Looking Back on the Dennis Johnson/Paul Westphal Trade

SEATTLE – Dennis Johnson was a legend in Seattle. He delivered a championship for the Sonics in 1979, earning the Finals MVP award in the process. 

He played four seasons with the Sonics and was a two-time All-Star with a reputation as a hard-nosed defender. He helped the Supes get back to the Western Conference Finals the year after winning the title, but Seattle was eliminated by the Lakers in five games to end the team’s title defense. 

And then, on June 3, 1980, DJ was traded to the Suns for Paul Westphal. At the time, the trade was billed as one team looking to deal a mercurial star guard to a team looking for a defensive presence in exchange for a high-scoring All-Star. 

Westphal averaged better than 20 points per game in five straight seasons for the Suns. On paper, the head-to-head swap seemed like a good deal for both teams. And it was a great deal for the Suns, who picked up a player who helped eliminate Phoenix on the way to the championship in 1979.

Johnson was an All-Star in two of his three seasons with the Suns before going on to win a pair of championships with the Celtics. 

Sonics fans, however, didn’t much care for the deal. In fact, they were livid. DJ was a local legend on the upswing of his career, while Westphal would only play 36 games for the Sonics. And, while he was an All-Star who averaged almost 17 points per game that season, he left for New York in the offseason as the Sonics continued their post-title transition.

Westphal would follow the pattern of his NBA playing career in his NBA coaching career, leading the Suns before later replacing George Karl as the Sonics’ head coach. 

As difficult as it was for Sonics fans to lose a player they loved in DJ, the trade also signaled a quick change from their ascendance to the top of the NBA world. The championship memories were still fresh, but one of the stars of that team was gone. 

Stars come and go. Organizations are forced to make difficult decisions fans are forced to live with. It wasn’t easy to watch DJ win titles for the Celtics without wondering what could have been in Seattle had he stayed. 

Like watching Ray Allen go on to win titles with the Celtics and Heat and Gary Payton finally get his ring with Miami, it’s bittersweet watching OUR guys get titles in other places. Sure, there’s a level of happiness. They brought joy to Sonics fans, so there’s a celebration of their success. But there’s also a twinge of jealousy, because those rings didn’t end with celebrations in Seattle. 

However, while it is easy to express frustration over a trade that didn’t work out the way the organization planned, DJ did bring a title to Seattle. So, fans can still fondly look back on his four years with the Sonics, the Finals MVP, the back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals and three straight seasons in the Western Conference Finals, the wins and the memories.

On June 3, 1980, the Sonics lost their young star in the Westphal trade, but in his time with Seattle, DJ always delivered.