On January 31st, 1979, the Cleveland Cavaliers sent Terry Furlow to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Butch Lee and a 1983 first-round pick. Both Furlow and Lee played their last NBA minutes in 1980, but that '83 draft pick ended up in the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, who used it to select Derek Harper. Harper went on to score over 16,000 points in his 16-year NBA career — nearly five times the combined career totals for Furlow and Lee.
As for January 31st, 2012, here are a few items from around the Association:
- Ramon Sessions isn't surprised to hear his name involved in trade rumors, writes Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer. The Lakers have inquired about the point guard's availability and the Cavaliers are receiving interest from other clubs as well.
- Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links) spoke with Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof who spoke highly of the jobs that GM Petrie and coach Keith Smart are doing. Last night, it was reported that the club could be looking to replace Petrie, who has been with the Kings since 1994.
- After J.J. Barea departed in the offseason, the Mavericks managed to replace him admirably and cheaply, as Jeff Caplan writes at ESPNDallas.com.
- There shouldn't be any sense of security for Hornets players, with a major roster overhaul coming this offseason, or sooner, says John DeShazier of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) checks in on the stocks of a few college players. While Anthony Davis still has a stranglehold on the top spot on Ford's draft board, the rest of the top five is in flux.
- Heat fans may have a love affair with Michael Beasley, but there probably would never have been a Big Three in Miami if Beasley had put it together during his time with the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- A few members of ESPN.com's TrueHoop network discussed Dwight Howard and other potential trade candidates.