Indiana traded Don Buse to Phoenix for Ricky Sobers on September 6, 1977. Both guards produced real value, but Phoenix received the longer and more durable return. Sobers started all 160 games he played for Indiana across two seasons, averaging 18.2 points and 7.4 assists in 1977-78 and 17.3 points and 5.6 assists in 1978-79. He was then sent to Chicago as veteran-free-agent compensation after Indiana signed Mickey Johnson. Buse played 245 regular-season games for Phoenix across three seasons, starting 164 and earning All-Defensive First Team recognition in each season. In November 1980 Phoenix traded Buse back to Indiana for 1981 and 1982 second-round picks. The Suns later sent those two picks, plus a separate first-round swap concession, to Indiana for Dudley Bradley. Indiana got the better scorer for two years; Phoenix got three seasons of elite perimeter defense plus downstream draft value, giving the Suns a modest overall edge.
Indiana and Phoenix both list the September 6, 1977 deal identically: Don Buse went to the Suns and Ricky Sobers went to the Pacers. The league transaction ledger matches those team records. There are no picks, cash terms or conditions to reconcile at the original transaction point.
Sobers immediately became a full-time Pacers starter. In 1977-78 he played 79 games, started all 79 and averaged 18.2 points, 7.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 38.2 minutes. He followed with 81 starts in 1978-79, averaging 17.3 points and 5.6 assists. Across the two seasons, Sobers played 160 regular-season games for Indiana and started every one of them. That is substantial direct value, especially for a team that had just moved Billy Knight one week earlier and was remaking its backcourt and scoring structure. Sobers's Indiana tenure ended in July 1979 when he was sent to Chicago as veteran-free-agent compensation after the Pacers signed Mickey Johnson. This review treats that as a real asset-use event, but not as a conventional one-for-one trade return. Indiana's acquisition of Johnson required the compensation mechanism, so Sobers still carried value even though the transaction structure differs from a normal trade.
Phoenix received the longer direct tenure. Buse played 82 games in 1977-78, 82 in 1978-79 and 81 in 1979-80, for 245 regular-season Suns games. He started 164 of those games and averaged roughly eight points with strong playmaking while taking the tougher defensive assignments. More importantly, Basketball-Reference lists Buse as All-Defensive First Team in all three Phoenix seasons. In 1977-78 he averaged 4.8 assists and 2.3 steals; in 1978-79 he averaged 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals; in 1979-80 he averaged 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals. His scoring was lower than Sobers's, but his defensive impact and three-year availability gave Phoenix a different kind of sustained value.
On November 25, 1980, Phoenix traded Buse back to Indiana for a 1981 second-round pick that became Al Leslie and a 1982 second-round pick that became Jose Slaughter. The Suns did not simply use both selections. On June 8, 1981, Phoenix sent those same two picks back to Indiana for Dudley Bradley while also relinquishing an option to swap first-round picks with the Pacers in 1983. Because that extra concession was part of the Bradley transaction, this review does not assign all of Bradley's value to the Buse-derived picks. Still, the picks clearly extended Buse's asset life beyond his 245 Phoenix games.
Indiana can make a strong case from offensive production alone. Sobers was the better scorer and higher-volume creator during the first two seasons after the trade. Phoenix's case is broader: Buse gave the Suns three full seasons, three All-Defensive First Team selections and then returned two second-round picks.
Suns Edge, A-/B+. Phoenix receives an A- because Buse delivered 245 games, three All-Defensive First Team seasons and two later second-round assets. Indiana receives a B+ because Sobers delivered 160 starts with high-end scoring and playmaking over two seasons before being used as compensation in the Mickey Johnson signing. Both teams got substantial value, but Phoenix's extra season, defensive honors and downstream picks create the modest separation. Confidence is high.