The Three-Team Routing Is Clear Even Though the Date Differs by One Day
Basketball-Reference records the completed transaction on February 13, 1983, while RealGM's league and team histories place it on February 12. The canonical TradeVerdicts record already uses February 12, so this review retains that date and records the one-day disagreement rather than forcing false precision.
The routing itself is consistent across the sources. Atlanta sent Steve Hawes to Seattle and received Detroit's 1984 and 1985 second-round picks. Detroit sent those two picks to Atlanta and received Ray Tolbert from Seattle. Seattle sent Tolbert to Detroit and received Hawes from Atlanta.
Seattle Got Two Useful Years From Steve Hawes
Hawes played 31 regular-season games for Seattle after the trade in 1982-83 and started one. He averaged 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.9 minutes.
He returned for 79 games in 1983-84, all off the bench, averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. That gives Seattle 110 regular-season games and one start from the deal.
Hawes was nearing the end of his NBA career, but the SuperSonics still received two seasons of dependable reserve frontcourt minutes.
Detroit Got 77 Reserve Games From Ray Tolbert
Tolbert appeared in 28 regular-season games for Detroit after the trade and averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds. He then played 49 more games in 1983-84.
Across those two Pistons seasons he appeared in 77 games and made no starts. His role stayed modest, and he left the NBA for several seasons after 1983-84.
Detroit therefore received a real rotation return, but not a long-term starter or premium contributor.
Atlanta's 1985 Pick Became Lorenzo Charles
The 1985 second-round choice landed at No. 41, where Atlanta selected North Carolina State forward Lorenzo Charles.
Charles played 36 regular-season games for the Hawks in 1985-86 and made no starts. He averaged 3.4 points in 7.6 minutes and did not play another NBA season.
That branch alone would not make Atlanta the winner.
The 1984 Pick Became a Valuable Trade Asset
Atlanta did not exercise the other incoming pick itself. On July 5, 1983, the Hawks packaged Tom McMillen and the 1984 second-rounder to Washington for Randy Wittman.
Washington eventually used the pick at No. 34 on Tony Costner, who never played an NBA regular-season game. Atlanta's value came earlier, when the pick helped complete the Wittman trade.
Wittman then became a major Hawks rotation piece and eventual starter. He played 353 Atlanta regular-season games from 1983-84 through 1987-88 alone, including 226 starts over the final four of those seasons.
This review does not credit all of Wittman's Atlanta career to this one second-round pick because Tom McMillen was the other outgoing asset in that later transaction. The correct takeaway is narrower: the acquired pick retained enough value to help Atlanta secure a long-term starter.
Why Atlanta Has the Best Outcome
Seattle received 110 games of reserve Hawes production. Detroit received 77 reserve games from Tolbert. Both returns were useful and defensible.
Atlanta received only 36 direct games from Charles, but the other pick became part of the package that acquired Wittman, whose Atlanta tenure far exceeded the direct value produced by Hawes or Tolbert for their new teams. That downstream transaction utility is enough to preserve the Hawks as the hindsight winner without pretending the pick alone purchased Wittman.
Final Verdict
Hawks Win, A-/B/B-. Atlanta receives an A- because one pick produced an NBA player and the other materially helped acquire a multi-year starter. Seattle receives a B for 110 useful reserve games from Hawes. Detroit receives a B- for 77 reserve games from Tolbert after surrendering two second-round choices. Confidence is medium only because authoritative sources disagree by one day on the transaction date.