The Exchange
Basketball-Reference's Indiana, Kentucky and league transaction logs all agree that the Colonels acquired Rick Mount from the Pacers on July 31, 1972 for cash. Pro Sports Transactions records the same player-for-cash structure. None of the surviving sources identifies the dollar amount, and there is no reliable evidence tying Indiana's payment to a later player, draft pick or transaction. The source-backed archive therefore treats the Pacers' consideration as a real but unpriced financial asset rather than inventing a basketball outcome.
Kentucky Return
Mount became a meaningful rotation guard immediately. In 1972-73 he played 61 games for Kentucky, logged 1,780 minutes and averaged 14.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the field. He was fourth on the Colonels in scoring behind Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore and Louie Dampier, giving a 56-win team additional perimeter offense. Kentucky reached the ABA Finals that spring and lost a seven-game series to the same Indiana club that had sold Mount. Mount also appeared in 19 playoff games, adding useful minutes during that run.
Second Season and Downstream Value
Mount remained with Kentucky for 18 games in 1973-74 before the Colonels traded him to the Utah Stars on January 9, 1974. Basketball-Reference lists the return as a draft choice and cash, while Pro Sports Transactions says the pick may have become Sammy High at No. 28 in the 1974 ABA draft. Because that drafted-player link is explicitly uncertain, this review credits Kentucky only with a verified downstream pick-and-cash return, not with a specific player outcome. Even without assigning a name to the pick, that later transaction extends the realized value beyond Mount's 79 regular-season games for the Colonels.
Indiana Return
Indiana's side is harder to quantify. Cash can be strategically useful, especially in the ABA's unstable financial environment, but a retrospective grade cannot safely treat an unknown amount as equal to a productive guard plus a later draft asset. The Pacers also remained an elite team without Mount and won the 1973 ABA championship, beating Kentucky in seven games. That team success matters as context because Indiana clearly did not need Mount to remain a contender, but it does not convert the unidentified cash into traceable roster value.
Final Verdict
Colonels Win, B+/C. Kentucky receives a B+ because Mount delivered 79 regular-season games across two seasons, scored nearly 15 points per game in his full Colonels season, contributed to a Finals run and later generated another pick-and-cash return. Indiana receives a C because it received legitimate cash consideration, but the amount and any downstream use remain unresolved. Confidence is high on the trade structure and Mount's Kentucky production, and medium on the total Pacers return because the cash cannot be priced. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.