Cleveland sent the draft rights to Larry Anderson and Les Craft to San Diego on June 28, 1983 for a 1985 second-round pick. Neither Anderson nor Craft ever appeared in an NBA regular-season game, so the Clippers received zero direct player value. Cleveland held the pick until 1985 and used No. 30 on Calvin Duncan, who also never played in the NBA. Duncan's rights were immediately packaged with Charles Oakley in the trade that brought Keith Lee and Ennis Whatley from Chicago. Because Oakley was the dominant asset in that later deal, this review does not assign the full return to Duncan, but the pick did retain transaction utility. That gives Cleveland only a slight hindsight edge.
Basketball-Reference's Cleveland, San Diego and league transaction ledgers agree on the June 28, 1983 package. Cleveland sent the rights to third-round picks Larry Anderson and Les Craft to the Clippers for a 1985 second-round pick. The immediate player outcomes were empty on both sides, which makes the downstream use of Cleveland's pick the only meaningful separator.
Cleveland drafted Larry Anderson at No. 56 out of UNLV, then moved his rights to San Diego the same day. Basketball-Reference lists Anderson as a drafted player with no NBA regular-season statistical line. The Clippers therefore received no direct games or starts from his rights.
Les Craft was selected by Cleveland at No. 66. His rights had reached the Cavaliers through the Mike Bratz trade chain and were then packaged with Anderson for the future pick. Craft likewise never appeared in an NBA regular-season game. San Diego's two incoming rights therefore combined for zero direct NBA games.
The 1985 second-round selection landed at No. 30, where Cleveland drafted VCU guard Calvin Duncan. Duncan never appeared in an NBA regular-season game. If the pick branch ended there, this trade would be an easy even result: zero direct games on both sides.
Cleveland did not simply lose Duncan's rights for nothing. On the same 1985 draft day, the Cavaliers packaged Duncan with No. 9 pick Charles Oakley and sent both to Chicago for Keith Lee and Ennis Whatley. That gives the original San Diego pick some downstream utility. This review deliberately does not credit the entire Lee-Whatley package to Duncan because Oakley was a top-10 pick and the far more substantial asset in the deal. The distinction matters: the pick retained trade value, but it did not independently create a major return.
San Diego received two rights packages that produced no NBA player. Cleveland received a second-round pick that also became a zero-game player, but the pick survived long enough to be included in another NBA transaction. That is a narrow advantage, not a major win.
Cavaliers Win, C+/C. Cleveland receives a C+ because the incoming pick retained enough value to become part of a later trade package even though Calvin Duncan never played in the NBA. The Clippers receive a C because Anderson and Craft produced zero direct games and no verified downstream franchise value.