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American Basketball Association draft

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The American Basketball Association draft was held from 1967 to 1975. Generally speaking, the ABA's drafts were considered a lot looser in terms of structure for teams to make their player choices when compared to the rivaling NBA. So much so, in fact, that in 1973, the ABA would host four different drafts that essentially held the same type of purpose at various different points of the year, while in 1974, the ABA would not only host a draft for college-based players, but also a draft for NBA players to be taken by ABA teams as well. In addition to that, according to former Washington Caps and Virginia Squires head coach Al Bianchi, the ABA would host their drafts on the drop of a hat and if a team wanted someone even after their draft was officially over and done with, they'd put him on their draft list anyway, which would later influence the rivaling NBA draft system during the 1970s decade.[1] Due to the secretive nature of the league's early drafts alongside their looser structures, not much is known about the draft records of where certain players were selected in which round early on outside of who the #1 pick of each draft was.

First overall picks

[edit]
Year Team Player Position College
1967 Indiana Pacers Jimmy Walker Shooting Guard Providence College Friars
1968 Houston Mavericks Elvin Hayes Power Forward/Center University of Houston Cougars
1969 New York Nets Lew Alcindor Center UCLA Bruins
1970 New York Nets Bob Lanier Center St. Bonaventure University Bonnies
1971 Utah Stars[2] Jim McDaniels Power Forward/Center Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
1972 Virginia Squires Bob McAdoo Center/Power Forward North Carolina Tar Heels
1973 San Diego Conquistadors Dwight Lamar† Point Guard University of Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
1974 Virginia Squires Tom McMillen‡ Power Forward/Center University of Maryland Terrapins
1975 Denver Nuggets Marvin Webster Center Morgan State University Bears
  • † Note: This pick was the #1 pick for what was considered the 1973 ABA Senior Draft (the official version of the ABA draft that year), not the 1973 Special Circumstances Draft, the 1973 ABA Undergraduate Draft that was directly after the Senior Draft that officially connected to the aforementioned draft once that prior draft was done with, or even the 1973 Supplemental Draft that was done some time afterward that incidentally had more rounds by comparison to the other drafts that year.
  • ‡ Note: This pick was the #1 pick for the regular 1974 ABA Draft, not the subsequent 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players.

Drafts

[edit]

1967 ABA draft

[edit]

No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Jimmy Walker as the #1 pick by the Indiana Pacers was kept throughout the ABA's inaugural draft history. The reason for this was related to this draft being held in secret at the end of the league's three day long meetings held in Oakland, California (home of one of the founding ABA teams) on April 2. (Following that period of time, the team currently known now as the Denver Nuggets went by the initial name of the Denver Larks at the time after previously ditching their original plans to play in Kansas City before later changing their team name to the Denver Rockets before the start of the season due to ownership changes; the team currently known as the Brooklyn Nets initially went by the name of the New Jersey Freighters at first before later becoming the New York Americans and then ultimately entered their augural season as the New Jersey Americans due to there being no suitable arenas in New York at the time for them; and the team that later became the Oakland Oaks to start out their ABA tenure originally started out as the Oakland Americans at the time before a dispute with the New Jersey later turned into a future New York franchise led to the Oakland franchise originally trying to change their team name to the Jacks before ultimately changing their name to the Oaks, which was kind of considered a homage to the previous incarnation of the team name held in the second version of the American Basketball League, but was more considered a homage to the Pacific Coast League baseball team of the same name instead.[3][4][5]) What is known, however, was that the Indiana Pacers won the ABA draft lottery and would selected the #1 pick in the process, with the second round being reversed in drafting order.[6] Likewise, the New Orleans Buccaneers would be the first team to complete a draft day trade in the ABA by making a deal with the Oakland Oaks, as well as select multiple multi-athlete players in Bob Seagren and Ron Widby that year.[7]

Anaheim Amigos
First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Dallas Chaparrals
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Denver Larks/Rockets
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Denver):
Houston Mavericks
First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Indiana Pacers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Kentucky Colonels
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Minnesota Muskies
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New Jersey Freighters / New York/New Jersey Americans
First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for this primarily New Jersey-based team):
New Orleans Buccaneers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Oakland Americans/Jacks/Oaks
First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Oakland):
Pittsburgh Pipers
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):

1968 ABA draft

[edit]

No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Elvin Hayes as the #1 pick by the Houston Mavericks was kept throughout the ABA's second ever draft. The reason why this would be the case was due to it being held in secret, with an evaluation draft being conducted on March 9 in Louisville, Kentucky (home of the Kentucky Colonels) that lasted only four rounds instead of five rounds like it did the previous year,[8] followed by two different drafts of similar nature occurring on April 27 & May 5 in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, Minnesota (homes to two out of four relocated ABA franchises entering their upcoming season, with the latter location also being the original headquarters of the ABA at that time) for rounds 6-10 and rounds 11-15 respectively.[9] During this period of time, the Anaheim Amigos would officially change their franchise's name into the Los Angeles Stars,[10] with the Stars keeping the original picks that they had under the Amigos name. Following the conclusion of this draft period, the New Jersey Americans would return to an original plan of theirs with playing in New York by becoming the New York Nets for the rest of their ABA tenure following a failed permanent home move to New Jersey in relation to a forced disqualification for a playoff qualifying match against the Kentucky Colonels (though ironically playing in the same arena that initially disqualified them playoff qualification last season on a more permanent basis (at first), but with new floor boards in place in order to avoid a repeat scenario like their last game of that inaugural season from occurring again),[4] while the Minnesota Muskies would move to Miami, Florida to become the Miami Floridians and the defending champion Pittsburgh Pipers would move to Minnesota to become the Minnesota Pipers.[11][12] This year's draft would also increase the number of overall rounds for the draft from 10 to 15 rounds, meaning an increase in selections occurred during this year as well. This year's draft events would also begin the ABA's plans to merge with the rivaling NBA in what would eventually become the NBA–ABA merger.[13]

Anaheim Amigos / Los Angeles Stars
First five rounds (each round is not specified here for the Anaheim Amigos unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for the Los Angeles Stars)):
Dallas Chaparrals
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Denver Rockets
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Houston Mavericks
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Indiana Pacers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Kentucky Colonels
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Minnesota Muskies
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New Jersey Americans
First four rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New Orleans Buccaneers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Oakland Oaks
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Pittsburgh Pipers
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):

1969 ABA draft

[edit]

No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) as the #1 pick for his home area New York Nets and the Houston Mavericks (who would soon become the Carolina Cougars once the team officially entered the second day of the ABA draft[15]) selecting Neal Walk with the #2 overall pick under what was dubbed as "Operation Kingfish" at the time (similar to the opening results of the 1969 NBA draft) was kept throughout the ABA's third ever draft. The reason why that would be the case was because the ABA would host the first five rounds secretly on February 15 in Bloomington, Minnesota (the at the time home area of the Minnesota Pipers that was also nearby the ABA's headquarters at the time), with the following five rounds after that being completed on April 15 in Charlotte, North Carolina (around the same period of time the Houston Mavericks began their move to North Carolina to become the Carolina Cougars for their new home area). Additional rounds would be implemented later on, but a total of 10 official rounds with every team (with most teams utilizing additional rounds as well) had been completed that draft year, meaning this draft decreased the total amount of rounds from the previous draft they did. Following the repeated failures of persuading talented star players like Lew Alcindor to choose the ABA over the rivaling NBA (with miscommunication from the ABA commission to Alcindor on the final amount the Nets would spend for him being the last straw), George Mikan would effectively resign from his position as the commissioner of the ABA.[16] Also following the draft's conclusion, the Minnesota Pipers would return back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the Pittsburgh Pipers once again and the new defending champion Oakland Oaks would move to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Caps.[12][5] On a more positive note, the time after this draft would also be notable for the Denver Rockets acquiring sophomore power forward Spencer Haywood, a Hall of Famer in his own right from the University of Detroit that would ultimately cause a greater influence upon the NBA draft system (in exchange for the Rockets forfeiting their own first round pick the following draft year) due to the newly created hardship exception made by interim commissioner and Houston Mavericks turned Carolina Cougars owner James Carson Gardner and the subsequent Haywood v. National Basketball Association case that would come up years later in relation to Haywood's unique situation that came from him being signed up by the ABA first.[17]

Dallas Chaparrals
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Denver Rockets
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds:
Houston Mavericks / Carolina Cougars
First five rounds (each round is not specified here for the Houston Mavericks unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for the Carolina Cougars):
Indiana Pacers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Kentucky Colonels
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Los Angeles Stars
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Miami Floridians
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Minnesota Pipers
First three rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New Orleans Buccaneers
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New York Nets
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Oakland Oaks
First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):

1970 ABA draft

[edit]

No official known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Bob Lanier as the #1 territorial-based pick of the New York Nets was kept throughout the ABA's fourth ever draft. However, there would at least be a known record for the first three rounds for each and every team.[19] Despite that point, the ABA would hold this draft's first eight rounds at its earliest date yet on January 22 in Indianapolis (home of the Indiana Pacers), while the second half of the draft (which would go from rounds 9-17 this year, though teams would only go up as far as 15 or 16 rounds for this year's draft) would be held on March 15 in their new headquarters at New York (also the home area of the New York Nets). This draft would see the ABA become more successful in persuading young talents to join the ABA instead of the rivaling NBA, as well as showcase the most rounds in an ABA draft yet. However, it would also showcase the league's still ever-growing signs of instability from within after the draft ended with teams moving around and/or changing names in order to become more regional with their fanbase with the Dallas Chaparrals renaming themselves to the Texas Chaparrals in an attempt for their franchise to be more regional for the entire state of Texas following the Houston Mavericks' previous move to North Carolina to become the Carolina Cougars,[20] the runner-up Los Angeles Stars moving to Utah for the rest of their tenure to become the Utah Stars,[10] the Miami Floridians being renamed to just "The Floridians" in a unique attempt to have the team represent all of Florida,[11] the New Orleans Buccaneers would briefly be renamed the Louisiana Buccaneers in order to represent all of Louisiana before newer ownership changed hands and led to them moving to Memphis, Tennessee in order to become the Memphis Pros,[21] the Pittsburgh Pipers briefly changing their team name to the Pittsburgh Pioneers before lawsuit threats by both Point Park College and a different "Name That Team" contestant via the winning essay entry supposedly going over the contest's 25 word limit forced them into creating the Pittsburgh Condors name that they'd use for the rest of their existence,[12] and the Washington Caps moving to the nearby state of Virginia to become the Virginia Squires due to the team hearing rumors of an NBA–ABA merger coming about,[5] which ultimately got delayed by six years due to the Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association antitrust lawsuit.[22]

Carolina Cougars
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Dallas Chaparrals
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Denver Rockets
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds:
Indiana Pacers
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Kentucky Colonels
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Los Angeles Stars
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Miami Floridians / The Floridians
First three rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New Orleans Buccaneers
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
New York Nets
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
Pittsburgh Pipers/Pioneers/Condors
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Pittsburgh):
Washington Caps
First five rounds:
Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):

1971 ABA draft

[edit]

This draft would be the first ABA draft to have a known record of who got selected where in the ABA beyond just the fact that Jim McDaniels was the #1 pick by the eventual champion Utah Stars from a trade involving the temporarily rebranded Texas Chaparrals later returning to their Dallas Chaparrals name (though they're now known as the San Antonio Spurs in more modern times) during this year following the draft,[20] according to "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts". Not only that, but the ABA would also host the most rounds ever in one draft by this point in time with a grand total of twenty rounds officially being set this year. The first three rounds would be completed on January 22-23 at Greensboro, North Carolina (specifically, rounds one and two would be done on the 22nd alongside parts of round three, while round three was officially completed on the 23rd at the general home area of the Carolina Cougars), while the rest of the rounds starting from the fourth round onward would all be completed on March 15 in New York (which would be where the rest of the ABA's major drafts were held at going forward). The ABA would also host a "Special Circumstances" Draft later in the year on September 10 in Memphis, Tennessee as a response to the (at the time) recently implemented "NBA Hardship Draft" that the NBA was forced to utilize following the results of the Haywood v. National Basketball Association 1971 Supreme Court case, though only three players from that special draft would be selected there: Duquesne University's Mickey Davis for the Denver Rockets in the second round, the University of California's Phil Chenier for the Carolina Cougars in the second round, and North Carolina State University's Ed Leftwich for the New York Nets in the fourth round; no players were selected during the first or third rounds in question for that event (though technically speaking, Mickey Davis would be considered the #1 pick of the Special Circumstances Draft that year).[31] The ABA would later rule that three of the players that the Virginia Squires drafted in Tom Riker, Jim Chones, and Barry Parkhill were actually ineligible underclassmen due to the original conditions that the ABA had to uphold in order to allow the initially planned NBA–ABA merger to happen in the first place despite the Denver Rockets keeping their own first round selection (the second of three straight first round picks that they had acquired via trades) of Ralph Simpson at hand (though the Squires would later get Parkhill back onto their team eventually),[32] while the Indiana Pacers essentially pranked the rest of the league by selecting a nonexistent player named "Slick Pinkham" from DePauw University as the official last pick of the 1971 ABA draft; Slick Pinkham was a portmanteau of head coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard and team owner Dick Tinkham, who actually did attend DePauw University and played basketball for them there back when he was a student.[33] Outside of the Texas Chaparrals returning to their Dallas Chaparrals name after the regular ABA draft ended,[20] no changes involving ABA teams would occur after this draft year, which would make it the most stable draft year in the ABA yet. Also following the draft were the initial plans of the NBA–ABA merger that would have seen every ABA team join the NBA except for the Virginia Squires (the reason for their exclusion related to them being too close of proximity to the Baltimore Bullets, now Washington Wizards, which would have forced them to either move yet again in order to join the NBA or fold operations altogether) starting by May 1971 before the Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association antitrust lawsuit ruined that merger plan entirely.[34]

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/Club team
1 1 Jim McDaniels+ PF/C  United States Utah Stars (from Texas)[32] Western Kentucky (Sr.)
1 2 Elmore Smith C  United States Carolina Cougars Kentucky State (Sr.)
1 3 Howard Porter PF/SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors Villanova (Sr.)
1 4 Cliff Meely PF  United States Denver Rockets (from The Floridians)[32] Colorado (Sr.)
1 5 Ralph Simpson^ SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Michigan State (Jr.)
1 6 Ken Durrett PF  United States Denver Rockets (from New York via Virginia)[32] La Salle (Sr.)
1 7 Randy Denton C  United States Memphis Pros Duke (Sr.)
1 8 Willie Sojourner C/PF  United States Virginia Squires (from Indiana via Kentucky)[32] Weber State (Sr.)
1 9 Artis Gilmore^ C  United States Kentucky Colonels Jacksonville (Sr.)
1 10 Stan Love PF  United States Texas Chaparrals (from Utah)[32] Oregon (Sr.)
1 11 Dana Lewis# C  United States Virginia Squires Tulsa (Sr.)
2 12 Sidney Wicks PF  United States Texas Chaparrals UCLA (Sr.)
2 13 Levi Wyatt# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Alcorn A&M College (Sr.)
2 14 Rich Yunkus PF/C  United States Carolina Cougars Georgia Tech (Sr.)
2 15 Marv Roberts PF/C  United States Denver Rockets Utah State (Sr.)
2 16 Willie Long SF/PF  United States The Floridians New Mexico (Sr.)
2 17 Charlie Davis PG  United States New York Nets Wake Forest (Sr.)
2 18 Bob Kissane# F  United States New York Nets (from Virginia)[32] Holy Cross (Sr.)
2 19 Darnell Hillman PF/C  United States Indiana Pacers San Jose State (Sr.)
2 20 Jake Ford# SG  United States Memphis Pros Western Kentucky (Sr.)
2 21 Roger Brown+ C  United States Texas Chaparrals (from Utah)[32] Kansas (Sr.)
2 22 Garry Nelson# C  United States Utah Stars Duquesne (Sr.)
3 23 Gregg Northington# C  United States Carolina Cougars Alabama State (Sr.)
3 24 Austin Carr SG  United States Virginia Squires Notre Dame (Sr.)
3 25 John Mengelt SG  United States Indiana Pacers Auburn (Sr.)
3 26 John Roche PG  United States Kentucky Colonels South Carolina (Sr.)
3 27 Mike Newlin SG  United States Denver Rockets Utah (Sr.)
3 28 Jimmy O'Brien# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Boston College (Sr.)
3 29 Walt Szczerbiak SF  United States Texas Chaparrals George Washington (Sr.)
3 30 Thorpe Weber# F  United States Memphis Pros Vanderbilt (Sr.)
3 31 Ted McClain PG/SG  United States Carolina Cougars Tennessee State (Sr.)
3 32 Rick Fisher PF  United States Utah Stars Colorado State (Sr.)
3 33 Marvin Stewart# G  United States New York Nets Nebraska (Sr.)
4 34 Gene Phillips SG  United States Texas Chaparrals SMU (Sr.)
4 35 Al Smith PG  United States Denver Rockets Bradley (Sr.)
4 36 Bill Smith# C  United States Pittsburgh Condors (from Carolina)[32] Syracuse (Sr.)
4 37 Tom Owens C/PF  United States Memphis Pros (from The Floridians)[32] South Carolina (Sr.)
4 38 Bubba Jones# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Ashland (Sr.)
4 39 Amos Thomas# SG/SF  United States Memphis Pros Southwestern State (Sr.)
4 40 Dick Gibbs SF  United States New York Nets UTEP (Sr.)
4 41 Fred Brown PG/SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Iowa (Sr.)
4 42 Dana Pagett G  United States Virginia Squires USC (Sr.)
4 43 Jim Cleamons PG/SG  United States Indiana Pacers Ohio State (Sr.)
4 44 Mo Layton PG  United States Utah Stars USC (Sr.)
5 45 Collis Jones SF/PF  United States Texas Chaparrals Notre Dame (Sr.)
5 46 Dave Robisch C/PF  United States Denver Rockets Kansas (Sr.)
5 47 Luke Adams# F  United States Carolina Cougars Lamar State (Sr.)
5 48 Rich Rinaldi G  United States The Floridians Saint Peter's (Sr.)
5 49 Mike Jordan# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Savannah State (Sr.)
5 50 Kennedy McIntosh PF  United States Memphis Pros Eastern Michigan (Sr.)
5 51 Glen Summors# F  United States New York Nets Gannon College (Jr.)
5 52 Mike Gale PG/SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Elizabeth City State (Sr.)
5 53 Tom Riker C/PF  United States Virginia Squires South Carolina (Jr.)
5 54 Clarence Glover SF  United States Indiana Pacers Western Kentucky (Sr.)
5 55 Lee Dedmon# F  United States Utah Stars North Carolina (Sr.)
6 56 George Trapp PF/C  United States Texas Chaparrals Cal State Long Beach (Sr.)
6 57 William Graham# F  United States Denver Rockets Kentucky State (Sr.)
6 58 Ron Rippetoe# G  United States Carolina Cougars David Lipscomb College (Sr.)
6 59 Larry Holliday# G  United States The Floridians Oregon (Sr.)
6 60 Barry Nelson C  United States Pittsburgh Condors Duquesne (Sr.)
6 61 Fred Hilton SG  United States Memphis Pros Grambling (Sr.)
6 62 Matt Necaise# F  United States New York Nets William Carey College (Sr.)
6 63 Jim Welch# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Houston (Sr.)
6 64 Barry Parkhill SG  United States Virginia Squires Virginia (So.)
6 65 Jeff Halliburton SG  United States Indiana Pacers Drake (Sr.)
6 66 Bobby Fields G  United States Utah Stars La Salle (Sr.)
7 67 Sterling Quant# PF  The Bahamas[35] Texas Chaparrals Central State (Sr.)
7 68 Ken Gardner SF  United States Denver Rockets Utah (Sr.)
7 69 Ed Kemp# F  United States Carolina Cougars Adams State (Sr.)
7 70 Greg Starrick# G  United States The Floridians Southern Illinois (Sr.)
7 71 John Sutter# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Tulane (Sr.)
7 72 Loyd King SG  United States Memphis Pros Virginia Tech (Sr.)
7 73 Odis Allison SF  United States New York Nets UNLV (Sr.)
7 74 Larry Steele SG/SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky (Sr.)
7 75 Clifford Ray C/PF  United States Virginia Squires Oklahoma (Sr.)
7 76 Dean Meminger PG  United States Indiana Pacers Marquette (Sr.)
7 77 Erwin Johnson# F  United States Utah Stars Augusta (Sr.)
8 78 Curtis Rowe PF  United States Texas Chaparrals UCLA (Sr.)
8 79 Tyrone Marioneaux# C  United States Denver Rockets Loyola (New Orleans) (Sr.)
8 80 Kenneth Davis# PG  United States Carolina Cougars Georgetown College (KY) (Sr.)
8 81 Tom Lee# F  United States The Floridians Arizona (Sr.)
8 82 Charlie Yelverton SG/SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors Fordham (Sr.)
8 83 James Douglas# G  United States Memphis Pros Memphis State (Sr.)
8 84 John Duncan# F  United States New York Nets Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.)
8 85 Clarence Sherrod# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Wisconsin (Sr.)
8 86 Bill Gerry# F  United States Virginia Squires Virginia (Sr.)
8 87 Vic Bartolome# G  United States Indiana Pacers UCLA (Sr.)
8 88 Jim Day# F  United States Utah Stars Morehead State (Sr.)
9 89 Jimmie Guymon# G  United States Texas Chaparrals Eastern New Mexico (Sr.)
9 90 Mike Childress# C  United States Denver Rockets Colorado State (Sr.)
9 91 Dave Wohl PG  United States Carolina Cougars Pennsylvania (Sr.)
9 92 Jim Haderlein# F  United States The Floridians Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.)
9 93 Vincent White# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Savannah State (Sr.)
9 94 Henry Smith# F  United States Memphis Pros Missouri (Sr.)
9 95 Jarrett Durham F  United States New York Nets Duquesne (Sr.)
9 96 Mike O'Brien# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Saint Leo (Sr.)
9 97 Jim Chones C/PF  United States Virginia Squires Marquette (Jr.)
9 98 Tom Crosswhite# F  United States Indiana Pacers Dayton (Sr.)
9 99 Willie Humes# G  United States Utah Stars Idaho State (Sr.)
10 100 Gene Knoll# G  United States Texas Chaparrals Texas Tech (Sr.)
10 101 George Faerber#[36] F  United States Denver Rockets Purdue (Sr.)
10 102 Ken Mayfield SG  United States Carolina Cougars Tuskegee (Sr.)
10 103 Doug Rex# F  United States The Floridians UC Santa Barbara (Sr.)
10 104 James Fleming# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Alcorn A&M College (Sr.)
10 105 Jim Gregory# F  United States Memphis Pros East Carolina (Sr.)
10 106 Eric Hill# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors (from New York)[32] Minnesota (Sr.)
10 107 Larry Saunders# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Duke (Sr.)
10 108 Gil McGregor PF  United States Virginia Squires Wake Forest (Sr.)
10 109 Larry Weatherford# G  United States Indiana Pacers Purdue (Sr.)
10 110 Jake Jones SG  United States Utah Stars Assumption College (Sr.)
11 111 Al Shumate#[37] SF  United States Texas Chaparrals North Texas State (Sr.)
11 112 John Ribock# F  United States Denver Rockets South Carolina (Sr.)
11 113 Bobby McKenney#[38] C  United States Carolina Cougars Pepperdine (Sr.)
11 114 Gerald Lockett# F  United States The Floridians Arkansas AM&N College (Sr.)
11 115 Rayford McCambry# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Miles College (Sr.)
11 116 Danny Davis# F  United States Memphis Pros Henderson State (Sr.)
11 117 Bill Warner# G  United States New York Nets Arizona (Sr.)
11 118 Sid Catlett F  United States Kentucky Colonels Notre Dame (Sr.)
11 119 Héctor Blondet# F  Puerto Rico Virginia Squires Murray State (Sr.)
11 120 Jim England# G  United States Indiana Pacers Tennessee (Sr.)
11 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
12 121 Willie Hart# C  United States Texas Chaparrals Grambling (So.)[39]
12 122 Gary Brell# F  United States Denver Rockets Marquette (Sr.)
12 123 Craig Love# F  United States Carolina Cougars Ohio (Sr.)
12 124 Will Allen F  United States The Floridians Miami (FL) (Sr.)
12 125 Isaiah Wilson SG  United States Pittsburgh Condors Baltimore (Sr.)
12 126 Gary Reist# G  United States Memphis Pros Rice (Sr.)
12 127 Blaine Henry# G  United States New York Nets Marshall (Sr.)
12 128 Jim Dinwiddie# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky (Sr.)
12 129 Luis Grillo#[40] PG  United States Virginia Squires Sunbury Mercuries (EBA)[41]
12 130 Jeff Smith# F  United States Indiana Pacers New Mexico State (Jr.)
12 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
13 131 Goo Kennedy PF/C  United States Texas Chaparrals TCU (Sr.)
13 132 Glen Richgels# C  United States Denver Rockets Wisconsin (Sr.)
13 133 Bob Wenzel# G  United States Carolina Cougars Rutgers (Sr.)
13 134 Jackie Ridgle SG  United States The Floridians California (Sr.)
13 135 Ray Greene# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors California State (Pennsylvania) (Sr.)
13 136 Edward Hoskins# SF  United States Memphis Pros LeMoyne–Owen (Sr.)
13 137 Don Ward# G  United States New York Nets Colgate (Sr.)
13 138 Pierre Russell SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Kansas (Sr.)
13 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
13 139 Rick Katherman# F  United States Indiana Pacers Duke (Sr.)
13 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
14 140 Bill Brickhouse# G  United States Texas Chaparrals Montana State (Sr.)
14 141 Jerry Hyder# G  United States Denver Rockets Eastern New Mexico (Sr.)
14 142 Ron Dorsey SF  United States Carolina Cougars Tennessee State (Sr.)
14 143 Pembrook Burrows# C  United States The Floridians Jacksonville (Sr.)
14 144 Gene Mumford# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Scranton (Sr.)
14 145 Ken Riley# F  United States Memphis Pros Middle Tennessee (Sr.)
14 146 Skip Young# G  United States New York Nets Florida State (Sr.)
14 147 Jerome Perry# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Western Kentucky (Sr.)
14 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
14 148 Clarence Smith# F  United States Indiana Pacers Villanova (Sr.)
14 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
15 149 William Chatmon# F  United States Texas Chaparrals Baylor (Sr.)
15 150 David Hall# C/PF  United States Denver Rockets Kansas State (Jr.)
15 151 Hank Commodore# G  United States Carolina Cougars Northwestern State (Sr.)
15 152 Ken May# F  United States The Floridians Dayton (Sr.)
15 153 Lee McCullough# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Indiana (Pennsylvania) (Sr.)
15 154 Rod Behrens# PF  United States Memphis Pros Samford (Sr.)[42][43]
15 155 Phillip Sisk#[44] G  United States New York Nets Georgia Southern (Sr.)
15 156 Willie Cherry# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Denver (Sr.)
15 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
15 157 Rich Walker# G  United States Indiana Pacers Bowling Green (Sr.)
15 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
16 158 Harry Taylor# G/F  United States Texas Chaparrals Los Angeles Baptist (Sr.)
16 159 Richard Dixon# G  United States Denver Rockets Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.)
16 160 Frank Lorthridge# C/PF  United States Carolina Cougars Pan American (Sr.)
16 161 Wayman Terrell# PF/C  United States The Floridians Oklahoma Baptist (Sr.)
16 162 Russell Golden# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Jacksonville (Jr.)
16 163 Don Johnson# F  United States Memphis Pros Tennessee (Sr.)
16 164 Brian Mahoney SG  United States New York Nets Manhattan (Sr.)
16 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
16 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
16 165 Tom Bush# C  United States Indiana Pacers Drake (Sr.)
16 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
17 166 Dan McGhee# PF/C  United States Texas Chaparrals Howard Payne (Sr.)[45]
17 167 David Walls Jr.#[46] PF/C  United States Denver Rockets Jackson State (Sr.)
17 168 Dan Fife# G  United States Carolina Cougars Michigan (Sr.)
17 169 Bill Drozdiak# F  United States The Floridians Oregon (Sr.)
17 170 Harry James# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Montclair State (Sr.)[47]
17 171 Haywood Hill# SG/SF  United States Memphis Pros Oral Roberts (Sr.)
17 172 Ollie Shannon# G  United States New York Nets Minnesota (Sr.)
17 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
17 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
17 173 Jim Irving# G  United States Indiana Pacers Saint Louis (Sr.)
17 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 174 Paul Botts# G  United States Denver Rockets Central Michigan (Sr.)
18 175 Cliff Harris# F  United States Carolina Cougars Hardin–Simmons (Sr.)
18 176 Eddie Myers# C  United States The Floridians Arizona (Sr.)
18 177 John Novey# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Mount St. Mary's (Sr.)
18 178 Reggie Wood# F  United States Memphis Pros College of Steubenville (Sr.)
18 179 Bob Doyle# SG  United States New York Nets UTEP (Sr.)
18 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 180 Bob Bissant# G  United States Indiana Pacers Loyola (New Orleans) (Sr.)
18 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 181 Ron Smith# C  United States Denver Rockets Wichita State (Sr.)
19 182 Steve Bilsky# PG  United States Carolina Cougars Pennsylvania (Sr.)
19 183 Steve Sims# SG  United States The Floridians Pepperdine (Sr.)
19 Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 184 Billy Barnes# PF/C  United States Memphis Pros Southern State (Sr.)[48]
19 185 Calvin Oliver# F  United States New York Nets Pan American (Sr.)
19 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 186 Rudy Benjamin# G  United States Indiana Pacers Michigan State (Sr.)
19 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 187 Bobby Jones# G  United States Denver Rockets Drake (Sr.)
20 Carolina Cougars (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 188 Pat Biber# F  United States The Floridians Tampa (Sr.)[49]
20 Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 189 Allan Dalton#[50] G  United States Memphis Pros Suffolk (Sr.)
20 190 Greg Cluess# C/PF  United States New York Nets St. John's (Jr.)
20 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 191 Slick Pinkham# G  United States Indiana Pacers DePauw University ("Sr.")
20 Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.)

1972 ABA draft

[edit]

Note, this year does not include six rounds of the July 13 dispersal draft involving two former ABA teams or an expansion draft for the San Diego Conquistadors (who took Mike Barrett from the Virginia Squires as their first pick in that draft) that took place after the dispersal draft to replace one of those defunct teams in question, meaning this draft would not have the San Diego team involved.[51][52] Once again, the ABA planned on getting a head start on the rivaling NBA by starting their first five rounds of the draft on March 2 (with ordering based off of records from February 20, though with the Pittsburgh Condors and Memphis Tams alternating between themselves on who has the first selection and who has the second selection in each round), while the rest of the draft (which would also be twenty rounds long) would finish up over a month later on April 12 up in New York. However, this draft would also be the first draft to allow each team to select a college underclassman to join their team within the first five rounds of the draft, which drew some ire and criticisms at the time amongst not just the NCAA, but also numerous college coaches as well. This allowed teams to select some special talented players like future Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Bill Walton, as well as players like Doug Collins and freshman David Brent being drafted earlier than the NBA had anticipated them being available, though most of those guys either returned to college or went to the NBA anyway, Unfortunately, the recording of who got selected where during the first five rounds in particular is not well known for this particular year, meaning some information for the earlier rounds is more scattershot and a bit messier to record by comparison to the later rounds, weirdly enough, although we do at least know the general draft ordering for the teams that selected players this year.[53] As such, the listing of the first five rounds in particular might not be 100% accurate information by comparison to the rest of the draft here. In any case, following the conclusion of this draft year, both "The Floridians" and the Pittsburgh Condors would declare themselves as defunct operations going forward (thus leading to only the aforementioned San Diego Conquistadors replacing just one of those two teams going forward[54]), while the Memphis Pros decided to change their team name to the Memphis Tams entering the upcoming season.[21]

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/Club team
1 1 Bob McAdoo^ C  United States Virginia Squires (from Pittsburgh)[53] North Carolina (Jr.)
1 Memphis Tams (forfeited #2 pick due to them acquiring Larry Cannon from the Denver Rockets[53])
1 2 Tom Riker C/PF  United States Carolina Cougars South Carolina (Sr.)
1 3 Bud Stallworth SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Kansas (Sr.)
1 4 Dwight Davis PF  United States The Floridians Houston (Sr.)
1 New York Nets (forfeited #5 pick due to them signing Jim Chones, a player previously drafted by the Virginia Squires last year that got invalidated due to draft stipulations at the time[53])
1 5 LaRue Martin C  United States Dallas Chaparrals Loyola (Chicago) (Sr.)
1 6 Paul Stovall SF  United States Denver Rockets (from Indiana)[53] Arizona State (Sr.)
1 Virginia Squires (forfeited what would have been the #7 pick due to them signing Julius Erving last year after the previous draft ended[53])
1 Utah Stars (forfeited what would have been the new #7 pick due to them signing Jimmy Jones from the Memphis Tams[53])
1 7 Corky Calhoun SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Duke (Sr.)
2 8 David Brent# C/PF  United States Memphis Tams Jacksonville (Fr.)
2 9 John Gianelli C/PF  United States Pittsburgh Condors Pacific (Sr.)
2 10 Dennis Wuycik SF  United States Carolina Cougars North Carolina (Sr.)
2 11 Claude Terry SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Stanford (Sr.)
2 12 Mike Stewart# C  United States The Floridians Santa Clara (Jr.)
2 13 Bill Chamberlain SF  United States New York Nets North Carolina (Sr.)
2 14 Mike Ratliff C  United States Dallas Chaparrals Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.)
2 15 Chris Ford SG  United States Utah Stars Villanova (Sr.)
2 16 Russ Lee SG/SF  United States Memphis Tams (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Kentucky)) Marshall (Sr.)
3 17 Chuck Terry SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors Long Beach State (Sr.)
3 18 Jim Price PG  United States Memphis Tams Louisville (Sr.)
3 19 Brian Taylor* PG  United States New York Nets (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Carolina)) Princeton (Sr.)
3 20 Paul Westphal^ PG/SG  United States Denver Rockets USC (Sr.)
3 21 Scott English SF  United States The Floridians UTEP (Sr.)
3 22 Joby Wright PF/C  United States New York Nets (from The Floridians via New York)[53] Indiana (Sr.)
3 23 Bob Morse# SF/PF  United States Dallas Chaparrals Pennsylvania (Sr.)
3 24 Oscar Evans# G  United States Indiana Pacers Butler (Sr.)
3 25 Bill Franklin# F  United States Virginia Squires Auburn (Sr.)
3 26 Travis Grant SF  United States Utah Stars Kentucky State (Sr.)
4 27 Rusty Clair# C/PF  United States Memphis Tams Oregon (Sr.)
4 28 Bob Davis SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors Weber State (Sr.)
4 29 Fred Boyd PG/SG  United States Carolina Cougars Oregon State (Sr.)
4 30 Doug Collins SG  United States Denver Rockets Illinois State (Sr.)
4 31 Greg Starrick# G  United States The Floridians Southern Illinois (Sr.)
4 32 Dwaine Dillard SF  United States New York Nets Eastern Michigan (So.)[55]
4 33 Bill Walton^ C  United States Dallas Chaparrals UCLA (So.)
4 34 Art White# F  United States New York Nets (acquired via trade of some sort) Georgetown University (D.C.) (Sr.)
4 35 Chuck Jura# C  United States Utah Stars Nebraska (Sr.)
5 36 Wil Robinson SG  United States Pittsburgh Condors West Virginia (Sr.)
5 37 Steve Bracey PG  United States Carolina Cougars Tulsa (Sr.)
5 38 Dave Bustion PF  United States Denver Rockets Denver (Sr.)
5 39 Bob Lackey SG  United States New York Nets Marquette (Sr.)
5 40 Steve Hawes C/PF  United States Dallas Chaparrals Washington (Sr.)
5 41 Nate Stephens# C  United States Indiana Pacers Long Beach State (Jr.)
5 42 Bob Nash SF  United States Utah Stars Hawaii (Sr.)
5 43 Harold Fox PG  United States Pittsburgh Condors (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Kentucky)) Jacksonville (Sr.)
6 44 Bob Ford# F  United States Memphis Tams Purdue (Sr.)
6 45 James Silas* PG  United States Pittsburgh Condors Stephen F. Austin (Sr.)
6 46 Steve Bracey PG  United States Carolina Cougars Tulsa (Sr.)
6 47 Sam Sibert SF  United States Denver Rockets Kentucky State (Sr.)
6 48 Charlie Thorpe# C  United States The Floridians Belhaven College (Sr.)
6 49 Ron Harris# F  United States New York Nets Wichita State (Sr.)
6 50 Jim Creighton PF  United States Dallas Chaparrals Colorado (Sr.)
6 51 George Adams F  United States Indiana Pacers Gardner–Webb College (Jr.)
6 52 Reggie Bird# G  United States Virginia Squires Princeton (Sr.)
6 53 Tom Patterson SF/PF  United States Utah Stars Ouachita Baptist (Jr.)
6 54 Matt Gantt# F  United States Kentucky Colonels St. Bonaventure (Sr.)
7 55 Joe Mackey# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors USC (Sr.)
7 56 Rowland Garrett SF  United States Memphis Tams Florida State (Sr.)
7 57 Dan Holcomb# C  United States Carolina Cougars Memphis State (Sr.)
7 58 Ron Riley PF  United States Denver Rockets USC (Sr.)
7 59 Swen Nater* C  Netherlands The Floridians UCLA (Jr.)
7 60 Hank Siemiontkowski# SF/PF  United States New York Nets Villanova (Sr.)
7 61 Frank Schade G  United States Dallas Chaparrals Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.)
7 62 Richie Garner# SG  United States Indiana Pacers Manhattan (Sr.)
7 63 Al Sanders PF  United States Virginia Squires LSU (Sr.)
7 64 Eric McWilliams SF  United States Utah Stars Long Beach State (Sr.)
7 65 Bill Kennedy# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Arizona State (Sr.)
8 66 Sam Simmons# G  United States Memphis Tams Bradley (Sr.)
8 67 Marshall Wingate# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Niagara (Sr.)
8 68 Henry Bibby PG  United States Carolina Cougars UCLA (Sr.)
8 69 Ted Martiniuk# F  United States Denver Rockets Saint Peter's (Sr.)
8 70 Ron Thomas PF  United States The Floridians Louisville (Sr.)
8 71 Walter Jones# F  United States New York Nets LIU Brooklyn (Sr.)
8 72 Ansley Truitt PF  United States Dallas Chaparrals California (Sr.)
8 73 Cavin Andersen# G  United States Indiana Pacers Valley City State (Sr.)
8 74 Billy Shepherd# PG  United States Virginia Squires Kentucky (Sr.)
8 75 Frank Russell SG  United States Utah Stars Detroit (Sr.)
8 76 Terry Benton# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Wichita State (Sr.)
9 77 Charles Edge SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors LeMoyne–Owen (Jr.)
9 78 Steve Davidson# F  United States Memphis Tams West Texas State (Sr.)
9 79 Jerry Crocker# G  United States Carolina Cougars Guilford (Sr.)
9 80 Bernie Fryer SG  United States Denver Rockets BYU (Sr.)
9 81 Ernie Fleming# F  United States The Floridians Jacksonville (Sr.)
9 82 Ed Czernota# F  United States New York Nets Sacred Heart (Sr.)
9 83 Wayne Grabiec# G  United States Dallas Chaparrals Michigan (Sr.)
9 84 Wardell Dyson# F  United States Indiana Pacers Shaw University (Sr.)
9 85 Mike Barr G  United States Virginia Squires Duquesne (Sr.)
9 86 Mike Jackson PF  United States Utah Stars Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.)
9 87 Ernest Pettis# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Western Michigan (Sr.)
10 88 Jackie Young# G  United States Memphis Tams Rocky Mountain (Sr.)
10 89 Bryan Adrian# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Davidson (Sr.)
10 90 Mike Collins# F  United States Carolina Cougars Seattle (Sr.)
10 91 Jerry Pender SG  United States Denver Rockets Fresno State (Sr.)
10 92 Sam Cash PF  United States The Floridians UC Riverside (Jr.)
10 93 Randy Noll# F  United States New York Nets Marshall (Jr.)
10 94 Jerry Zielinski# SG/SF  United States Dallas Chaparrals Northern Illinois (Sr.)
10 95 Jolly Spight# G  United States Indiana Pacers Santa Clara (Sr.)
10 96 Rick Aydlett# F  United States Virginia Squires South Carolina (Sr.)
10 97 Kevin Porter PG  United States Utah Stars Saint Francis (Jr.)
10 98 Cleveland Hill# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Nicholls State (Sr.)
11 99 Joe Gaines# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Belmont (Sr.)
11 100 Steve Turner# C  United States Memphis Tams Vanderbilt (Jr.)
11 101 Wilbert Loftin# F  United States Carolina Cougars Southwest Louisiana (Sr.)
11 102 Gary Stewart# F  United States Denver Rockets Canisius (Sr.)
11 103 Tracy Tripucka# G  United States The Floridians Lafayette (Sr.)
11 104 Quinas Brower# F  United States New York Nets Hofstra (Sr.)
11 105 Jeff Hickman# SG  United States Dallas Chaparrals Houston (Sr.)
11 106 Billy Burton# G  United States Indiana Pacers Eastern Kentucky (Sr.)
11 107 Kent Hollenbeck# G  United States Virginia Squires Kentucky (Sr.)
11 108 Willie Hart# C  United States Utah Stars Grambling (Jr.)[39]
11 109 Andrew Pettes# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Oklahoma (Sr.)
12 110 Henry Bacon SG  United States Memphis Tams Louisville (Sr.)
12 111 Chic Downing# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Benedictine College (Sr.)
12 112 Charles Dudley PG  United States Carolina Cougars Washington (Sr.)
12 113 Michael Reid# G  United States Denver Rockets UC Riverside (So.)
12 114 Jerry Brucks# C  United States The Floridians Wyoming (Sr.)
12 115 Bill Phillips# C  United States New York Nets St. John's (Sr.)
12 116 Stan Key# G  United States Dallas Chaparrals Kentucky (Sr.)
12 117 Wally Rice# G  United States Indiana Pacers PMC Colleges (Sr.)
12 118 Milton Adams# G  United States Virginia Squires Portland (Sr.)
12 119 Lloyd Neal C/PF  United States Utah Stars Tennessee State (Sr.)
12 120 David Hall# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Kansas State (Sr.)
13 121 Billy Pleas# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Detroit (Sr.)
13 122 Ruppert Breedlove# C  United States Memphis Tams Oglethorpe (Sr.)
13 123 Mike Sneed# F  United States Carolina Cougars Fayetteville State (Sr.)
13 124 John Burks# F  United States Denver Rockets San Francisco (Sr.)
13 125 Bobby Jack# F  United States The Floridians Oklahoma (Sr.)
13 126 Kelly Utley# G  United States New York Nets Shaw University (Sr.)
13 127 Donn Weise#[56] C  United States Dallas Chaparrals Ripon College (Sr.)
13 128 Mel Sims#[57] G  United States Indiana Pacers Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.)
13 129 Ralph Houston F  United States Virginia Squires Houston (Sr.)
13 130 Simpson Degrate# SG/SF  United States Utah Stars TCU (Sr.)
13 131 Jerry Clack# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Oklahoma State (Sr.)
14 132 Sam McCarney# F  United States Memphis Tams Oral Roberts (Sr.)
14 133 David Werthman# SF  United States Pittsburgh Condors West Virginia (Sr.)
14 134 Steve Previs PG  United States Carolina Cougars North Carolina (Sr.)
14 135 John Tschogl SF  United States Denver Rockets UC Santa Barbara (Sr.)
14 136 Greg Flaker# G  United States The Floridians Missouri (Sr.)
14 137 Paul Hoffman# G  United States New York Nets St. Bonaventure (Sr.)
14 138 Rhea Taylor# SF  United States Dallas Chaparrals Arizona State (Sr.)
14 139 Nate Williams# SF  United States Indiana Pacers Utah State (Sr.)
14 140 Rudolph Peele# G  United States Virginia Squires Norfolk State (Sr.)
14 141 Mose Adolph# G  United States Utah Stars Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.)
14 142 Tom Parker# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky (Sr.)
15 143 Henry Seawright# G  United States Pittsburgh Condors Manhattan (Sr.)
15 144 Gene Mack# PG  United States Memphis Tams Iowa State (Sr.)
15 145 Kent Martens# C  United States Carolina Cougars Abilene Christian (Sr.)
15 146 Leon Huff# G  United States Denver Rockets Drake (Sr.)
15 147 Ray Golson# G  United States The Floridians West Texas State (Sr.)
15 New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.)
15 148 Ron Williams# G  United States Dallas Chaparrals Murray State (Sr.)
15 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
15 149 Scott McCandlish# C  United States Virginia Squires Virginia (Sr.)
15 150 Harvey Catchings PF/C  United States Utah Stars Hardin–Simmons (So.)
15 151 Jerry Dunn# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Western Kentucky (Sr.)
16 152 Ken May# F  United States Memphis Tams Dayton (Sr.)
16 153 Lee McCullough# F  United States Pittsburgh Condors Indiana (Pennsylvania) (Sr.)
16 154 Rod Behrens# PF  United States Carolina Cougars Samford (Sr.)
16 155 Phillip Sisk# G  United States Denver Rockets Georgia Southern (Sr.)
16 156 Willie Cherry# F  United States The Floridians Denver (Sr.)
16 New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.)
16 157 Rich Walker# G  United States Dallas Chaparrals Bowling Green (Sr.)
16 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
16 158 Harry Taylor# G/F  United States Virginia Squires Los Angeles Baptist (Sr.)
16 159 Richard Dixon# G  United States Utah Stars Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.)
16 160 Frank Lorthridge# C/PF  United States Kentucky Colonels Pan American (Sr.)
17 161 Harry Anderson# SG  United States Pittsburgh Condors Saint Peter's (Jr.)
17 162 Steve Schmidt# G  United States Memphis Tams South Alabama (Sr.)
17 163 David Smith# G  United States Carolina Cougars Western Carolina (Sr.)
17 164 Dave Hullman# PF  United States Denver Rockets Arizona State (Sr.)
17 165 Arnie Berman# F  United States The Floridians Brown (Sr.)
17 166 Ron Bradley# G  United States New York Nets Eastern Nazarene (Jr.)
17 167 Al Vilcheck# PF/C  United States Dallas Chaparrals Louisville (Sr.)
17 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
17 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
17 168 Henry Steele# C  United States Utah Stars Northeast Louisiana (Sr.)[58]
17 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 169 Terry Hankton# F  United States Memphis Tams Arkansas Polytechnic College (Sr.)
18 170 Manuel Raga# SG  Mexico Pittsburgh Condors Ignis Varese (Italy)
18 171 Curtis Pritchett# F  United States Carolina Cougars St. Augustine's (Sr.)
18 172 Harold Little# SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets New Mexico (Sr.)
18 173 Fred DeVaughn# F  United States The Floridians Westmont (Jr.)
18 New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
18 174 Dwight Holiday# SG  United States Utah Stars Hawaii (Sr.)
18 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Memphis Tams (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 175 Paul Coder# C  United States Carolina Cougars NC State (Sr.)
19 176 Andy Knowles# PG  United States Denver Rockets Louisiana Tech (Sr.)
19 177 Bob Zender#[59] F  United States The Floridians Kansas State (Sr.)
19 New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
19 178 George Price# G  United States Utah Stars Colorado State (Sr.)
19 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Memphis Tams (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Carolina Cougars (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 179 Al Davis# F  United States Denver Rockets Hawaii (Sr.)
20 The Floridians (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.)
20 180 George Bryant# PG  United States Utah Stars Eastern Kentucky (Sr.)
20 Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.)

1972 ABA dispersal draft

[edit]

On July 13, 1972, two of the ABA’s first inaugural teams in "The Floridians" and the Pittsburgh Condors would have their players be dispersed in the first dispersal draft in the ABA's history. This dispersal draft would involve all of the original ABA teams at the time, but it would not include the San Diego Conquistadors expansion team since their creation was done after the dispersal draft happened. There would be six total rounds of draft picks from this dispersal draft that the nine ABA teams left over at the time would utilize from taking either "The Floridians" or Pittsburgh Condors players available.[60] Any players that weren't selected after this draft concluded would be placed on waivers and enter free agency afterward.[61] The following teams would select these players from either "The Floridians" or the Pittsburgh Condors.

Carolina Cougars
Dallas Chaparrals
Denver Rockets
Denver would only select players that were on "The Floridians" at the time of this dispersal draft.
Indiana Pacers
Kentucky Colonels
Memphis Pros
New York Nets
Utah Stars
Virginia Squires

1972 ABA expansion draft

[edit]

Following the dispersal draft of "The Floridians" and Pittsburgh Condors, the ABA would host their first and only expansion draft in league history with the San Diego Conquistadors taking on one of the replacement spots for either "The Floridians" or the Pittsburgh Condors. The expansion draft for the San Diego Conquistadors would take place on August 10, 1972, almost a month after the dispersal draft had concluded, with the Conquistadors being allowed to have two selections of players in essentially one total round (but really two rounds[52]) from the nine remaining ABA teams at hand. However, the Indiana Pacers would later negotiate a deal with San Diego to only allow them to acquire the negating draft rights to Dwight Jones instead of two players on their end. In any case, the following players would be selected by the San Diego Conquistadors for the franchise's expansion draft.

San Diego Conquistadors
Expansion draft roster:

1973 ABA draft

[edit]

For this year's draft, the ABA would hold a special circumstances draft lasting for two rounds for the ten teams in the league on January 15, a senior draft lasting for ten rounds on April 25 (one day after the 1973 NBA draft began (despite the NBA's draft initially being held on April 9 that year), thus technically marking the first time an NBA draft was held before an ABA draft), an undergraduate draft also lasting for only two rounds that was also on April 25, and a supplemental draft on May 18 that lasted for a total of fifteen rounds (though with only 72 total picks for that draft by eight of the ten ABA teams involved), all of which was held entirely within New York.[62][52] During the period of time between the special circumstances draft and the senior and undergraduate drafts occurred, the Dallas Chaparrals would be bought out and move to San Antonio, Texas to initially become the San Antonio Gunslingers before becoming the San Antonio Spurs franchise that's well known to this day.[20] However, while the ABA would try and draft players that would be considered as those that fit the "Hardship Exemption" in the NBA or qualify under the "Special Circumstances" notion for the ABA before the NBA could do so once again (sometimes succeeding in the process), the rest of the ABA's drafts afterward would all take place after the NBA completed their one singular draft, which would technically make it the first time the ABA draft was finished after the NBA finished their drafting period. As such, there would technically be four correct names for the first pick of the ABA draft: Mike Bantom from St. Joseph’s College in Pennsylvania by the Denver Rockets (now known as the modern-day version of the Denver Nuggets) in the special circumstances draft, Bo Lamar from the University of Southwestern Louisiana by the San Diego Conquistadors for the senior draft, Bill Walton from UCLA by the San Diego Conquistadors as well for the undergraduate draft (officially considered to be picks #108-127 for the April 25 draft day), and Larry Moore from the University of Texas at Arlington by the San Diego Conquistadors for the supplemental draft (the only ABA player to be considered at #1 pick to not play basketball professionally[63]) after the initial big draft day was completed. Not only that, if one were to combine the total rounds from all four of those drafts into one whole draft properly, this year's draft would have officially lasted for a massive 29 total rounds with the most number of players drafted for a grand total of 212 players selected for officially recorded data. However, to simplify the process a bit in this case, this year's draft coverage will have the four drafts separated as they originally were presented at the time. Outside of the Dallas Chaparrals moving to San Antonio in order to essentially become the modern-day San Antonio Spurs that currently exist in the NBA to this day following the end of the regular season months after the special circumstances draft ended, no other team movement changes occurred following the conclusions of the rest of these draft events, thus tying 1971 as the most stable draft year period for the ABA's teams due to no one outside of the Chaparrals franchise moving or changing team names once again.

1973 ABA special circumstances draft

[edit]

This draft would technically be considered the last draft event that the Dallas Chaparrals would participate in under that name. Following the end of the 1972–73 ABA season, the Chaparrals franchise would move to San Antonio, Texas to initially be called the San Antonio Gunslingers before later entering the upcoming season onward as the San Antonio Spurs. As such, the San Antonio franchise would claim all of the Chaparrals franchise's draft rights from not just this draft, but also the other drafts held later in the year. That being said, every player selected in this particular draft except for George Gervin were selected as players that the ABA had deemed necessary to be drafted early via special circumstances coming out of college or university, regardless of whether they were already close toward graduating from said college or university before the draft began or not. In the case of George Gervin, he had actually left his college he was going to during his sophomore year in order to play minor league basketball of sorts in the originally named Continental Basketball Association before it was about to go defunct a year later.

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/Club team
1 1 Mike Bantom PF/SF  United States Denver Rockets St. Joseph's (Sr.)
1 2 Mike Green+ C/PF  United States Indiana Pacers Louisiana Tech (Sr.)
1 3 Ernie DiGregorio PG  United States Kentucky Colonels Providence (Sr.)
1 4 Larry Kenon+ PF  United States Memphis Tams Memphis State (Jr.)
1 5 Jim Brewer PF  United States New York Nets Minnesota (Sr.)
1 6 Kevin Kunnert C  United States Dallas Chaparrals Iowa (Sr.)
1 7 David Vaughn Jr. C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Oral Roberts (So.)
1 8 Robert Parish^ C  United States Utah Stars Centenary (Fr.)
1 9 Jimmie Baker PF  United States Utah Stars UNLV (So.)
1 10 George Gervin^ SG/SF  United States Virginia Squires Pontiac Chaparrals (CBA)
2 11 Bobby Jones^ PF  United States Carolina Cougars North Carolina (Jr.)
2 12 Tommy Burleson C  United States Carolina Cougars NC State (Jr.)
2 13 Clyde Turner# F  United States Denver Rockets Minnesota (Jr.)
2 14 Dave Cowens^ SF  United States Indiana Pacers Houston (So.)
2 15 Raymond Lewis# G  United States Memphis Tams Cal State Los Angeles (So.)
2 16 Billy Schaeffer SF  United States New York Nets St. John's (Sr.)
2 17 John Brown SF  United States
 West Germany 		Dallas Chaparrals Missouri (Sr.)
2 18 Bird Averitt SG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Pepperdine (Jr.)
2 19 Alvan Adams PF/C  United States Utah Stars Oklahoma (So.)
2 20 Barry Parkhill SG  United States Virginia Squires Virginia (Sr.)

1973 ABA senior draft

[edit]

For these next three draft events, the San Antonio Spurs were drafting under their initial team name of the San Antonio Gunslingers at the time. They would only change their team name to the Spurs some time before the 1973–74 ABA season officially began. Also for this draft, the focus involved would have teams draft only senior eligible players from colleges and universities for teams to potentially sign onto their teams over the rivaling NBA teams. Ironically, a few of these players selected in this wouldn't technically be considered proper seniors for one reason or another.

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School
1 1 Bo Lamar PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
1 2 Larry Finch SG  United States Memphis Tams Memphis State (Sr.)
1 3 Mike D'Antoni PG  United States
 Italy 		San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Marshall (Sr.)
1 4 Doug Collins SG  United States New York Nets Illinois State (Sr.)
1 5 Allan Bristow SF  United States Virginia Squires Virginia Tech (Sr.)
1 6 Ed Ratleff SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Long Beach State (Sr.)
1 7 Steve Downing C  United States Indiana Pacers Indiana (Sr.)
1 8 Ronnie Robinson PF  United States Utah Stars Memphis State (Sr.)
1 9 Louie Nelson PG/SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Washington (Sr.)
1 10 Mel Davis PF  United States Carolina Cougars St. John's (Sr.)
2 11 Wendell Hudson# F  United States Memphis Tams Alabama (Sr.)
2 12 Kevin Joyce PG/SG  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs South Carolina (Sr.)
2 13 Tim Bassett PF/C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Georgia (Sr.)
2 14 Derrek Dickey PF  United States Kentucky Colonels (from New York via Utah)[64] Cincinnati (Sr.)
2 15 Allie McGuire SG  United States Virginia Squires Marquette (Sr.)
2 16 Steve Mitchell# F  United States Denver Rockets Kansas State (Sr.)
2 17 Jim O'Brien SF/SG  United States Indiana Pacers Maryland (Sr.)
2 18 Leonard Gray PF  United States Utah Stars Long Beach State (Sr.)
2 19 Ron King SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Florida State (Sr.)
2 20 Nick Weatherspoon SF  United States Carolina Cougars Illinois (Sr.)
3 21 Dave Langston# G  United States Memphis Tams Drake (Sr.)
3 22 Tom Kozelko PF  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Toledo (Sr.)
3 23 Tom Ingelsby PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Villanova (Sr.)
3 24 James Lister# C  United States New York Nets Sam Houston State (Sr.)
3 25 Caldwell Jones+ C/PF  United States Virginia Squires Albany State (Sr.)
3 26 Kevin Stacom SG  United States Denver Rockets Providence (Sr.)
3 27 Jim Resteck# F  United States Indiana Pacers Auburn (Sr.)
3 28 Steve Newsome# F  United States Utah Stars Houston (Sr.)
3 29 M. L. Carr SG/SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Guilford (Sr.)
3 30 Ted Manakas SG  United States Utah Stars (from Carolina)[64] Princeton (Sr.)
4 31 Harry Rogers PF  United States Memphis Tams Saint Louis (Sr.)
4 32 Phil Hankinson PF  United States New York Nets (from San Antonio)[64] Pennsylvania (Sr.)
4 33 Darryl Minniefield# C  United States San Diego Conquistadors New Mexico (Sr.)
4 34 Kermit Washington PF  United States New York Nets American (Sr.)
4 35 Bob Lauriski# F  United States Virginia Squires Utah States (Sr.)
4 36 Patrick McFarland SG  United States Denver Rockets Saint Joseph's (Sr.)
4 37 John Ritter# F  United States Indiana Pacers Indiana (Sr.)
4 38 Martin Terry# F  United States Utah Stars Arkansas (Sr.)
4 39 Ron Behagen PF/C  United States Kentucky Colonels Minnesota (Sr.)
4 40 Krešimir Ćosić#^ C  SFR Yugoslavia
 Croatia 		Carolina Cougars BYU (Sr.)
5 41 Dennis Bell SF  United States Memphis Tams Drake (Sr.)
5 42 Luke Witte C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Ohio State (Sr.)
5 43 Reggie Royals C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Florida State (Sr.)
5 44 Ken Brady# C  United States New York Nets Michigan (Sr.)
5 45 Pete Perry# C  United States Virginia Squires Pan American (Sr.)
5 46 Larry Farmer# F  United States Denver Rockets UCLA (Sr.)
5 47 Allan Hornyak# SG  United States Indiana Pacers Ohio State (Sr.)
5 48 Pete Harris# F  United States Utah Stars Stephen F. Austin (Sr.)
5 49 William Harris# G  United States Kentucky Colonels North Carolina A&T (Sr.)[65]
5 50 Larry Hollyfield# SG/SF  United States Carolina Cougars UCLA (Sr.)
6 51 George Karl^ PG  United States Memphis Tams North Carolina (Sr.)
6 52 Gary Melchionni PG  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Duke (Sr.)
6 53 Jim Owens SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Arizona State (Sr.)
6 54 Neal Jurgensen# F  United States New York Nets Oregon State (Sr.)
6 55 Aron Stewart# G  United States Virginia Squires Richmond (Sr.)
6 56 Martinez Denmon# G  United States Denver Rockets Iowa State (Sr.)
6 57 Joe Wallace# SF  United States Indiana Pacers Denver (Sr.)
6 58 Dave Winfield# F  United States Utah Stars Minnesota (Sr.)
6 59 Mike Boylan# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Assumption College (Sr.)
6 60 Joe Reaves SF  United States Carolina Cougars Bethel (Sr.)
7 61 E. C. Coleman PF  United States Memphis Tams Houston Baptist (Sr.)
7 62 Rich Fuqua# SG  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Oral Roberts Golden Eagles men's basketball (Sr.)
7 63 Ken Charles SG  Trinidad and Tobago San Diego Conquistadors Fordham (Sr.)
7 64 Nate Stephens# C  United States New York Nets Long Beach State (Sr.)
7 65 Ruben Montanez# G  Puerto Rico Virginia Squires Duquesne (Sr.)
7 66 James Brown# F  United States Denver Rockets Harvard (Sr.)
7 67 Jim Andrews# C  United States Indiana Pacers Kentucky (Sr.)
7 68 B. G. Brosterhous# F  United States Utah Stars Texas (Sr.)
7 69 Les Taylor# SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Murray State (Sr.)
7 70 Ozie Edwards# G  United States Carolina Cougars Oklahoma City (Sr.)
8 71 Rod Freeman SF  United States Memphis Tams Vanderbilt (Sr.)
8 72 Henry Wilmore# SG/SF  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Michigan (Sr.)
8 73 Chris McMurray# F  United States San Diego Conquistadors San Diego State (Sr.)
8 74 Gene Doyle# F  United States New York Nets Holy Cross (Sr.)
8 75 Walt McGrary# F  United States Virginia Squires Chattanooga (Sr.)
8 76 Gary Rhoades# G  United States Denver Rockets Colorado State (Sr.)
8 77 Mike Edwards# SG  United States Indiana Pacers Tennessee (Sr.)
8 78 Mike Williams# G  United States Utah Stars Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.)
8 79 James Greene# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.)
8 80 Steve Becker# G  United States Carolina Cougars Yankton (Sr.)
9 81 Charles Mitchell# F  United States Memphis Tams Eastern Kentucky (Sr.)
9 82 Mark Sibley PG  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Northwestern (Sr.)
9 83 Russ Hunt# C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Furman (Sr.)
9 84 Clinton Harris# F  United States New York Nets Iowa State (Sr.)
9 85 Phil Chenier SG  United States Virginia Squires California (Sr.)
9 86 Connie Warren# F  United States Denver Rockets Xavier (Sr.)
9 87 Bobby Wilson# G  United States Indiana Pacers Wichita State (Sr.)[66]
9 88 Roy McPipe SG  United States Utah Stars Eastern Montana (Sr.)
9 89 John Johnson# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Jacksonville (Sr.)[67]
9 90 Abe Steward# F  United States Carolina Cougars Jacksonville (Sr.)
10 91 Chuck Iverson# F  United States Memphis Tams South Dakota (Sr.)
10 92 Lawrence Lilly# C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Alabama State (Sr.)
10 93 Nick Connor# F  United States San Diego Conquistadors Illinois (Sr.)
10 94 Gene Armstead# C/PF  United States New York Nets Rutgers (Sr.)
10 95 Joe Caffeyky# G  United States Virginia Squires NC State (Sr.)
10 96 Jeff Dawson# G  United States Denver Rockets Illinois (Sr.)[68]
10 97 Byron Jones# F  United States Indiana Pacers San Francisco (Sr.)
10 98 Melvin Russell# PG  United States Utah Stars Centenary (Sr.)
10 99 Mike Macaluso SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Canisius (Sr.)
10 100 Gerald Smith# C  United States Carolina Cougars Detroit (Sr.)

1973 ABA undergraduate draft

[edit]

The ABA undergraduate draft would be considered a continuation of the official ABA draft (known for this year as the ABA senior draft properly), with ABA teams selecting undergraduate prospects from various colleges and universities early on in the hopes that they would play for them in the ABA, similar to what they had done with some prospects in the past or with what's currently going on in the present day with some players in more modern NBA drafts. As such, this draft's round and pick orders will be listed with the official round and pick numbers as it normally would be, followed by what the ABA considered the official round and pick numbers in parentheses due to the loose structure at hand for this year's ABA draft and only this year's ABA draft.

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School
11 (1) 101 (1) Bill Walton^ C  United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Jr.)
11 (1) 102 (2) David Thompson^ SG  United States Memphis Tams NC State (So.)
11 (1) 103 (3) Dwight Jones PF/C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Houston (Jr.)
11 (1) 104 (4) Henry Williams# F  United States New York Nets Jacksonville (So.)
11 (1) 105 (5) Phil Smith SG  United States Virginia Squires San Francisco (Jr.)
11 (1) 106 (6) Marvin Barnes+ PF/C  United States Denver Rockets Providence (Jr.)
11 (1) 107 (7) Len Elmore C/PF  United States Indiana Pacers Maryland (Jr.)
11 (1) 108 (8) Bruce Seals PF/SF  United States Utah Stars Xavier (Louisiana) (Jr.)
11 (1) 109 (9) Don Smith PG  United States Kentucky Colonels Dayton (Jr.)
11 (1) 110 (10) Maurice Lucas+ PF  United States Carolina Cougars Marquette (Jr.)
12 (2) 111 (11) Larry Robinson# F  United States Memphis Tams Texas (Jr.)
12 (2) 112 (12) Tom Henderson PG  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Hawaii (Jr.)
12 (2) 113 (13) Jim Bradley F  United States San Diego Conquistadors Northern Illinois (Jr.)
12 (2) 114 (14) Campy Russell SF  United States New York Nets Michigan (Jr.)
12 (2) 115 (15) John Shumate PF/C  United States Virginia Squires Notre Dame (Jr.)
12 (2) 116 (16) Dennis DuVal G  United States Denver Rockets Syracuse (Jr.)
12 (2) 117 (17) Rudy Jackson# C  United States Indiana Pacers Hutchinson Community Junior College (Fr.)[69][70]
12 (2) 118 (18) Marvin Webster C  United States Utah Stars Morgan State (So.)
12 (2) 119 (19) Jim Forbes# F  United States Kentucky Colonels UTEP (Jr.)
12 (2) 120 (20) Kevin Restani PF/C  United States Carolina Cougars San Francisco (Jr.)

1973 ABA supplemental draft

[edit]

Interestingly, the only two teams to decline participation in entering the supplemental draft for the ABA this year were the Indiana Pacers and New York Nets. All other teams involved would use multiple selections within multiple rounds in order to take whoever was available within this particular draft. Unlike the other drafts at hand, this particular draft would see scant few successes, with most of these players never even playing professionally altogether and the few that did mostly having success playing in the NBA instead.

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School
1 1 Larry Moore# C  United States San Diego Conquistadors UT-Arlington (Sr.)
1 2 Wardell Jeffries# G  United States Memphis Tams Oklahoma Baptist (Sr.)
1 3 Craig Littlepage# C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Pennsylvania (Sr.)
1 4 Lamont King# G  United States Denver Rockets Long Beach State (Sr.)
1 5 Dennis Johnson# G  United States Utah Stars Ferris State (Sr.)
1 6 Steve Rowell# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Rhode Island (Sr.)
1 7 Willie Calvert# C  United States Virginia Squires Abilene Christian (Sr.)
1 8 Cal Tatum# PG  United States Carolina Cougars Southern Colorado State (Sr.)
2 9 Slick Watts PG  United States Memphis Tams Xavier (Louisiana) (Sr.)
2 10 John Coughran F  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs California (Sr.)
2 11 Mike Contreras# G  United States San Diego Conquistadors Arizona State (Sr.)
2 12 Tom Peck# F  United States Denver Rockets Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.)
2 13 Bill McCoy# G  United States Utah Stars Northern Iowa (Sr.)
2 14 James Garvin PF  United States Kentucky Colonels Boston University (Sr.)
2 15 Don Johnson# F  United States Virginia Squires Lebanon Valley College (Sr.)
2 16 Steve Smith# F  United States Carolina Cougars Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.)
3 17 Roy Simpson# F  United States Memphis Tams Furman (Sr.)
3 18 Bob Fullarton# C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Xavier (Sr.)
3 19 Doug Little# G  United States San Diego Conquistadors Oregon (Sr.)
3 20 Lindell Reason# G  United States Denver Rockets Eastern Michigan (Sr.)
3 21 James Floyd# F  United States Utah Stars Shaw University (Sr.)
3 22 Chuck Witt# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Western Kentucky (Sr.)
3 23 Greg Hawkins#[71] F  United States Virginia Squires North Carolina State (Jr.)
3 24 Bill Bailey# F  United States Carolina Cougars Catawba College (Sr.)
4 25 Norman Russell# C  United States Memphis Tams Oklahoma City (Sr.)[72]
4 26 Bill Kilgore# C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Michigan State (Sr.)
4 27 Ernie Kusnyer# F  United States San Diego Conquistadors Kansas State (Sr.)
4 28 Charles Golson# C  United States Utah Stars College of Emporia (Sr.)
4 29 Fran Costello# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Providence (Sr.)
4 30 Mike Allocco# F  United States Virginia Squires Stonehill College (Sr.)
4 31 Dave Angel# C  United States Carolina Cougars Clemson (Sr.)
5 32 Aaron Covington# G  United States Memphis Tams Canisius (Sr.)
5 33 Ronnie Hogue# G  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Georgia (Sr.)
5 34 Mike Quick# G  United States Utah Stars San Francisco (Sr.)
5 35 Eddie Childress# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Austin Peay (Sr.)
5 36 Alan Shaw#[73] C  United States Virginia Squires Duke (Sr.)
5 37 Carl Jackson# F  United States Carolina Cougars St. Bonaventure (Sr.)
6 38 Fred Lavaroni# F  United States Memphis Tams Santa Clara (Sr.)
6 39 John Laing# C  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Augustana College (Illinois) (Sr.)
6 40 Jerry Bisbano# F  United States San Diego Conquistadors Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
6 41 Lee Colburn# F  United States Utah Stars South Dakota State (Sr.)
6 42 Jerry Clark# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Skagit Valley College (So.)
6 43 Howard White# G  United States Virginia Squires Maryland (Sr.)
6 44 Lynn Greer# C  United States Carolina Cougars Virginia State (Sr.)
7 45 John Wolfenberg# F  United States Memphis Tams Valparaiso (Sr.)
7 46 Jeff Overhouse# F  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Texas A&M (Sr.)
7 47 Mark Beckwith# C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Montana State (Sr.)
7 48 Robert White# F  United States Utah Stars Sam Houston State (Sr.)
7 49 Darrell Brown#[74] F  United States Virginia Squires Maryland (Sr.)
7 50 Dale Adams# F  United States Carolina Cougars St. Mary's College of Maryland (Sr.)[75]
8 51 Jim Crawford# F  United States Memphis Tams La Salle (Sr.)
8 52 Tim Dominey# G  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Valdosta State (Sr.)
8 53 Wayne Pack PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Tennessee Tech (Sr.)
8 54 Gary Watson# F  United States Utah Stars Wisconsin (Sr.)
8 55 Linwood Johnson# PF/C  United States Virginia Squires Virginia State (Sr.)
8 56 Terrence Murchison# F  United States Carolina Cougars Fayetteville State (Sr.)
9 57 Rick Williams# G  United States Memphis Tams Iowa (Sr.)
9 58 Billy Harris# G  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Northern Illinois (Sr.)
9 59 Fred DeVaughn# F  United States San Diego Conquistadors Westmont College (Sr.)
9 60 Larry Davis# F  United States Utah Stars Centenary College (Sr.)
10 61 Joe Wise# G  United States Memphis Tams Bridgewater State (Sr.)
10 62 Bob Bodell# G  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Maryland (Sr.)
10 63 Ben Kelso# G  United States Utah Stars Central Michigan (Sr.)
11 64 Reed Johnson# G  United States Memphis Tams Oklahoma Christian College (So.)
11 65 Leon Howard# F  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Wisconsin (Sr.)
11 66 Nate Hawthorne# F  United States Utah Stars Southern Illinois (Sr.)
12 67 Greg Jurcisin# C  United States Memphis Tams Connecticut (Sr.)
12 68 Mark Jellison# G  United States San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs Northeastern (Sr.)
12 69 John Thomas# F  United States Utah Stars Joplin Junior College (Sr.)[76]
13 70 Gary Black# G  United States Utah Stars Rocky Mountain College (Sr.)
14 71 Sam Whitehead# F  United States Utah Stars Oregon State (Sr.)
15 72 Harvey Catchings PF/C  United States Utah Stars Hardin–Simmons (Jr.)

1974 ABA draft

[edit]

Once again, the ABA would host their draft in New York, this time deciding to greatly simplify the process again. This time, the ABA draft would be reduced from 29 overall rounds from four different drafts to ten rounds held on two days for just one simple draft, with the first two rounds taking place on March 6 and the rest of the rounds afterward wrapping up the event on April 17. The draft would be notable for the fact that it would lead to one of the first successful direct to high school players in basketball history with Moses Malone being drafted by the Utah Stars directly out of Petersburg High School in Petersburg, Virginia. His success would help lead to the selection of Bill Willoughby, another direct to high school senior player, for the following year's ABA draft alongside other future successful direct to high school players in the NBA entering the late 1990s and early 2000s (and a few postgraduate high schoolers in the late 2010s as well). In addition to these 10 rounds of the regular ABA draft for college players alongside high schooler Moses Malone, there would also be what was called an ABA draft of NBA players done during that same year following the conclusion of the regular ABA draft.[77] The ABA's drafting of NBA players would last for five rounds (with the Seattle SuperSonics' Bob Kauffman being the #1 pick for that event by the Virginia Squires) and take place following the actual ABA draft's conclusion, with both the press and the fans alike not knowing what to make of the ABA's draft situation with the NBA's players of all possible things.[78] Following these draft days' conclusions, the Carolina Cougars would move to St. Louis, Missouri to become the uniquely named Spirits of St. Louis franchise,[15] the Denver Rockets would officially rebrand themselves into the Denver Nuggets (partially as a homage to the former Denver Nuggets NBA team that played in the 1949–50 NBA season, but mainly as the winning entry in their "Name That Team" contest) in order to make their personal transition into the NBA a lot more easier on their end due to the NBA already having a team named the Rockets around via the Houston Rockets,[3] and the Memphis Tams would officially rebrand themselves as the Memphis Sounds for what would later become their final season in Memphis.[21]

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School
1 1 Tom McMillen PF/C  United States Virginia Squires Maryland (Sr.)
1 2 Scott Wedman SF  United States Memphis Tams Colorado (Sr.)
1 3 Major Jones PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Albany State (So.)
1 4 Fly Williams SG  United States Denver Rockets Austin Peay (So.)
1 5 Jan van Breda Kolff SF  United States Virginia Squires (from San Antonio)[79] Vanderbilt (Sr.)
1 6 Billy Knight+ SG/SF  United States Indiana Pacers Pittsburgh (Sr.)
1 7 John Lucas II PG  United States Carolina Cougars Maryland (So.)
1 8 Cliff Pondexter PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors (from Kentucky)[79] Long Beach State (So.)
1 9 Brian Winters PG/SG  United States New York Nets South Carolina (Sr.)
1 10 Joe C. Meriweather C/PF  United States Utah Stars Southern Illinois (Jr.)
2 11 Foots Walker PG  United States Memphis Tams West Georgia (Sr.)
2 12 Jesse Dark SG  United States Virginia Squires VCU (Sr.)
2 13 Gus Bailey SG/SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors UTEP (Sr.)
2 14 Frank Kendrick SF  United States Denver Rockets Purdue (Sr.)
2 15 Truck Robinson PF  United States San Antonio Spurs Tennessee State (Sr.)
2 16 Bruce King# G  United States Indiana Pacers Pan American (Sr.)
2 17 Rich Kelley C/PF  United States Carolina Cougars (from New York)[79] Illinois (Jr.)
2 18 Al Eberhard SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Missouri (Sr.)
2 19 Gus Gerard+ SF  United States New York Nets (from Carolina)[79] Virginia (Jr.)
2 20 Len Kosmalski C  United States Utah Stars Tennessee (Sr.)
3 21 Bobby Wilson SG  United States Memphis Tams Wichita State (Sr.)
3 22 Moses Malone^ C  United States Utah Stars (from Virginia)[79] Petersburg HS (Virginia) (HS Sr.)
3 23 Mike Sojourner C/PF  United States Denver Rockets Utah (Jr.)
3 24 Lionel Billingy PF  United States Virginia Squires (from San Diego)[79] Duquesne (Sr.)
3 25 Aaron Jones PF  United States Utah Stars (from San Antonio)[79] Grambling State (Sr.)
3 26 Roland Grant# C  United States Indiana Pacers New Mexico State (Sr.)
3 27 Tom Barker C/PF  United States Utah Stars (from Carolina)[79] College of Southern Idaho (So.)
3 28 Sammy High# F  United States Kentucky Colonels (from Utah)[79] Tulsa (Sr.)
3 29 Collis Temple SF  United States San Antonio Spurs (from Kentucky)[79] LSU (Sr.)
3 30 Tom Boswell PF/C  United States New York Nets South Carolina (Jr.)
4 31 Glenn McDonald SG/SF  United States Memphis Tams Long Beach State (Sr.)
4 32 Lerman Battle# F  United States Virginia Squires Fairmont State (Sr.)
4 33 Richie O'Connor# G  United States San Diego Conquistadors Fairfield (Sr.)
4 34 Coniel Norman SG  United States Denver Rockets Arizona (So.)
4 35 Fred Saunders SF/PF  United States San Antonio Spurs Syracuse (Sr.)
4 36 Kim Hughes C  United States San Antonio Spurs (from Indiana)[79] Wisconsin (Sr.)
4 37 Darrell Elston SG  United States Carolina Cougars North Carolina (Sr.)
4 38 Sam McCants# G  United States Utah Stars Oral Roberts (Jr.)
4 39 Lloyd Batts SG/SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Cincinnati (Sr.)
4 40 Talvin Skinner SF  United States New York Nets Maryland Eastern Shore (Sr.)
5 41 Tyrone Medley# G  United States Memphis Tams Utah (Sr.)
5 42 Bernard Harris# C  United States Virginia Squires VCU (Sr.)
5 43 Bernard Hardin# F  United States Denver Rockets New Mexico (Sr.)
5 44 Greg Lee PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Sr.)
5 45 Gene Short SF  United States San Antonio Spurs Jackson State (So.)
5 46 Eddie Woods# C  United States Indiana Pacers Oral Roberts (Sr.)
5 47 Mickey Johnson PF  United States Carolina Cougars Aurora College (Sr.)
5 48 Steve Brooks# C  United States Utah Stars Arkansas State (Sr.)
5 49 Seymour Reed# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Bradley (Sr.)
5 50 Eric Fernsten C/PF  United States New York Nets San Francisco (Jr.)
6 51 Wolfgang Fengler#[80] C/PF  United States Memphis Tams Delaware (Sr.)
6 52 Phil Lumpkin PG  United States Virginia Squires Miami (OH) (Sr.)
6 53 Richard Wallace# G  United States San Diego Conquistadors Georgia Southern (Sr.)
6 54 Luther Burden SG  United States Denver Rockets Utah (So.)
6 55 Gary Anderson# G  United States San Antonio Spurs Wisconsin (Sr.)
6 56 Ron deVries# C  United States Indiana Pacers Illinois State (Sr.)
6 57 Gary Novak# F  United States Carolina Cougars Notre Dame (Sr.)
6 58 Harvey Catchings PF/C  United States Carolina Cougars (from Utah)[79] Hardin–Simmons (Sr.)
6 59 Bill Ligon G  United States Kentucky Colonels Vanderbilt (Sr.)
6 60 Gary Brokaw G  United States New York Nets Notre Dame (Jr.)
7 61 Lawrence Johnson# F  United States Memphis Tams Prairie View A&M (Sr.)
7 62 Earl Williams C  United States
 Israel 		Virginia Squires Winston-Salem State (Sr.)
7 63 Eric Money PG  United States Denver Rockets Arizona (Jr.)
7 64 Leon Benbow SG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Jacksonville (Sr.)
7 65 Gerald Cunningham# F  United States San Antonio Spurs Kentucky State (Fr.)
7 66 Alex English^ SF  United States Indiana Pacers South Carolina (So.)
7 67 Jimmy Foster PG  United States Carolina Cougars Connecticut (Sr.)
7 68 Ron Lee PG  United States Utah Stars Oregon (So.)
7 69 Bill Butler# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Louisville (Sr.)
7 70 Dean Tolson PF  United States New York Nets Arkansas (Sr.)
8 71 Willie Biles# G  United States Memphis Tams Tulsa (Sr.)
8 72 John Drew SF  United States Virginia Squires Gardner–Webb (So.)
8 73 Daniel Anderson PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors USC (Sr.)
8 74 Larry Fogle SG  United States Denver Rockets Canisius (So.)
8 75 Hercle Ivy# G  United States San Antonio Spurs Iowa State (Sr.)
8 76 Bob Florence# G  United States Indiana Pacers UNLV (Sr.)
8 77 Thomas L. Kivisto# PG  United States Carolina Cougars Kansas (Sr.)
8 78 Ed Palubinskas# G  Australia Utah Stars LSU (Sr.)
8 79 Leonard Coulter# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Morehead State (Sr.)
8 80 Al Skinner SG  United States New York Nets Massachusetts (Sr.)
9 81 Ron Brown# G  United States Memphis Tams Penn State (Sr.)
9 82 Bill Campion# C  United States Virginia Squires Manhattan (Jr.)
9 83 Tony Byers# G  United States Denver Rockets Wake Forest (Sr.)
9 84 Stan Washington PG  United States San Diego Conquistadors San Diego (Sr.)
9 85 Walter Luckett# SG  United States San Antonio Spurs Ohio (So.)
9 86 Kevin Fitzgerald# G  United States Indiana Pacers Oklahoma State (Sr.)
9 87 Marcus Washington# G  United States Carolina Cougars Marquette (Sr.)
9 88 Glenn Hansen SG  United States Utah Stars LSU (Jr.)
9 89 Lionel Hollins PG  United States Kentucky Colonels Arizona State (Jr.)
9 90 Bob Fleischer# F  United States New York Nets Duke (Jr.)
10 91 Candy LaPrince# PG  United States Memphis Tams Iowa (Sr.)
10 92 Mark Cartwright# C  United States Virginia Squires Bowling Green (Jr.)
10 93 Marques Johnson SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Fr.)
10 94 Roscoe Pondexter# F  United States Denver Rockets Long Beach State (Jr.)
10 95 Charles McKinney# C  United States San Antonio Spurs Baylor (Sr.)
10 96 Mark Brown# F  United States Indiana Pacers Missouri Western State (Sr.)
10 97 Mike Sylvester# F  United States
 Italy 		Carolina Cougars Dayton (Sr.)
10 98 Mike Westra# F  United States Utah Stars USC (Sr.)
10 99 Steve Walker# G  United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.)
10 100 Mike Ogan# C  United States San Antonio Spurs (from New York)[79] Carson–Newman (Sr.)

1974 ABA draft of NBA players

[edit]

This draft was done with the intention of trying to have the ABA's teams go ahead and sign up some of the NBA's own players onto their own teams instead of remaining onto their NBA teams properly. However, none of the NBA's players would go ahead and sign up with the ABA teams that drafted them there. At most, a few of those players would join up with some of those ABA teams later on either in the ABA or the NBA instead, but not directly entering the 1974–75 ABA season. A couple of these players that were drafted by the ABA would later retire from professional play before the upcoming season began as well.

Rnd. Pick Player Pos. Nationality[n 1] ABA Team NBA Team
1 1 Bob Kauffman PF/C  United States Virginia Squires Buffalo Braves
1 2 Rick Roberson PF/C  United States Memphis Tams Portland Trail Blazers
1 3 Nate Thurmond^ C/PF  United States Denver Rockets Golden State Warriors
1 4 Cazzie Russell SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Golden State Warriors
1 5 Tom Boerwinkle C  United States San Antonio Spurs Chicago Bulls
1 6 Clifford Ray C/PF  United States Indiana Pacers Chicago Bulls
1 7 Pete Maravich^ SG  United States Carolina Cougars Atlanta Hawks
1 8 Bob Christian C  United States Utah Stars Phoenix Suns
1 9 Jim Price PG  United States Kentucky Colonels Los Angeles Lakers
1 10 Phil Chenier SG  United States New York Nets Capital Bullets
2 11 Norm Van Lier PG  United States Memphis Tams Chicago Bulls
2 12 George E. Johnson C  United States Virginia Squires Golden State Warriors
2 13 Sidney Wicks PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Portland Trail Blazers
2 14 Tom Van Arsdale SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Philadelphia 76ers
2 15 Clyde Lee PF/C  United States San Antonio Spurs Golden State Warriors
2 16 Bill Bradley SF  United States Indiana Pacers New York Knicks
2 17 Henry Bibby PG  United States Carolina Cougars New York Knicks
2 18 Geoff Petrie PG/SG  United States Utah Stars Portland Trail Blazers
2 19 Greg Smith PF/SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Portland Trail Blazers
2 20 Dave Cowens C  United States New York Nets Boston Celtics
3 21 Dick Snyder SF/SG  United States Virginia Squires Seattle SuperSonics
3 22 Lenny Wilkens^ PG  United States Memphis Tams Cleveland Cavaliers
3 23 Don Adams SF  United States Denver Rockets Detroit Pistons
3 24 Curtis Rowe PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Detroit Pistons
3 25 Neal Walk C  United States San Antonio Spurs Phoenix Suns
3 26 Mel Counts C/PF  United States Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Lakers
3 27 Phil Jackson^ PF  United States Carolina Cougars New York Knicks
3 28 Howard Porter PF/SF  United States Utah Stars Chicago Bulls
3 29 Rowland Garrett SF  United States Kentucky Colonels Chicago Bulls
3 30 Jerry Sloan^ SG  United States New York Nets Chicago Bulls
4 31 Paul Silas PF  United States Memphis Tams Boston Celtics
4 32 Calvin Murphy^ PG  United States Virginia Squires Houston Rockets
4 33 Gail Goodrich^ SG  United States San Diego Conquistadors Los Angeles Lakers
4 34 Rick Adelman^ PG  United States Denver Rockets Chicago Bulls
4 35 Steve Kuberski PF/C  United States San Antonio Spurs Boston Celtics
4 36 Pat Riley^ SG  United States Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Lakers
4 37 Paul Westphal^ SG/PG  United States Carolina Cougars Boston Celtics
4 38 Rudy Tomjanovich^ PF  United States Utah Stars Houston Rockets
4 39 Herm Gilliam SG/PG  United States Kentucky Colonels Atlanta Hawks
4 40 Jim Fox PF/C  United States New York Nets Seattle SuperSonics
5 41 Barry Clemens PF  United States Virginia Squires Cleveland Cavaliers
5 42 Dave DeBusschere^ PF/SF  United States Memphis Tams New York Knicks
5 43 Lou Hudson SG/SF  United States Denver Rockets Atlanta Hawks
5 44 Connie Hawkins^ PF/C  United States San Diego Conquistadors Los Angeles Lakers
5 45 Lloyd Neal C/PF  United States San Antonio Spurs Portland Trail Blazers
5 46 Jim Davis PF/C  United States Indiana Pacers Detroit Pistons
5 47 Jeff Mullins SG  United States Carolina Cougars Golden State Warriors
5 48 Bob McAdoo^ C  United States Utah Stars Buffalo Braves
5 49 Larry Steele G  United States Kentucky Colonels Portland Trail Blazers
5 50 Gar Heard PF  United States New York Nets Buffalo Braves

1975 ABA draft

[edit]

For the final draft year of the ABA, this draft would officially last for eight rounds in New York, with the Denver Nuggets having a bonus choice taken at around the start of the draft (the Spirits of St. Louis also had a bonus pick as well, but ultimately skipped out on using it in the process).[81][82] It would also start at the latest time an ABA draft had ever started a draft, with it beginning on June 16, a few weeks after the NBA had finished up their own draft instead. By this point in time, the ABA was starting to truly feel the struggles of competing against the NBA without having a proper national TV contract to help generate more money for it. Following this draft's end, the Memphis Sounds would move up to Baltimore, Maryland to initially play as the Baltimore Hustlers before controversy with that team name forced them to rename the team into the Baltimore Claws instead,[21] while the San Diego Conquistadors would rebrand themselves as the San Diego Sails entering what would become the ABA's final season.[54] Not only that, but it was reported that the Denver Nuggets and New York Nets were trying to sneak themselves into the NBA directly ahead of the eventual NBA–ABA merger as teams that would join in early (with those two teams also wanting the Kentucky Colonels to join them before the team owner's loyalty to the ABA stopped that team from joining in[83]) before court orders forced them both to stay put for one last, final ABA season that, funnily enough, ultimately led to the Nets winning the final ABA championship over the Nuggets.[84] However, the real endgame for the ABA would come during its final season of play, with the league seeing the likes of the Baltimore Claws, San Diego Sails, Utah Stars, and Virginia Squires all fold at various points throughout the season (with the Claws folding during the preseason period, the Squires folding either near the end of or after the season before they had a chance to join the other surviving ABA teams in the upcoming NBA–ABA merger, and it getting to the point where the NBA conducted a draft with a select few undergraduate players from the ABA near the end of 1975 and the 1976 ABA All-Star Game essentially being the Denver Nuggets against the rest of the ABA's All-Stars, with the Nuggets winning that game in question), thus leaving the ABA with only six teams left (the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs, and Spirits of St. Louis, the last of whom had originally planned to move to Utah themselves to become the Utah Rockies had the team or the ABA somehow managed to continue onward, though they were also willing to move to Hartford, Connecticut for the NBA's sake) by the end of their final season and entering the NBA–ABA merger without anything else to do on their ends besides negotiating with the NBA itself by 1976, not even being allowed to participate in the 1976 NBA draft (though the surviving teams could participate in the upcoming ABA dispersal draft not long afterward, which everyone that made it did outside of the Nuggets).

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School
Bonus 1 Marvin Webster C  United States Denver Nuggets Morgan State (Sr.)
Bonus Spirits of St. Louis (declined to use their bonus pick entirely for this draft)
1 2 David Thompson^ SG  United States Virginia Squires NC State (Sr.)
1 3 Lonnie Shelton PF/C  United States Memphis Sounds Oregon State (So.)
1 4 Kevin Grevey SG/SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Kentucky (Sr.)
1 5 Gus Williams PG  United States Spirits of St. Louis USC (Sr.)
1 6 Steve Green SF  United States Utah Stars Indiana (Sr.)
1 7 Dan Roundfield PF  United States Indiana Pacers Central Michigan (Sr.)
1 8 Mark Olberding PF/SF  United States San Antonio Spurs Minnesota (Sr.)
1 9 John Lucas II PG  United States New York Nets Maryland (Jr.)
1 10 Mel Bennett PF  United States Virginia Squires (from Denver)[85] Pittsburgh (So.)
1 11 Jimmie Baker PF  United States Kentucky Colonels Hawaii (Sr.)
2 12 Jimmy Dan Conner SG  United States Virginia Squires Kentucky (Sr.)
2 13 Rich Kelley C/PF  United States Memphis Sounds Stanford (Sr.)
2 14 Cornelius Cash PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Bowling Green (Sr.)
2 15 Rudy White SG  United States Spirits of St. Louis Arizona State (Sr.)
2 16 Norm Cook SF  United States Utah Stars Kansas (Sr.)
2 17 Charles Jordan SF  United States Indiana Pacers Canisius (Jr.)
2 18 Jim Lee# PG  United States Indiana Pacers (from San Antonio)[85] Syracuse (Sr.)
2 19 George Bucci SG  United States New York Nets Manhattan (Sr.)
2 20 Bill Willoughby PF/C  United States Denver Nuggets Dwight Morrow HS (New Jersey) (HS Sr.)
2 21 Rick Suttle# C  United States San Antonio Spurs (from Kentucky)[85] Kansas (Sr.)
3 22 Allen Murphy SG  United States Kentucky Colonels (from Virginia)[85] Kentucky (Sr.)
3 23 Ron Haigler# PF  United States Memphis Sounds Pennsylvania (Sr.)
3 24 Bob Gross SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Long Beach State (Sr.)
3 25 Rudy Hackett PF  United States Spirits of St. Louis Syracuse (Sr.)
3 26 Tom Kropp PG  United States Denver Nuggets (from Utah)[85] Kearney State (Sr.)
3 27 Ken Tyler# PG  United States Indiana Pacers Gonzaga (Sr.)
3 28 Bill Taylor# SF  United States San Antonio Spurs La Salle (Sr.)
3 29 Leon Douglas C  United States New York Nets Alabama (Jr.)
3 30 Monte Towe+ PG  United States Denver Nuggets NC State (Sr.)
3 31 Eric Fernsten C/PF  United States Kentucky Colonels San Francisco (Sr.)
4 32 Luther Burden SG  United States Virginia Squires Utah (Sr.)
4 33 Glenn Hansen SG  United States Memphis Sounds LSU (Sr.)
4 34 Pete Trgovich# G  United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Sr.)
4 35 Tom Roy# C  United States Spirits of St. Louis Maryland (Sr.)
4 36 Fessor Leonard# C  United States Virginia Squires (from Utah)[85] Furman (Sr.)
4 37 Brian Hammel# G  United States Indiana Pacers Bentley College (Sr.)
4 38 Ken Smith SG  United States San Antonio Spurs Tulsa (Sr.)
4 39 Bob Guyette# PF  United States New York Nets Kentucky (Sr.)
4 40 Bob Fleischer# F  United States Denver Nuggets Duke (Sr.)
4 41 John Laskowski SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Indiana (Sr.)
5 42 Richard Jones# SG/SF  United States Virginia Squires Virginia Commonwealth (Sr.)
5 43 Walter Luckett# SG  United States Memphis Sounds Ohio (Sr.)
5 44 Clark "Biff" Burrell# PG/SG  United States San Diego Conquistadors USC (Sr.)
5 45 Larry Fogle G  United States Spirits of St. Louis Canisius (Sr.)
5 46 C. J. Kupec C/PF  United States Spirits of St. Louis (from Utah via Denver)[85] Michigan (Sr.)
5 47 John Ramsay# F  United States Indiana Pacers Seton Hall (Sr.)
5 48 Robert Parish^ C  United States San Antonio Spurs Centenary (Jr.)
5 49 Darryl Brown# C/PF  United States New York Nets Fordham (Sr.)
5 50 Jimmy Moore# PF  United States Denver Nuggets Utah State (Sr.)
5 51 Charles Cleveland# SG  United States Kentucky Colonels Alabama (Sr.)
6 52 Fletcher Johnson Jr.# SF  United States Virginia Squires Randolph–Macon (Sr.)
6 53 Terry Furlow SG/SF  United States Memphis Sounds Michigan State (Jr.)
6 54 Louis Dunbar# SF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Houston (Sr.)
6 55 Allen Jones# SF  United States Spirits of St. Louis San Diego (Sr.)
6 56 Otis Johnson# C  United States Utah Stars John B. Stetson University (Sr.)
6 57 Mike Flynn SG/PG  United States
 Morocco 		Indiana Pacers Kentucky (Sr.)
6 58 Bayard Forrest C  United States San Antonio Spurs Grand Canyon (Jr.)
6 59 Mike Mitchell SF  United States New York Nets Auburn (Fr.)
6 60 Charles Russell# SF  United States Denver Nuggets Alabama (Sr.)
6 61 Mike Rozenski# F  United States Kentucky Colonels Saint Mary's College (CA) (Sr.)
7 62 Bill Bunton# C/PF  United States Virginia Squires Louisville (Sr.)
7 63 Rick Whitlow# PG  United States Memphis Sounds Illinois State (Sr.)
7 64 Jerome Anderson SG  United States San Diego Conquistadors West Virginia (Sr.)
7 65 Allen Spruill# SG  United States Spirits of St. Louis North Carolina A&T State (Sr.)
7 66 Tim van Blommesteyn# G  United States Utah Stars Princeton (Sr.)
7 67 Cliff Pratt# G  United States Indiana Pacers Shaw University (Sr.)
7 68 Henry Ward SG  United States San Antonio Spurs Jackson State (Sr.)
7 69 Wayne Croft# PF  United States New York Nets Clemson (Sr.)
7 70 Mike Odemns# C/PF  United States Denver Nuggets Western Kentucky (Sr.)
7 71 Randy Meister# C  United States Kentucky Colonels Penn State (Sr.)
8 72 Ricky Coleman# SG  United States Virginia Squires Jacksonville (Sr.)
8 73 John Murphy# F  United States Memphis Sounds Massachusetts (Sr.)
8 74 Mack Coleman# PF  United States San Diego Conquistadors Houston Baptist (Sr.)
8 75 Ted Hathaway# G  United States Spirits of St. Louis Cleveland State (Sr.)
8 76 Kirk Bruce# SG  United States Utah Stars Pittsburgh (Sr.)
8 77 Bill Andreas# SF  United States Indiana Pacers Ohio State (Sr.)
8 78 Gary Tomaszewski# SF  United States San Antonio Spurs St. Mary's University (TX) (Sr.)
8 79 John Lambert C/PF  United States New York Nets USC (Sr.)
8 80 Owen Brown# F  United States Denver Nuggets Maryland (Sr.)
8 81 Lou Silver# SF/PF  United States Kentucky Colonels Harvard (Sr.)

1975 ABA dispersal drafts

[edit]

On October 20, 1975, four days after being given an ultimatum by the ABA regarding survival and less than a week before starting what became the ABA's final regular season, the Baltimore Claws were forcibly closed by the ABA itself after poor performances against the Virginia Squires and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. The ABA would create an impromptu dispersal draft involving the Claws' players that remained on the roster the following day afterward, with the now nine remaining ABA teams looking over and potentially choosing who to take for their own rosters. Not every team would choose a player from the Claws, however, as three of the ABA's teams declined entry in this draft altogether in the Kentucky Colonels, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. In fact, one Claws player in George Carter would join his new ABA team in the Utah Stars only after the ABA dispersal draft involving the Claws ended. Still, the following Claws players would end up being selected in the first dispersal draft of the year.

Denver Nuggets
Indiana Pacers
Spirits of St. Louis
San Diego Sails
Utah Stars
Virginia Squires

Over two weeks later following the Claws' end as a franchise, the recently rebranded San Diego Sails would also meet their unexpected end on November 11, 1975 after playing 11 games in the regular season. For the San Diego franchise, their demise would come not just from a poor start to the season following their rebranding from the Conquistadors to the Sails, but also hearing that the franchise would be shut out of the upcoming NBA–ABA merger early on due to the insistence of then-Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke not wanting any competition for a share of his team's fan base with another team in the southern California region. Unlike the previous dispersal draft during this year, only two of the now eight remaining ABA teams would officially utilize the dispersal draft for the Sails' players this time around: the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs, though a couple of the Sails' players would go to some other ABA teams after the dispersal draft concluded. Not only that, but Caldwell Jones would also be held out of the dispersal draft himself due to him having signed a future contract with the Philadelphia 76ers of the rivaling NBA, with whom he had been drafted with a few years prior.[86] Still, the following Sails players would be selected in the second dispersal draft of the year for the ABA.

Indiana Pacers
San Antonio Spurs

The third and final team to fold operations during the 1975 year was the Utah Stars, who had completed 16 games before folding operations on December 2, 1975 due to the team's owner going broke by this time. Initially, the owners of the Spirits of St. Louis franchise actually wanted to do a merger with the Utah Stars to help save both of their franchises at the same time (though likely at the price of ending one of these teams in the process, similar to the Minnesota North Stars and Cleveland Barons merger in the NHL only saving the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars) franchise as opposed to the temporary mergers of the Steagles and Card-Pitt that the Pittsburgh Steelers did in the NFL back in World War II saving every franchise involved in the end), but ultimately reneged on the merger literally the day before the Stars folded operations entirely.[87] Unlike the other two teams that folded during the 1975 year, however, the ABA did not really hold a dispersal draft for the now-former Stars players for the now seven remaining ABA teams left over. Instead, remembering that the Spirits of St. Louis franchise had discussed the idea of merging with the Utah Stars prior to the team folding, the ABA allowed the Spirits to acquire four of their best players in future Hall of Famer Moses Malone, Ron Boone, Randy Denton, and Steve Green instead in hopes of helping their franchise out of the rest of the season, as well as giving former Stars team owner Bill Daniels a 10% minority stake interest in the Spirits of St. Louis franchise. Incidentally, another franchise that looked for help to survive during the season, the Virginia Squires, also bought one of the former Stars players that was available during that time in Jim Eakins in hopes of somehow surviving the rest of the season themselves, which they did to the extent of completing the regular season, but not making it to the NBA–ABA merger meetings properly. As a result, none of the Squires' players from that final season would be utilized in a dispersal draft either by the ABA or the NBA in 1976.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.
  1. ^ Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8, p. 33
  2. ^ Jet [Sports] Staff (February 1971). "College Star Denies He Signed $350,000 Pro Pact". Jet (Magazine). [Vol.] 39 (21): 50. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/DenverMaterial/RocketsNuggetsYearly.html
  4. ^ a b http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/NewYorkMaterial/AmericansNetsYearly.html
  5. ^ a b c http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/VirginiaMaterial/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html
  6. ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 106
  7. ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pp. 106-107
  8. ^ https://prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1968-aba.htm
  9. ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 118
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  12. ^ a b c http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/PittsburghMaterial/PipersCondorsYearly.html
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  87. ^ https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/ABA/articles/Rockies.html
[edit]
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