Syracuse sold Belus Smawley's player rights to the Baltimore Bullets for cash on December 10, 1950. Smawley had averaged 7.8 points in 16 games for the Nationals that season, then became one of Baltimore's leading scorers. He played 44 games for the Bullets at 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, then returned for 11 more games in 1951-52. The sale price is not preserved in the reviewed public records. Baltimore gets the clear historical edge because the purchase produced 55 games and a major immediate scoring increase, while Syracuse's financial return cannot be quantified.
On December 10, 1950, the Syracuse Nationals sold Belus Smawley's player rights to the Baltimore Bullets for cash. Syracuse's transaction page, Baltimore's transaction page and the 1950-51 league transaction log all identify the same sale. Smawley was already a proven professional scorer, having averaged 15.5 points for St. Louis in 1948-49 and 13.7 in 1949-50.
Smawley immediately regained a larger scoring role with the Bullets. He played 44 games for Baltimore during the rest of 1950-51 and averaged 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting .389 from the field and .859 at the line. That made him one of the team's most productive perimeter scorers alongside Red Rocha and gave Baltimore far more direct value than a short reserve stint.
Syracuse received cash and moved on from a veteran whose role had already contracted. The Nationals finished 32-34 and reached the Eastern Division semifinals, so the sale did not remove a central piece from a contending rotation. The limitation is the missing dollar figure. Without the amount, Syracuse's financial return cannot be measured against the 607 points Smawley scored for Baltimore in the remainder of 1950-51 or traced to a later roster asset.
Baltimore's advantage is clear because Smawley became a productive scorer immediately after the purchase. His 13.8 points per game with the Bullets nearly doubled his 7.8-point Syracuse average from earlier in the same season, and he played 44 games after the deal rather than serving as a brief replacement. Syracuse had a rational reason to monetize a veteran who was playing a smaller role, but the unknown cash amount leaves the Nationals without measurable basketball value on the other side.
Bullets Win — Syracuse C, Baltimore A-. Syracuse sold Belus Smawley's player rights to the Baltimore Bullets for cash on December 10, 1950. Smawley had averaged 7.8 points in 16 games for the Nationals that season, then became one of Baltimore's leading scorers. He played 44 games for the Bullets at 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, then returned for 11 more games in 1951-52. The sale price is not preserved in the reviewed public records.