Buffalo acquired Jim Price from Milwaukee on November 2, 1976 for the Braves' 1977 first-round pick. Basketball-Reference's Buffalo, Milwaukee and league transaction ledgers agree on the one-player-for-one-pick package. Price played only 20 games for Buffalo before the Braves sent him to Denver for Gus Gerard and Chuck Williams, extending Buffalo's return beyond the short Price stint. Milwaukee held the first-rounder until June 1977, then packaged it with Swen Nater to reacquire Buffalo's higher first-round pick. That upgraded selection became No. 3 Marques Johnson, a five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA player. Because Nater was a substantial part of the later swap, this review credits the original pick as an important contributor rather than the sole source of Johnson's value. Milwaukee gets the stronger hindsight result, while Buffalo still recovered useful rotation value.
Basketball-Reference's Buffalo, Milwaukee and NBA transaction ledgers all record the same November 2, 1976 exchange. Buffalo sent its 1977 first-round pick to Milwaukee for Jim Price. The selection ultimately landed at No. 13. No additional player or cash component is needed to explain the canonical trade.
Price's Braves stint was brief. He appeared in 20 games, averaging 5.3 points and 1.9 assists in 16.7 minutes per game. On December 15, only six weeks after the Milwaukee deal, Buffalo moved him again. The short stay limits the direct value of the acquisition, but it does not end the asset chain.
The Braves sent Price to Denver for Gus Gerard and Chuck Williams. Gerard played 41 games for Buffalo in 1976-77, while Williams appeared in 44 games that season and 73 more in 1977-78. Williams became a regular backcourt contributor, averaging 5.7 assists per 36 minutes in 1977-78. That secondary return keeps Buffalo's side from being judged as 20 games of Price and nothing else.
Milwaukee did not simply make the No. 13 selection. On June 7, 1977, the Bucks sent Swen Nater and the acquired No. 13 pick back to Buffalo for the Braves' own higher first-rounder. That incoming pick became No. 3 overall. The original Buffalo selection therefore became part of a direct draft-night value upgrade.
Milwaukee used the third pick on Marques Johnson. Johnson went on to make five All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams, and Basketball-Reference credits him with a 20.1-point career scoring average. His Milwaukee tenure became one of the strongest outcomes tied to the 1977 draft. This review does not assign all of that value to the No. 13 pick because Nater was a major outgoing asset in the trade-up.
Nater had averaged 13.0 points and 12.0 rebounds for Milwaukee in 1976-77 before the Bucks included him in the June trade. He then averaged 15.5 points and 13.2 rebounds for Buffalo in 1977-78. That production matters when grading the downstream branch. The No. 13 pick helped Milwaukee reach Johnson, but the trade-up required a productive starting center as well.
Bucks Edge, A-/B-. Milwaukee receives an A- because turning Price into a first-round asset and then using that asset in the package that produced No. 3 Marques Johnson created excellent long-term value. Buffalo receives a B- because Price himself lasted only 20 games, but his resale brought back Gus Gerard and Chuck Williams, with Williams contributing across two seasons. The gap favors Milwaukee, though the later Johnson outcome cannot be credited to the original pick alone. Confidence is high on the package and downstream transaction chain.