The Exchange
Phoenix and New Orleans transaction logs confirm the September 16, 1974 trade: the Suns sent Neal Walk and a 1975 second-round pick to the expansion Jazz for Dennis Awtrey, Nate Hawthorne, Curtis Perry and New Orleans' 1976 first-round pick. The legacy asset label says that first 'became Adrian Dantley.' That is only the end of the draft chain, not Phoenix's realized outcome. On May 29, 1975, Phoenix traded the 1976 first to Buffalo for the 1975 No. 16 pick, which the Suns used on Ricky Sobers. Buffalo later used the 1976 No. 6 selection on Dantley. The source-backed record therefore has to credit Phoenix with the Sobers conversion, not Dantley's Hall of Fame career.
Phoenix Return
Curtis Perry became the largest direct player return. He played 239 games over four Phoenix seasons and averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the club. In 1974-75 he averaged 13.4 points and 11.9 rebounds; in 1975-76 he averaged 13.3 and 9.6 and then added 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds across 19 playoff games during the Suns' run to the NBA Finals. Dennis Awtrey supplied four full Phoenix seasons from 1974-75 through 1977-78. He played 82 games in his first Suns year, 74 in the Finals season, 72 in 1976-77 and 81 in 1977-78, providing durable center minutes and rebounding. Nate Hawthorne played 129 Suns games across 1974-75 and 1975-76, averaging roughly six points per game in a reserve role. The draft asset became Ricky Sobers through the Buffalo swap. Sobers played 78 games as a rookie in 1975-76, averaged 9.2 points, and was a meaningful playoff guard with 13.0 points per game across 19 postseason games. He then averaged 13.6 points in 79 games for Phoenix in 1976-77 before the Suns traded him to Indiana. Phoenix therefore received four different contributors to the 1976 Finals roster from the original package, an unusually broad realized return.
New Orleans Return
Walk remained productive but briefly. He played 37 Jazz games in 1974-75, averaging 9.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists, before New Orleans packaged him with Jim Barnett to the Knicks for Henry Bibby and a 1975 first-round pick that later became Bill Robinzine. That later transaction was not generated by Walk alone, so its full value cannot be credited backward. The 1975 second-round pick also retained transaction value. On October 8, 1974, New Orleans sent that pick, which eventually became No. 22 Clyde Mayes, plus Steve Kuberski to Milwaukee for Russ Lee and a 1975 first-round pick. The Jazz used that No. 7 pick on Rich Kelley. Again, Kuberski was part of the cost, so Kelley's entire career cannot be assigned to this trade, but the second-rounder clearly helped New Orleans upgrade its draft capital. Kelley became a useful long-term NBA center and played 75 and 76 games in his first two Jazz seasons. The New Orleans side therefore deserves more credit than the legacy D grade, even though its value was more indirect and required additional assets.
Final Verdict
Phoenix still wins decisively. Perry, Awtrey and Hawthorne supplied hundreds of regular-season games, and the first-round asset was converted into Sobers. Perry, Awtrey, Hawthorne and Sobers all appeared for the 1975-76 Western Conference champions, tying the trade directly to the franchise's first Finals run. New Orleans received only half a season of Walk, but it successfully recycled both Walk and the incoming second-rounder into later packages. That keeps the Jazz return from being a failure even if those downstream deals required other assets and should not be fully backfilled here. An A+ for Phoenix reflects the breadth, durability and Finals relevance of the realized package without miscrediting Adrian Dantley. A B- for New Orleans reflects Walk's useful short stint and preserved transaction value while acknowledging the enormous direct value surrendered. Final verdict: Phoenix Suns Win.