A Five-Asset Exchange With a Later Player Attached
On October 26, 1956, Minneapolis sent Slater Martin, the draft rights to Jerry Bird and a player to be named later to New York for Walter Dukes and the draft rights to Burdette Haldorson. Later records identify the player to be named later as Phil Jordon. The Knicks' historical record and Basketball-Reference ledgers agree on the core exchange. Bird was a 1956 first-round pick serving in the military, while Haldorson never appeared in an NBA game.
Minneapolis Turned Walter Dukes Into Larry Foust
Dukes started at center for the Lakers in 1956-57, playing 71 games and averaging 10.1 points and 11.2 rebounds. Minneapolis then traded him to Detroit for Larry Foust. Foust became an All-Star in each of his first two Lakers seasons and played 191 regular-season games for the franchise. Haldorson's rights added no NBA production, but the Dukes-to-Foust chain gave Minneapolis several seasons of high-level center play.
New York Converted a Short Slater Martin Stay Into Willie Naulls
Martin played only 13 games for the Knicks before New York traded him to St. Louis for Willie Naulls. That conversion became the strongest asset in the deal. Naulls developed into a long-term Knicks scorer and made multiple All-Star teams, including three straight from 1960 through 1962. Bird later appeared in 11 games for New York, while Jordon contributed limited minutes. Both teams managed their incoming assets well, but the Martin-to-Naulls branch produced the larger and longer peak.
The Knicks' Value Came Through a Second Move
Slater Martin lasted only 13 games with New York, so the Knicks' eventual advantage wasn't built on a lengthy Martin tenure. The club subsequently traded him for Willie Naulls, who developed into a productive Knicks scorer and four-time All-Star. That follow-on move belongs in the transaction chain, but it doesn't mean Naulls joined New York in the original October 1956 exchange. Minneapolis also extracted substantial value by receiving Walter Dukes. He averaged 11.2 rebounds across 71 Lakers games in 1956-57 before the franchise moved him for Larry Foust, who later made two All-Star appearances as a Laker. The older player-to-be-named-later accounting for Phil Jordon also needs to stay distinct from the immediately named draft rights. The A-to-A- margin rests on those documented paths, not on counting the initial trade as a direct Naulls-for-Foust swap.
Final Verdict
Knicks Win — New York A, Minneapolis A-. This was a productive trade for both sides. The Lakers got a strong season from Dukes and then two All-Star seasons from Foust. The Knicks turned Martin into Naulls, whose multi-year All-Star run gave New York the slightly better long-term result. The edge is real, but it is much closer than a one-sided verdict would suggest.