The February 1 Package Is Well Documented
Basketball-Reference's Knicks, Jazz and NBA transaction ledgers agree on the core February 1, 1975 exchange: New York received Jim Barnett and Neal Walk, while New Orleans received Henry Bibby and Detroit's 1975 first-round pick. The official Jazz media guide and Pro Sports Transactions add one more piece that Basketball-Reference omits: cash from New York to New Orleans. The Detroit pick had reached the Knicks in the Howard Porter trade, so this transaction continues the same asset chain already established in the source-backed archive.
New York Received Two Rotation Players
Barnett played 28 games for the Knicks after the trade in 1974-75 and another 71 in 1975-76, giving New York 99 regular-season games. His role was modest by that stage of his career, but he still averaged 6.5 points in the first partial season and 5.9 the next year. Walk gave the Knicks more frontcourt volume. He played 30 games after the trade, all 82 in 1975-76 and 11 more in 1976-77, for 123 regular-season games in New York. His best Knicks season was 1975-76, when he averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 16.3 minutes.
Bibby Became a Useful Jazz Guard
Henry Bibby immediately entered the New Orleans rotation. He played 28 games for the Jazz after the trade in 1974-75 and 79 more in 1975-76, totaling 107 regular-season games. In 1975-76 he averaged 9.3 points and 2.8 assists while playing 22.4 minutes per game. New Orleans then sold Bibby's player rights to Philadelphia on September 17, 1976. The sale amount is not preserved in the reviewed Basketball-Reference ledger, so the downstream financial value should be acknowledged without being assigned an invented number.
The Detroit Pick Became Another Trade Asset
New Orleans also did not simply draft Bill Robinzine. On May 28, 1975, the Jazz traded the No. 10 pick to Kansas City-Omaha for Ron Behagen and a 1976 second-round pick. Kansas City-Omaha used No. 10 on Robinzine. That distinction matters because Robinzine's NBA production belongs to the Kings' side of the later transaction, not directly to New Orleans. For the Jazz, the realized return from the pick is Behagen plus the later second-round selection, not Robinzine himself.
Behagen Gave New Orleans Two Productive Seasons
Behagen played 66 games for the Jazz in 1975-76 and averaged 11.5 points and 8.4 rebounds. He returned for 60 games in 1976-77, adding 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. That is 126 regular-season games of direct frontcourt production created from the Detroit pick before considering the additional 1976 second-round asset. The second-rounder became No. 20 Major Jones, but Jones did not play an NBA regular-season game for New Orleans, so the pick's meaningful realized Jazz value rests primarily with Behagen.
Comparing the Two Returns
New York's side was not poor. Barnett and Walk combined for 222 regular-season games, and Walk in particular gave the Knicks dependable reserve-center minutes. New Orleans, however, received 107 Bibby games plus 126 Behagen games from the downstream pick trade, along with cash in the original deal and later compensation when Bibby's rights were sold. The Jazz therefore generated slightly more total asset depth and comparable or better on-court production despite moving the first-round pick before draft night.
Final Verdict
Jazz Win, A/B+. New Orleans receives an A because Bibby and Behagen combined for 233 regular-season games, the original deal also included cash, and Bibby's rights later retained sale value. New York receives a B+ because Barnett and Walk combined for 222 games and filled real rotation roles, but neither created a comparable downstream asset. Bill Robinzine is preserved as the eventual draft identity of the No. 10 pick without falsely crediting his Kings production to the Jazz. Confidence is high on the transaction date, package and player outcomes. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.