The Exchange
Basketball-Reference records Denver sending Ken Durrett to Virginia on January 22, 1971 for a 1971 first-round draft choice and a player to be named later or cash. ProSportsTransactions resolves the first-round pick as No. 5 in the 1971 ABA draft, used on Cliff Meely, and identifies Denver's outgoing asset as the ABA rights to Durrett. The additional Virginia-to-Denver consideration remains described only as a player to be named later or cash, with no reliable amount or player identity in the sources reviewed.
Denver Return
Denver's identified draft asset became Meely, but the ABA rights never turned into Denver court value. Basketball-Reference shows Meely entering the NBA with Houston in 1971-72 after Houston selected him seventh overall in the NBA draft. He went on to play five NBA seasons and 318 games, including 284 for Houston, but none of that production accrued to the Denver Rockets. The unidentified PTBNL-or-cash component could still have carried value, which is exactly why the Denver side cannot be treated as a zero.
Virginia Return
Virginia acquired Durrett's ABA rights, but Durrett also chose the NBA path. Cincinnati selected him fourth overall in the 1971 NBA draft, and his professional career began with the Royals rather than the Squires. His four-year NBA career therefore cannot be credited to Virginia as realized return from this ABA rights trade. The Squires gave up the No. 5 ABA pick and the unresolved extra consideration for rights that never became a Virginia roster player.
Hindsight Comparison
The identifiable basketball assets cancel in an unusual way: both clubs traded or acquired high ABA draft rights to players who ultimately played in the NBA instead. Denver's Meely rights produced no Denver ABA games, and Virginia's Durrett rights produced no Virginia ABA games. The unresolved player-to-be-named-later or cash is therefore not a side detail; it is the only remaining consideration that could distinguish the realized return. Without identifying it, a winner would be guesswork.
Final Verdict
Insufficient Evidence. The Durrett-for-pick structure and the No. 5 Cliff Meely outcome are well documented, as are both players' NBA careers. Neither player produced ABA games for the acquiring team in this transaction, however, and the additional Denver consideration remains unresolved. That combination makes the previous Nuggets win too certain. The record should stay ungraded until the PTBNL-or-cash component can be identified or reliably valued. Confidence is medium-high on the known asset chain and low on any winner determination. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.