Indiana traded Hank McDowell to the San Diego Clippers on October 26, 1983 for a 1988 third-round pick. McDowell immediately gave San Diego 57 games, 611 minutes, 208 points and 155 rebounds in 1983-84. Indiana held the future pick and used it at No. 73 in 1988 on Michael Anderson, but the Pacers waived Anderson before he played a regular-season game; his only NBA season came later with San Antonio. The Clippers therefore received a full season of reserve frontcourt play while Indiana's eventual draft selection produced zero Pacers games, making San Diego the clear winner.
Basketball-Reference's Indiana transaction ledger records the October 26, 1983 deal: the Pacers sent Hank McDowell to the San Diego Clippers for a 1988 third-round pick. McDowell had arrived in Indiana only weeks earlier, but the Pacers chose to move him again before the regular season. San Diego kept him for the full 1983-84 campaign.
McDowell appeared in 57 games for San Diego, all off the bench. He logged 611 minutes, scored 208 points and collected 155 rebounds. That worked out to 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game. The numbers were modest, but he was a usable reserve big for most of the season. McDowell left the Clippers after that year and later played for Houston and Milwaukee. Those later stops do not count toward San Diego's return, but the Clippers still received one complete season of direct NBA production.
The compensation was a distant 1988 third-round selection. The pick ultimately landed at No. 73, where Indiana selected Drexel point guard Michael Anderson. Anderson did have an NBA career, but not with the Pacers. Indiana placed him on waivers on October 31, 1988, before he appeared in a regular-season game for the franchise. He later played 36 games for San Antonio in 1988-89, averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 assists. Because those games came after Indiana had waived him, they are not Pacers realized value from this trade.
Indiana's process was understandable. The Pacers turned a player they were not planning to use into a future draft asset and held that asset until the 1988 draft. The realized result, however, was zero Pacers games from the pick. San Diego paid that future third-rounder and received 57 games and 611 minutes from McDowell immediately. This is a modest-stakes trade, so the Clippers' grade should not be exaggerated, but one full reserve season clearly beats a draft selection that never made Indiana's regular-season roster.
Clippers Win, B-/D. San Diego earns a B- for converting a third-round pick into 57 games of useful frontcourt depth. Indiana receives a D because the pick became Michael Anderson, whom the Pacers waived before he played a regular-season game. Confidence is high because the trade, McDowell's Clippers production, Anderson's draft slot and Indiana waiver are all documented in transaction and statistical records.