knight in the source trail reviewed here.
Downstream Cleveland Return
Cleveland's value chain continued after Cleamons left. In October 1977 he signed with the New York Knicks as a veteran free agent, and the Cavaliers received Walt Frazier as compensation. Frazier then played 51 games for Cleveland in 1977-78 at 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists, followed by 12 more games the next season. That compensation is not credited as if it were guaranteed by the 1972 trade, but it is a real downstream return generated by Cleveland retaining Cleamons through his veteran-free-agent departure.
Final Verdict
Cavaliers Win, A/D+. Cleveland receives an A because one second-round pick produced 377 Cleamons regular-season games, an All-Defensive selection, a major role in the 1976 conference-finals run and later Walt Frazier compensation. Los Angeles receives a D+ because the pick became the highly productive Billy Knight, validating the scouting value of the selection, but Knight never played for the Lakers and the reviewed record shows no realized Lakers return from his rights. Confidence is high on the transaction, pick identity and Cleamons outcome. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.