Dallas Traded Teachey's Rights for a Contingent Future Choice
Dallas transferred Anthony Teachey to Seattle on September 27, 1985, receiving only a conditional second-round draft selection in 1989. The condition depended on Teachey earning an extended place on the SuperSonics roster. The Mavericks had picked the Wake Forest forward in the second round of the 1984 draft and signed him to an NBA contract a day before the exchange. Seattle could evaluate a former college prospect without immediately surrendering a guaranteed pick. Unlike a regular player-for-draft-pick deal, the future compensation was not certain to convey, so it should not be described as a selection that Dallas actually made in 1989.
Seattle Released Teachey Before the Season Started
The surviving NBA transaction chronology shows Seattle acquired Teachey on September 27 but placed his contract on waivers on October 11. He became a free agent four days later. The SuperSonics therefore did not receive a regular-season game, start, rebound or point from this acquisition. Their 1985-86 roster includes productive players elsewhere in the frontcourt, but Teachey was not among those who appeared in games. Counting his collegiate work or Dallas's prior draft investment as Seattle's return would overstate the deal. It was effectively a training-camp evaluation that ended before the regular schedule began.
Dallas's Conditional Second Never Became a Documented Pick
Dallas was promised a second-round draft choice in 1989 only if the agreement's roster condition was met. The imported trade record describes that option as not exercised. That fits the brief Seattle tenure, although the exact contractual definition and a corresponding 1989 pick number are not independently established in the available ledgers. Without evidence that the second actually conveyed, the Mavericks cannot be assigned the later NBA career of a hypothetical draft selection. Their actual documented asset was a contingent right with no identifiable draft conversion. It was a reasonable way to recoup some potential value from an unsigned prospect, but the result was limited.
Neither Side Obtained Sustained Basketball Value
The original archived Seattle-win grade implied a substantial receiving-team advantage, despite Seattle waiving the acquired player before opening night. Dallas's conditional pick likewise has no verified on-court outcome and should not receive a favorable grade merely for appearing in the transaction description. Each club effectively tested a low-cost possibility: Seattle with a young forward, Dallas with a contingent draft asset. Both possibilities failed to yield measurable NBA play for the acquiring teams. An even, low-grade assessment is more faithful to the historical outcome while leaving the exact unexercised-condition wording open to further source verification if the original agreement resurfaces.
Final Verdict
Even Trade. Dallas gets C- because its conditional 1989 second-round compensation produced no verified draft selection or NBA playing return. Seattle also earns C- because Anthony Teachey was waived before the 1985-86 regular season and never played an NBA game for the SuperSonics. Neither club obtained meaningful realized basketball value, contradicting the earlier Seattle-win grade.