EVEN in Bryce Gibbs' own words this week, Adelaide "gave up a lot to get me back here" at the end of 2017.

Handing over two first-round draft picks was a big price for a 28-year-old midfielder, one the Crows had opted not to pursue for a similar deal 12 months earlier.

But for a club fresh off a Grand Final defeat and in the heart of its premiership window, Gibbs was seen as the missing piece to complement the midfield grunt of Rory Sloane and Brad and Matt Crouch.

After a fourth-place finish in the 2018 best and fairest, history will show Gibbs failed to replicate the quality he produced in 11 seasons and 231 games at Carlton.

He fell out of favour with Don Pyke last year, and limited opportunity under new coach Matthew Nicks in 2020 has consigned Gibbs to just 14 matches in the past two years. 

On Sunday he will play his 37th and final game for the Crows against his former club after reaching a settlement on the final year of his contract for 2021.

So much has been made of the hefty price the Crows paid to bring in the smooth-moving Gibbs (details below) at the end of 2017, but what did they get in return? 

Along with Gibbs, the Crows also landed Carlton's 2018 second and third-round picks. 

When the Blues took the wooden spoon in 2018, that second-round pick (No.19) ended up only three picks later than the 2017 first-round pick (No.16) the Crows had sent to the Blues for Gibbs. 

After compensation picks and Academy bids in the 2018 NAB AFL Draft played out, that second-round pick drifted from No.19 to No.24.

It was a valuable commodity for the Crows, especially in a draft that permitted live trading for the first time and had been split across two days. And it gave their list management team the best part of 14 hours to field offers from rival clubs for that selection, which was highly prized as the first pick of the second round and the first pick of day two. 

The Crows eventually struck a handsome deal with Greater Western Sydney to send that pick No.24, plus a 2019 fifth-round selection, to the Giants in exchange for pick No.28 and a 2019 second-round selection (one that had been obtained off the Blues in a deal for Will Setterfield).

The Giants used No.24 to land Bobby Hill, while No.28 slid back to No.30 after two father-son selections. The Crows used it to nab Will Hamill, an exciting half-back who has been one of the shining lights for the Crows this season, growing at a rapid rate after a junior upbringing in athletics.

Adelaide can also thank that same deal with the Giants for the acquisition of untried key defender Josh Worrell.

The 2019 second-round pick the Crows received from the Giants, one that had started with the Blues, formed part of a live trade on draft night last year.  

Along with a 2020 fourth-round pick, it was bundled and sent to Sydney in exchange for pick 28 (Worrell) and a 2020 third-round pick (one the Swans obtained from Fremantle).

Worrell is yet to get his opportunity this season, but the Crows have high hopes he will be a long-term prospect in a backline alongside Hamill, Tom Doedee and Fischer McAsey.

Back to the original Gibbs deal, and the third-round pick the Crows received was sent along with Mitch McGovern in a three-way deal in 2018 in return for pick 13 (used for Ned McHenry), a fifth-rounder and access to mature-age priority Shane McAdam.

In relative terms, Hamill, Worrell and McAdam arrived as part of the Gibbs transaction. And it's not done yet, with Fremantle's third-round pick for this year (currently 42) in the Crows' possession as a result of the deal done during the draft last year.

While Gibbs' three years, and subsequent salary for 2021, have largely amounted to nothing, there remains something for Crows fans to hold onto for the future of the deal that cost two first-round selections.  

How the Gibbs deal panned out

ADELAIDE RECEIVED

Bryce Gibbs

Pick 77 
Not used

Carlton's 2018 second-round pick 
After the Blues finished last in 2018, this pick sat at the start of the second round. The Crows packaged it up, along with a 2019 fifth-round pick and sent to GWS exchange for pick 28 (Will Hamill) plus a 2019 second-round pick, a selection that was Carlton's courtesy of one the Giants had received from Carlton in the deal to send Will Setterfield to the Blues. That 2019 second-round pick (pick 26, Will Gould) was then packaged up by the Crows with a 2020 fourth-round pick and sent to Sydney for pick 28 (Josh Worrell) and a 2020 third-round pick (the Swans had obtained from Fremantle).

Carlton's 2018 third-round pick 
Packaged up in the three-way trade with Sydney and Carlton to send Mitch McGovern to the Blues, Sydney to acquire second-round picks and the Crows to end with pick 16 (Ned McHenry) and Shane McAdam (rights to bring in a mature-age player pre-draft from Carlton).

CARLTON RECEIVED

Pick 10 (on-traded from Melbourne as part of the Jake Lever trade)
The Blues used it to secure midfielder Lochie O'Brien at the draft.

Pick 16
The Blues packaged it up along with pick 40 (later on-traded to Brisbane) and sent to the Western Bulldogs in return for pick 28 (traded for Matt Kennedy), pick 30 (drafted Tom De Koning) and a 2018 second-round pick (later on-traded to Sydney). The Dogs used pick 16 on Ed Richards.

Pick 73
The Blues used it to select defender Angus Schumacher at the draft. 

Adelaide's 2018 second-round pick
The Blues used it in 2018 as part of the three-way deal with Sydney to bring in Mitch McGovern and sent it, along with others, to the Swans to strengthen their draft hand. It was a pick that ultimately changed hands to St Kilda and then Melbourne for the Dees to draft James Jordon at pick 33.