Phoenix acquired Truck Robinson from New Orleans on January 12, 1979 for Marty Byrnes, Ron Lee, first-round picks in 1979 and 1980, and cash. Robinson immediately averaged 19.9 points and 10.7 rebounds in 26 regular-season Suns games, helped Phoenix reach the 1979 Western Conference Finals, then played all 82 games in both 1979-80 and 1980-81 and made the 1981 All-Star team. New Orleans/Utah received brief Byrnes and Lee stints, drafted Larry Knight at No. 20 in 1979 without an NBA appearance, and got 119 Jazz games from 1980 No. 19 John Duren. The two-first price was substantial, but the realized return strongly favored Phoenix.
New Orleans' 1978-79 transaction log confirms the January 12, 1979 package: the Jazz sent Truck Robinson to Phoenix for Marty Byrnes, Ron Lee, first-round picks in 1979 and 1980, and cash. The two firsts became No. 20 Larry Knight in 1979 and No. 19 John Duren in 1980. This is a useful hindsight case because the acquisition cost looked enormous in pick count, yet the actual draft outcomes were modest while Robinson remained a high-level starter for Phoenix.
Robinson joined a 50-win Suns team in midseason and immediately produced 19.9 points and 10.7 rebounds across 26 regular-season games. In the 1979 playoffs he appeared in all 15 Phoenix games as the Suns beat Portland and Kansas City before losing a seven-game Western Conference Finals to eventual champion Seattle. He then played all 82 games in 1979-80 and remained a major frontcourt piece on a 55-win team. In 1980-81 he again played all 82, started all 82 and averaged 18.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists for a 57-win Suns club. He made the 1981 All-Star team and finished 19th in MVP voting. Those two complete seasons after the initial 26-game stretch give Phoenix at least 190 regular-season games of direct value before even considering the remainder of his Suns tenure. The trade therefore delivered both immediate playoff help and durable star-level regular-season production.
Byrnes played 36 games for New Orleans after the trade, while Lee played only 17. Neither became a long-term Jazz piece. The draft outcomes were similarly limited. Larry Knight, selected No. 20 in 1979, never played an NBA regular-season game. John Duren, selected No. 19 in 1980 after the franchise moved to Utah, did make the league. He played 40 games as a rookie and 79 games with nine starts in 1981-82, averaging 3.4 points and 2.0 assists in the latter season. That is real rotation value, but it is far below what teams generally hope to obtain from two first-round selections. The cash component cannot be converted into basketball value from the available record. The Jazz therefore paid away their best player in the package and failed to turn either first into a comparable replacement.
Phoenix wins clearly, but the grading should acknowledge the size of the original gamble. Two first-rounders, two players and cash is a serious acquisition price, so the Suns deserve a high grade because Robinson actually justified it: he strengthened a Western Conference finalist, stayed available, remained a strong scorer and rebounder, and made an All-Star team. New Orleans/Utah deserves some credit for extracting two firsts rather than losing Robinson for a small package, but hindsight grading follows realized value. Byrnes and Lee were brief stays, Knight never played in the NBA, and Duren was a low-minute guard for two Utah seasons. An A for Phoenix captures star production and playoff impact without pretending Robinson became a franchise legend. A D+ for the Jazz recognizes that Duren supplied real games and the trade process generated valuable draft shots, even though those shots produced little. Final verdict: Phoenix Suns Win.