The Exchange
Basketball-Reference's Indiana, Floridians and ABA transaction logs agree that The Floridians acquired Warren Jabali on September 24, 1971 for a 1972 draft choice and cash. Pro Sports Transactions preserves the same structure and also lists Jabali under his former name, Warren Armstrong. The draft selection is not identified by round or player in the surviving transaction record. The 1972 ABA draft ledger contains many unordered and unattributed selections, and it does not tie a specific Pacers pick outcome back to this trade. The source-backed record therefore keeps the pick as a real but unresolved asset and the cash as real but unpriced consideration.
Florida Return
Jabali delivered immediate star-level production. He played 81 of 84 regular-season games, averaged 40.9 minutes, 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists, and made the ABA All-Star team. He led The Floridians in minutes per game and was one of three major perimeter creators alongside Mack Calvin and Larry Jones. Jabali also played all four playoff games against Virginia, averaging 18.8 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 42.8 minutes. That is far more realized basketball value than a typical one-season rental, even though the franchise's collapse prevented Florida from retaining or trading him afterward.
Indiana Return
Indiana received the 1972 draft choice and cash, but neither asset can be converted into a verified player-production total from the records available here. The pick is especially difficult because the 1972 ABA draft order is incomplete for many rounds and several selections are listed without a clear transaction lineage. That uncertainty does not make the Pacers' return worthless. A future draft choice and cash had real transaction value at the time, and Indiana had just seen Jabali's role fall to 25.6 minutes and 11.0 points per game during 1970-71 after acquiring him the previous October. The correct retrospective treatment is to recognize the unresolved assets without inventing a drafted player, financial amount or later transaction chain.
Franchise Context
The Floridians' shutdown after 1971-72 caps the duration of the win. On June 13, 1972 the league disbanded the franchise and placed its players into a dispersal draft; Denver selected Jabali second overall from the Floridians pool. That dispersal selection did not return value to the defunct Florida franchise, so the trade's realized Florida benefit is concentrated entirely in Jabali's outstanding 1971-72 season and four playoff games. The Pacers, meanwhile, remained an elite ABA club and won the 1972 championship without Jabali, which is important competitive context even though team success by itself does not identify what their draft pick or cash became.
Final Verdict
Floridians Win, A-/C+. Florida receives an A- because Jabali became an 81-game All-Star who averaged 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists while playing more than 40 minutes per game. Indiana receives a C+ because it obtained a legitimate 1972 draft asset and cash, but the surviving record does not identify the drafted player or cash amount. Confidence is medium-high on the exchange and Jabali's realized value, but only medium on the full Pacers outcome because the pick remains unresolved. The grade deliberately avoids the older A/D gap, which overstated certainty about Indiana's return. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.