Indiana Pacers received Scott Skiles. Milwaukee Bucks received 1989 second-round pick (#34-Gary Leonard). Slight Bucks Edge. Indiana Pacers is graded B-; Milwaukee Bucks is graded B. The completed outcome is judged on realized player production, draft conversion and traceable downstream trade value rather than on the best later name merely associated with a pick.
Milwaukee traded Scott Skiles to Indiana on June 21, 1987 for a 1989 second-round pick. Skiles played 51 games with two starts in his first Pacers season, then appeared in 80 games with 13 starts in 1988-89. His role grew to 6.8 points and 4.9 assists per game in the second year. Indiana therefore received 131 regular-season games from a young backup point guard for one future second.
Skiles never developed into his later Orlando version while he was with Indiana. The Magic selected him in the June 1989 expansion draft, ending the Pacers branch after two seasons. His later Most Improved Player award and record-setting assist night belong to Orlando, not to this trade. Indiana still received useful rotation value, but there was no downstream return once the expansion draft took him away.
The incoming second became the No. 34 slot in 1989, later associated with Gary Leonard. Milwaukee did not simply use the pick and keep Leonard. The Bucks sent the pick to Minnesota on June 15, 1989 in an agreement for the Timberwolves to select Mark Davis in the expansion draft. That makes the asset a roster-management tool rather than a drafted-player return, and it gave Milwaukee control over which player it lost. The downstream 1989 use of Milwaukee's acquired second-rounder is the transaction's decisive distinction. That pick became No. 34, but the Bucks moved it to the expansion Timberwolves before the draft as the price of Minnesota selecting Mark Davis from Milwaukee's available players. Milwaukee therefore obtained expansion-roster control, not Gary Leonard's NBA career. Indiana meanwhile received 131 regular-season appearances from Scott Skiles before the Magic chose him in the 1989 expansion draft. His later prominent Orlando seasons are not Pacers trade returns. The B versus B- scores compare Milwaukee's protected roster decision with Indiana's real two seasons of guard minutes and explain why the margin is narrow.
Slight Bucks Edge — Milwaukee B, Indiana B-. The Pacers received 131 useful games from Skiles, which is a good return for a second-round pick. Milwaukee still gets the narrow edge because the pick was later used to steer Minnesota toward Mark Davis in the expansion draft, giving the Bucks direct roster-protection value. The margin stays small because Skiles produced real NBA minutes for Indiana before Orlando selected him.