What Were Best, Worst Trades?

If you'd like to pose a Question of the Day to Conrad Brunner, submit it along with your full name and hometown to Bruno's_mailbag@pacers.com. Brunner’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pacers players, coaches or management.

QUESTION OF THE DAY Conrad Brunner

A. The three best leap to mind, one from the ABA and two from the NBA. On May 25, 1968, just a couple of months after their first ABA season ended with a first-round playoff loss to Pittsburgh, the Pacers acquired Mel Daniels from the Minnesota Muskies in exchange for James Dawson, Ron Kozlicki and a first-round draft pick. Though other accounts of the deal had the Pacers purchasing Daniels’ contract from the financially strapped Minnesota franchise (the Muskies would move to Miami and become the Floridians for the 1968-69 season), the official record lists it as a trade. Either way, it was a steal. Daniels was one of the most prolific big men in ABA history, the centerpiece of Pacers teams that won three championships.

In the NBA era, there was the acquisition of Detlef Schrempf from Dallas in February, 1989, for Herb Williams. The Mavericks gave up far too soon on Schrempf, who blossomed into one of the league’s most productive all-around forwards and a two-time Sixth Man Award winner. Though Williams stuck around for a number of years, he was on the decline at the time of the deal and had just two more moderately productive seasons. There was one other small part of that trade. The Pacers also acquired Dallas’ second-round pick in the 1990 draft, No. 45 overall. With it, they selected a little-known big man from Texas El-Paso named Antonio Davis.

And, of course, on Aug. 31, 2000, the Pacers traded away popular All-Star power forward Dale Davis in return for relative unknown Jermaine O'Neal. Though Indiana gave up an awful lot in that deal, O'Neal has become one of the best big men in the game and, by any standard, the trade was a big win for Donnie Walsh.

As for the worst, well, among the players traded away are Adrian Dantley (to the Lakers in 1977 in a deal that brought James Edwards) and Alex English (to Denver in 1980 for an aging George McGinnis). The big one came in 1981, when the Pacers acquired Tom Owens from Portland in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 1984. As it turned out, that was the second pick in ’84, and could’ve been used on Michael Jordan. Of course, Portland didn’t exactly maximize the deal; they used the pick on Sam Bowie. It’s a deal that can be primarily criticized in retrospect. At the time of the trade, the Pacers needed a center and Owens was a solid player, if a journeyman. But it’s a clear illustration of the dangers that lie in trading away a future draft pick.