The November 22 Move Was a Rights Sale
Basketball-Reference's Phoenix Suns transaction page states that Phoenix sold the player rights to Mike Bantom to Seattle on November 22, 1975. Seattle's transaction page records the same acquisition, and the NBA league ledger describes the same rights sale. The legacy archive entry correctly captured the broad cash-for-player structure, but this review makes the rights language explicit and avoids inventing a sale amount that the standard ledgers do not provide.
Bantom Immediately Rebounded From a Small Phoenix Role
Bantom had played only seven games for Phoenix at the start of 1975-76, averaging 3.0 points in 9.7 minutes. After the sale he appeared in 66 games for Seattle and averaged 8.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.8 minutes. He also produced 2.8 win shares for the SuperSonics. That is a meaningful first-year return for a transaction in which Seattle did not surrender a player or draft pick.
Seattle Received a Second Season of Rotation Value
Bantom returned in 1976-77 and played 44 more games for Seattle. His role declined to 18.1 minutes per game, but he still averaged 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 48.8 percent from the field. Across the two seasons, Seattle received 110 regular-season games from Bantom. The total workload matters because the transaction was not a brief rental or a player who failed to report; it produced sustained frontcourt depth across two roster cycles.
Phoenix's Return Was Economic Rather Than Basketball-Specific
Phoenix received cash, and that consideration should not be treated as worthless. The problem for a hindsight basketball grade is that the amount is not stated in the standard Basketball-Reference transaction records reviewed here, and no player or draft asset returned to Phoenix that can be followed through a later basketball chain. Bantom had been the No. 8 pick in the 1973 draft and had averaged 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds for Phoenix in 1974-75, so the Suns were selling the rights to a player who had already demonstrated rotation value.
The Later Career Does Not Need to Be Borrowed to Make Seattle's Case
Bantom later produced a strong 33-game run for the New York Nets in 1976-77 and continued his career with Indiana, Philadelphia and other teams. Those later games should not be credited to Seattle unless a verified transaction return links them back to the SuperSonics. The source-backed grade does not need that extra reach. Seattle's own 110 games, 923 points and substantial rebounding output are enough to establish the value of the original rights purchase.
Final Verdict
SuperSonics Win, B+/C. Seattle receives a B+ because an unquantified cash payment produced 110 regular-season games, one full 66-game post-trade season and useful frontcourt production over two years. The grade stops below A territory because Bantom was a rotation player rather than a star and no major downstream Seattle asset is assigned to the transaction. Phoenix receives a C because cash had real economic value, but the amount is not preserved in the standard ledger and no traceable basketball asset came back. Confidence is high on the rights-sale structure and Bantom's Seattle production, while the cash amount remains explicitly unresolved. The verdict reflects only verified transaction terms and realized team value.