Seattle acquired Reggie King from Kansas City on October 26, 1983 for a 1985 second-round pick. King immediately became a starter, playing 77 games with 42 starts in 1983-84 and another 60 games in 1984-85. Kansas City did not keep the pick until draft night; in February 1984 it included the selection, which eventually became No. 28 Ken Johnson, in the multi-asset package that brought Reggie Theus from Chicago. Both sides extracted useful value, but Seattle received 137 direct games for one second-rounder while the Kings' return was only one component of the larger Theus deal, giving the SuperSonics a slight edge.
Basketball-Reference's Seattle transaction ledger records the October 26, 1983 trade: the SuperSonics sent Kansas City a 1985 second-round pick for Reggie King. King had been a regular starter earlier in his Kings career but had moved into a smaller role in 1982-83. Seattle restored him to a meaningful place in the rotation immediately.
King appeared in 77 games in 1983-84 and started 42. He logged 2,086 minutes, scored 602 points and collected 470 rebounds. That worked out to 7.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 27.1 minutes while shooting 52.0 percent from the field. He was a substantial rotation player on a 42-win Seattle team that reached the playoffs. King stayed for 1984-85 and appeared in 60 more games, starting five. His role shrank to 14.3 minutes per game, but he still gave Seattle another season of usable depth. Across the two seasons, the SuperSonics received 137 regular-season games from a player acquired for one future second-round pick.
The pick did not simply sit in the Kings' inventory until 1985. On February 15, 1984, Kansas City traded Steve Johnson and three second-round picks to Chicago for Reggie Theus. Seattle's 1985 second-rounder was one of those picks. It eventually became No. 28 Ken Johnson after the Bulls held the selection. Theus became a major Kings contributor. He averaged 19.0 points and 7.0 assists in 30 games after the 1984 trade, then remained a high-level starter as the franchise moved to Sacramento. That downstream value matters, but it cannot all be credited to the single Seattle pick. Kansas City also surrendered Steve Johnson and two other second-round selections in the Theus package.
Chicago ultimately used the pick at No. 28 in the 1985 draft on Ken Johnson. He played one NBA season, appearing in 64 games for the Bulls. Because Kansas City had already traded the selection away, Johnson's Bulls production does not count as Kings realized value. The Kings' credit comes from the pick's role as one piece of the Theus acquisition.
Kansas City handled the asset productively. Rather than waiting for a late second-round selection, the Kings used it as part of a package for a proven scorer and playmaker. Seattle's return is easier to assign directly. King gave the SuperSonics 137 games, 47 starts and two seasons of frontcourt depth for that single pick. The Kings' downstream branch was valuable but shared among four outgoing assets, so giving the entire Theus return to this pick would overstate its individual contribution.
Slight SuperSonics Edge, B+/B. Seattle earns a B+ for getting two seasons and 137 games from King at the cost of one second-rounder. Kansas City earns a B because the pick became useful trade currency in the Reggie Theus deal, even though it was only one part of that package. Confidence is high on the transaction chain and King production, with the grade appropriately limiting how much of Theus' value is assigned to this single pick.