The legacy archive entry is dated June 9, 1977, but Buffalo, Los Angeles and the league transaction ledgers all place the deal on June 10. The Braves sent a 1977 third-round pick to the Lakers for Johnny Neumann. Los Angeles used the pick at No. 46 on James Edwards, who immediately played 25 Lakers games at 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. In December, the Lakers packaged Edwards with Earl Tatum and cash for Adrian Dantley and Dave Robisch; Dantley then played 116 regular-season games for Los Angeles across the next two seasons, though that full downstream value cannot be assigned to Edwards alone. Buffalo received no post-trade regular-season games from Neumann. The Braves moved him to Indiana in October for a 1978 third-round pick that became No. 48 Mike Santos, who never played an NBA regular-season game. The realized value strongly favors the Lakers.
The legacy archive record carries a June 9, 1977 date, but the Buffalo, Los Angeles and league transaction ledgers all list the exchange on June 10. The package itself is clear. Buffalo sent a 1977 third-round pick to Los Angeles for Johnny Neumann. The Lakers used the pick at No. 46 on James Edwards.
Edwards was not a throwaway third-round selection. As a 22-year-old rookie, he played 25 Lakers games before the December trade, averaging 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28.9 minutes. He scored 370 points and grabbed 180 rebounds in that short Los Angeles stint. That alone creates far more realized value than Buffalo received from Neumann after the June transaction. Edwards also retained meaningful trade value almost immediately.
On December 13, 1977, the Lakers traded Edwards, Earl Tatum and cash to Indiana for Adrian Dantley and Dave Robisch. This review does not assign the entire Dantley-Robisch return to Edwards because Tatum and cash were also outgoing assets. Edwards was nevertheless one of the named pieces in the package and had already established himself as a productive rookie. Dantley then gave Los Angeles major scoring production. He played 56 regular-season games for the Lakers in 1977-78 at 26.5 points per game and another 60 in 1978-79 at 19.4 points. Across those two seasons he appeared in 116 regular-season games for Los Angeles. Robisch added frontcourt depth as part of the same return. The downstream package therefore reinforces the value of the No. 46 pick without requiring this review to pretend Edwards alone purchased Dantley.
Neumann's history is unusual because Buffalo had already signed him in September 1976, played him in four games, waived him in November and watched the Lakers sign him nine days later. The June 1977 transaction brought him back to the Braves, but he did not appear in a Buffalo regular-season game after that reacquisition. On October 18, 1977, Buffalo traded Neumann to Indiana for a 1978 third-round pick. The Pacers used Neumann in 20 games before waiving him in December, but those games belong to Indiana rather than Buffalo.
Buffalo used the 1978 third-round pick at No. 48 on Mike Santos. His Basketball-Reference page records the draft transaction but no NBA regular-season career. The Neumann branch therefore ends with no post-trade Buffalo games from Neumann and no NBA games from the replacement pick.
Lakers Win, A-/F. Los Angeles receives an A- because a third-round pick became a productive rookie who averaged 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in 25 Lakers games and then served as one component of the Dantley-Robisch trade. Buffalo receives an F because Neumann produced no post-trade Braves games and the pick acquired for him became a player with no NBA regular-season appearances. The only caution is downstream attribution: Dantley's full Lakers production cannot be credited to Edwards alone because Tatum and cash were also part of that December package. Confidence is high.