Trade Verdicts
NBA Trade Verdict

Jazz Win

Denver traded Tom Boswell to Utah on November 20, 1979 for a 1980 second-round pick. Boswell immediately became a regular Jazz forward, playing 61 games that season while averaging 11.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 25.5 minutes. Denver used the No. 41 pick on Jawann Oldham, but he appeared in only four Nuggets games before being waived on October 21, 1980. Oldham later built a 10-year NBA career elsewhere, but Denver did not realize that value. Utah therefore received the far stronger direct return from the original trade.

November 20, 1979 Denver Nuggets / Utah Jazz Record confidence: High

Denver Nuggets Received

Utah Jazz Received

Denver Nuggets

D

Utah Jazz

A-

Trade Analysis

Utah Bought a Starting-Caliber Season for a Second-Round Pick

Basketball-Reference records Denver trading Tom Boswell to Utah on November 20, 1979 for a 1980 second-round pick. Denver later used that selection at No. 41 on center Jawann Oldham.

Boswell Became an Immediate Jazz Contributor

Boswell played 61 games for Utah after the trade and logged 1,555 minutes. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 57.3 percent from the field. That was meaningful rotation value from a player acquired for a second-round selection. He had averaged 11.3 points in 18 Denver games before the trade, so Utah did not receive an end-of-bench reclamation project; it received a productive 26-year-old forward who immediately filled a regular role. Boswell did not play in the NBA from 1980-81 through 1982-83. He later signed again with Utah in September 1983 and appeared in 38 more games during 1983-84. Because that return came through a new contract several years later, this review does not credit those later games to the 1979 trade.

Denver Got Only Four Games From Oldham

Denver selected Oldham with the No. 41 pick in June 1980. He appeared in four games for the Nuggets, averaging 5.3 minutes, 1.0 point and 1.3 rebounds. The Nuggets waived Oldham on October 21, 1980. Houston later signed him as a free agent in October 1981, and Oldham went on to play 329 NBA games overall. That later career belongs to other teams; Denver captured only four games from the pick.

Why Utah Wins

Utah received 61 useful games and more than 1,500 minutes from Boswell immediately after the trade. Denver's second-round pick produced four games before the player was waived. Oldham's later longevity does not change the grade because the Nuggets did not retain him or convert him into another asset. The realized comparison is sharply one-sided.

Final Verdict

Jazz Win, A-/D. Utah receives an A- for obtaining a productive 61-game season from Boswell at the cost of a second-round pick. Denver receives a D because the No. 41 selection produced only four Nuggets appearances before Oldham was waived.

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