Golden State Bought High-End Scoring
Basketball-Reference's Golden State, San Diego and league transaction ledgers agree on the August 28, 1980 trade: the Warriors received World B. Free, while the Clippers received Phil Smith and Golden State's 1984 first-round pick.
Free immediately became one of Golden State's primary scorers. He played 65 games in 1980-81 and averaged 24.1 points with 5.6 assists. In 1981-82 he played 78 games, started all 78 and averaged 22.9 points with 5.4 assists.
He opened 1982-83 with another 19 Warriors games at 22.8 points per game. That brought Free's Golden State total to 162 regular-season games across parts of three seasons, all at star-level scoring volume.
The Free Branch Also Returned Ron Brewer
Golden State did not simply lose Free at the end of that run. On December 15, 1982, the Warriors traded him to Cleveland for Ron Brewer.
Brewer played 53 games for Golden State in 1982-83 and another 13 in 1983-84. This review therefore credits 66 additional Warriors games as direct downstream value from the Free branch.
Brewer was not another Free-level scorer, but the transaction extended the life of the original asset rather than ending it at 162 games.
Phil Smith Gave San Diego Two Useful Seasons
Smith played 76 games for San Diego in 1980-81 and averaged 16.8 points, 4.9 assists and 31.3 minutes. He returned for 48 games in 1981-82, starting 39 and averaging 13.2 points with 4.9 assists.
That is 124 regular-season Clippers games from the veteran guard.
On February 16, 1982, San Diego traded Smith to Seattle for Armond Hill and a 1982 second-round pick later associated with Jeff Taylor. Hill played 19 games for the Clippers and started 14.
The incoming second-rounder was later included with Joe Bryant in a Houston trade that returned the pick used on Richard Anderson. Because Bryant was also outgoing, this review does not assign Anderson's full Clippers career to the Smith branch. The important point is that Smith still carried additional trade value after his 124 San Diego games.
The First-Round Pick Became Lancaster Gordon
The other major San Diego asset did not resolve until the 1984 draft. The Clippers used Golden State's first-round pick at No. 8 on Lancaster Gordon.
Gordon played four NBA seasons, all for the Clippers. He appeared in 201 regular-season games and scored 1,125 points, with his largest role coming in 1986-87 when he played 70 games and averaged 7.5 points.
He never became a high-end starter, but 201 games from a future first-rounder are meaningful realized value.
Why the Trade Stays Even
Golden State received the best player in the transaction. Free produced 162 games of high-volume scoring and then turned into 66 more Brewer games.
San Diego received more asset depth. Smith provided 124 useful games, Gordon supplied 201 more, and Smith later brought back Hill plus additional draft currency.
The Warriors won on peak impact. The Clippers won on volume and asset depth. Neither advantage is large enough to create a clear hindsight winner.
Final Verdict
Even Trade, A-/A-. Golden State receives an A- for 162 Free games at roughly 23 points per game across his Warriors tenure plus the later Brewer return. San Diego also receives an A- for 124 Smith games, 201 Gordon games and the additional Smith trade return. The original balanced verdict survives source-backed review.