1974 ABA draft

Basketball player selection 1974 ABA draft Basketball March 6, 1974 (Rounds 1–2)April 17, 1974 (Rounds 3–10)Bradley Robert D. The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts 2013 Scarecrow Press 9780810890695, pp. 215-219 New York, New York American Basketball Association 10 100 10 Tom McMillen, Virginia Squireshttps://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1974-aba-college.htm 1974 ABA Draft Pick Transactions Pro Sports Transactions December 23, 2024 1973 1975 The 1974 ABA draft was the eighth draft done by the American Basketball Association (ABA), a rivaling professional basketball league to the National Basketball Association (NBA) that they would eventually merge as a part of the NBA only a couple of years later despite official merger talks ultimately being dead during the later, more competitive years of the ABA's history due to the ABA being more competitive in stealing away the NBA's talents by this time.Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), 978-1-4165-4061-8, pp.177–199, 224–225, 230, 232–234, 248–254, 271–272, 275–276, 285, 334, 427–428 Following the mixed results of the previous season's draft period (which saw four different drafts take place for the ABA from the months of January to May 1973),https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1973-aba.htm the ABA would end up returning to a more simplified draft process once again, with this year's main draft lasting for only 10 rounds for 100 draft picks instead of 29 overall rounds for 212 total picks. With that in mind, this draft would begin its first two rounds on March 6 that year before finishing the rest of that draft on April 17 out in the league's headquarters in New York. This draft was also the only draft where the ABA made the bold move of utilizing a draft that allowed them to select players that were already on NBA teams in what was dubbed the "ABA Draft of NBA Players" after the actual ABA draft finished things up properly, which confused reporters and fans on what they should make of that specific draft afterward.Bradley Robert D. The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts 2013 Scarecrow Press 9780810890695, pp. 215-216, 219-221 This draft was notable for the third round selection of Petersburg High School senior Moses Malone from Virginia, who not only became the first high school senior to be selected in a modern-era basketball draft since Reggie Harding in the 1962 NBA draft (albeit as a college preparatory student that couldn't immediately play in the NBA despite his lack of optionsOrgan Mike Top all-time Nashville area boys high school basketball players selected https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2018/03/01/nashville-boys-high-school-basketball-all-time-top-players-selected-darius-garland-davis-cup/377283002/ The Tennessean June 5, 2020 March 12, 2018Pistons Draft Dave https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/98614136/ June 5, 2020 Detroit Free Press March 27, 1962 25Smith Seymour S. Harding New Detroit Hope https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=32215866&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3NjgyMTkxOSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwMjc0NTk5LCJleHAiOjE2MDAzNjA5OTl9.hY5Ng-ldxpKL59WZ84U2C8KVSrTxB1XJO6N1Xuj4SeM September 16, 2020 The Baltimore Sun February 1, 1964 16Harding At Center Key For Pistons https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/cgi-bin/michigan?a=d&d=WayneDTRBN19640912-01.1.7 June 5, 2020 Detroit Tribune September 12, 1964 7Pistons Get Harding https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754126/38 June 5, 2020 Michigan Daily July 3, 1962 4), but also became such a major success as the first high school senior to play professional basketball to the point of allowing not just another high school senior to be selected in the following year's ABA draft with Bill Willoughby, but also allowed the NBA to select high school players in future years as well (most notably in 1975 for their own draft alongside during the late 1990s and early 2000s as well as high school postgraduate students in the late 2010s).https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mtoxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H-UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5979,1285813 Burden, Dantley top list May 9, 1975 Lawrence Journal-World July 28, 2010https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/sports/why-pros-spent-20-years-shunning-high-schoolers.html Why Pros Spent 20 Years Shunning High Schoolers Chris Broussard November 16, 2003 The New York Times July 28, 2010http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006749/2/index.htm Hoop Dream Jack McCallum June 26, 1995 Sports Illustrated July 28, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100116053933/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006749/2/index.htm January 16, 2010 deadhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/1995/03/22/1995-03-22_garnett_is_no_gem_for_nba.html Garnett Is No Gem For NBA Michael James March 22, 1995 Daily News July 28, 2010 It also became the final draft for the Denver Rockets where they participated under that name before they rebranded themselves into the modern-era Denver Nuggets franchise that we know to this day out in the NBA (thus becoming the final surviving ABA team to rebrand themselves while in the ABA), as well as the final draft for both the Memphis Tams and Carolina Cougars under those respective names with the Tams rebranding themselves to the more popularly named Memphis Sounds and the Cougars moving from the state of North Carolina to St. Louis, Missouri to become the uniquely named Spirits of St. Louis. Draftee career notes The Virginia Squires decided to select Tom McMillen from the University of Maryland as their #1 draft pick choice instead of future Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who not only was the #1 pick of the 1974 NBA draft, but was not selected by the ABA at all this time around after being scorned by the ABA twice beforehand by the Dallas Chaparrals (now San Antonio Spurs) in 1972 and the San Diego Conquistadors in 1973. However, instead of opting to play for the ABA or even the NBA, McMillen decided to first travel abroad out to Europe in order to attend and play for both Oxford University's men's basketball team with his Rhodes Scholarship and Italy's Virtus Bologna team while travelling abroad for a year before later playing for the NBA, starting with the Buffalo Braves.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1125368/index.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20100528141313/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1125368/index.htm dead May 28, 2010 Aspiring To Higher Things: All-America, Rhodes Scholar, NBA player, Tom McMillen is emulating Bill Bradley. Next, elective office June 18, 2010 April 5, 1982 Sports Illustrated McMillan later had a decent basketball career before later retiring from play in 1986 and entering the political landscape afterward, including later holding a position alongside Florence Griffith Joyner that was previously served by Arnold Schwarzenegger before him for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under Bill Clinton's first term as U.S. President.History of the Council https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/presidents-council/history-council#WJC 2021-11-15 health.gov Not only that, but the ABA's other signings in the top three of their draft, Scott Wedman and Major Jones, both wound up rebuking the ABA's offers themselves to either sign up with the NBA or stay in college instead, thus dealing a greater blow to their chances of survival than they had already dealt with beforehand. However, they would still see decent success with other talented players they had selected opting to join the ABA instead, with some of them proving their worth real well early on while in the ABA before the upcoming ABA-NBA merger commenced operations. Furthermore, if one were to also include the ABA's draft involving the NBA's own players, including former ABA star player Connie Hawkins and future ABA commissioner Dave DeBusschere, the ABA would see 17 total players from that specific draft alone get involved into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, even though none of them would ultimately move from the NBA to the ABA as players because of that particular draft. Not only that, but Denver Nuggets legend Alex English would also end up in the Basketball Hall of Fame alongside being a part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and having his #2 be retired by the Nuggets despite never playing for the team while in the ABA, but instead playing his entire professional career out in the NBA.https://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/alex-english Out of 92 overall ABA All-Stars, seven overall players who were considered draft eligible for this year would make it to either the 1975 or 1976 ABA All-Star Game, with one player in particular making it to both games in question; that player in question was former #106 1973 undergraduate draft pick Marvin Barnes, who made it to the ABA All-Time Team with those spots alongside his ABA Rookie of the Year Award and both All-ABA Rookie Team and All-ABA Second Team spots in his rookie season despite going undrafted this year.https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1973-aba-undergrad.htm Two other players that went undrafted this year because they were already drafted in the previous year's "Special Circumstances Draft" and undergraduate draft were former #11 pick Bobby Jones and former #110 pick Maurice Lucas, who both made it to the ABA All-Star Game in 1976 (though Lucas and Jones would technically make it to the 1976 ABA All-Star Game under unique circumstances on their ends), but Lucas was the player that made it to the ABA All-Time Team alongside Barnes, while Jones would only make it to the Hall of Fame while also being a member of the All-ABA Second Team in his final season in the ABA, as well as be a member of the All-ABA Rookie Team in his first season and be a two-time All-ABA Defensive Team member (joining Mike Gale, Julius Keye, Fatty Taylor, Willie Wise, Don Buse, and Brian Taylor as the only players to enter that team two times, with Jones being the only player to enter it during his rookie season).https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1973-aba-spec.htm In terms of players actually selected during this year's draft, the #6 pick of this year's draft, Billy Knight, would make it to both the ABA All-Star Game and All-ABA First-Team during the league's final season of play after previously being a member of the All-ABA Rookie Team a season earlier.https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/knighbi01.html Meanwhile, the #19 pick of this year's draft, Gus Gerard would also be named an ABA All-Star in 1976 after being named a member of the All-ABA Rookie Team a year earlier,https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gerargu01.html while the #67 pick of the draft, Jimmy Foster, would only technically be considered an ABA All-Star due to him playing for the Denver Nuggets at the time in 1976 due to the unique circumstances involved with that particular All-Star Game.https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/fosteja01.html However, the biggest impact selection of the ABA draft for this year would have to go to the #22 pick of this draft, Moses Malone from Petersburg High School in Virginia, who not only made it to the ABA All-Star Game in his rookie season and became a part of the ABA All-Rookie Team (which would help get him into the ABA All-Time Team), but he would also leave a great impact upon the NBA to the point where he would have two different numbers retired by both the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers (the latter helping win the 1983 NBA Finals alongside fellow ABA legend Julius Erving and being named the NBA Finals MVP alongside the actual MVP winner and being a part of the NBA's All-Defensive First Team that same year), be a part of both the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History and NBA 75th Anniversary Team, and be second behind Julius Erving among all ABA players when combining all-time ABA and NBA scoring totals in order to be named a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01.htmlhttps://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/pts_career.html NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Points This draft was also notable for the selection of Mike Sylvester as the 97th pick of the 1974 draft; Sylvester became the only American-born player to win any Olympic medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow back when the area was ruled under the Soviet Union thanks to the United States of America's involvement in the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott via the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan due to him using dual citizenship to play for Italy that year, with Sylvester later winning the silver medal due to Italy upsetting the host nation in a key match in the tournament, but ultimately losing to Yugoslavia in the gold medal game.Moeller grad was only American to medal in '80 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan (2010). Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1139788566. p. 133. Historic draft notes Following the mixed results of the previous year's multiple draft formats in mind, the ABA decided to return to a more simplified draft format similar to that of the NBA draft model at the time, with the worst team having first access to the top talents of the draft in each round and the rest of the teams going from reverse order until the best team that season in terms of records takes whoever's left over for that specific round, though with the second-worst team swapping positions with the worst team in each subsequent round afterward in order to have a sense of uniqueness to their draft. However, instead of doing a really long number of rounds and selections for their draft in question like 29 rounds for 212 total picks stretched out for multiple months on end, the ABA decided to simplify the number of rounds and overall selections down to just 10 total rounds (similar to what the 1967 and 1969 ABA drafts had) for only 100 overall selections at hand for the 10 teams in the league. That being said, once the initial draft of theirs concluded, the ABA would immediately start up what was considered the "ABA Draft of NBA Players", which was a five round draft for the ten ABA teams to select various NBA players (regardless of whether they were considered stars or not) that they wanted to try and sign up for a chance at persuading the players on those NBA teams to leave them for the upstart ABA teams that drafted them instead; not only were media outlets and fans confused by the draft that was going on and not sure what to make of the ABA's draft situation at hand there, but the ABA's unique draft attempt to steal away the NBA's own players ultimately failed miserably on their end since none of the players they drafted really left the NBA to sign up with the teams that drafted them from that particular draft at hand. Following these draft days' conclusions, the Carolina Cougars would move from the state of North Carolina (thus all but effectively killing off the idea of a regional team surviving in the ABA before the NBA-ABA merger eventually occurred due to the Virginia Squires being the only regional team left in play after the experiment first began in 1970) to St. Louis, Missouri to become the uniquely named Spirits of St. Louis franchise,http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/StLouisMaterial/MavsCougarsSpiritsYearly.html Houston Mavericks/Carolina Cougars/Spirits of St. Louis Year-to-Year Notes Remember the ABA Robert Bradley Dec 23, 2024 June 27, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090627072127/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/StLouisMaterial/MavsCougarsSpiritsYearly.html live the Memphis Tams would officially rebrand themselves as the much more popularly named Memphis Sounds for what would later become their final season in Memphis,http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/MemphisMaterial/BuccaneersMemphisYearly.html Remember the ABA: New Orleans Bucs/Memphis Pros/Memphis Tams/Memphis Sounds/Baltimore Claws Year-to-Year Notes Bradley Robert Remember the ABA Dec 23, 2024 May 8, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090508110850/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/MemphisMaterial/BuccaneersMemphisYearly.html live and the Denver Rockets would officially rebrand themselves into the Denver Nuggets (partially as a homage to the former Denver Nuggets NBL & NBA team that played in both the 1948–49 NBL season and 1949–50 NBA season, but mainly was done as the winning entry in their "Name That Team" contest in their future precautionary move into the NBA later onPluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), 978-1-4165-4061-8, pp.355, 357–359) in order to make their personal transition into the NBA a lot easier on their end due to the NBA already having a team named the Rockets around via the Houston Rockets (formerly known as the San Diego Rockets) that existed around the same period of time as the Denver franchise back when Denver's franchise had the Rockets name originally for the purpose of advertising another business from previous ownership by the Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines company at the time after previously thinking of going by the team names of Larks and Lark Buntings at one point in time (with this Nuggets team still existing to this very day).http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/DenverMaterial/RocketsNuggetsYearly.html Denver Larks/Rockets/Nuggets Year-to-Year Notes Remember the ABA Dec 23, 2024 Robert Bradley March 20, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120320020429/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/DenverMaterial/RocketsNuggetsYearly.html live Key Pos.GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter + Accomplishments keySymbol Meaning Symbol Meaning ^ Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ‡ Denotes player that was selected to the ABA All-Time Team * Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-ABA Team + Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game ~ Denotes a player that won the ABA Rookie of the Year Award # Denotes player who has never appeared in either an ABA or NBA regular season or playoff game Draft thumb|right|150px|Billy Knight (upfront) was the sixth pick of the 1974 ABA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. thumb|right|150px|Moses Malone was the 22nd pick of the 1974 ABA Draft by the Utah Stars via trading with the Virginia Squires. thumb|right|150px|Alex English was the 66th pick of the 1974 ABA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School11 Tom McMillen PF/C Virginia Squires Maryland (Sr.)12 Scott Wedman SF United States Memphis Tams Colorado (Sr.)13 Major Jones PF United States San Diego Conquistadors Albany State (So.)14 Fly Williams SG United States Denver Rockets Austin Peay (So.)15 Jan van Breda Kolff SF United States Virginia Squires (from San Antonio) Vanderbilt (Sr.)16 Billy Knight* SG/SF United States Indiana Pacers Pittsburgh (Sr.)17 John Lucas II PG United States Carolina Cougars Maryland (So.)18 Cliff Pondexter PF United States San Diego Conquistadors (from Kentucky) Long Beach State (Fr.)19 Brian Winters PG/SG United States New York Nets South Carolina (Sr.)110 Joe C. Meriweather C/PF United States Utah Stars Southern Illinois (Jr.)211 Foots Walker PG United States Memphis Tams West Georgia (Sr.)212 Jesse Dark SG United States Virginia Squires VCU (Sr.)213 Gus Bailey SG/SF United States San Diego Conquistadors UTEP (Sr.)214 Frank Kendrick SF United States Denver Rockets Purdue (Sr.)215 Truck Robinson PF United States San Antonio Spurs Tennessee State (Sr.)216 Bruce King 1# G United States Indiana Pacers Pan American (Sr.)217 Rich Kelley C/PF United States New York Nets (from Carolina) Stanford (Jr.)218 Al Eberhard SF United States Kentucky Colonels Missouri (Sr.)219 Gus Gerard+ SF United States Carolina Cougars (from New York) Virginia (Jr.)220 Len Kosmalski C United States Utah Stars Tennessee (Sr.)321 Bobby Wilson basketball, born 1951 SG United States Memphis Tams Wichita State (Sr.)322 Moses Malone^‡ C United States Utah Stars (from Virginia) Petersburg HS (Virginia) (HS Sr.)323 Mike Sojourner C/PF United States Denver Rockets Utah (Jr.)324 Lionel Billingy PF United States Virginia Squires (from San Diego) Duquesne (Sr.)325 Aaron Jones 1# PF United States Utah Stars (from San Antonio) Grambling State (Sr.)326 Roland Grant 1# C United States Indiana Pacers New Mexico State (Sr.)327 Tom Barker basketball C/PF United States Utah Stars (from Carolina) College of Southern Idaho (So.)328 Sammy High 1# F United States Kentucky Colonels (from Utah) Tulsa (Sr.)329 Collis Temple SF United States San Antonio Spurs (from Kentucky) LSU (Sr.)330 Tom Boswell basketball PF/C United States New York Nets South Carolina (Jr.)431 Glenn McDonald basketball SG/SF United States Memphis Tams Long Beach State (Sr.)432 Lerman Battle 1# F United States Virginia Squires Fairmont State (Sr.)433 Richie O'Connor 1# G United States San Diego Conquistadors Fairfield (Sr.)434 Coniel Norman SG United States Denver Rockets Arizona (So.)435 Fred Saunders SF/PF United States San Antonio Spurs Syracuse (Sr.)436 Kim Hughes basketball C United States San Antonio Spurs (from Indiana) Wisconsin (Sr.)437 Darrell Elston SG United States Carolina Cougars North Carolina (Sr.)438 Sam McCants 1# G United States Utah Stars Oral Roberts (Jr.)439 Lloyd Batts SG/SF United States Kentucky Colonels Cincinnati (Sr.)440 Talvin Skinner SF United States New York Nets Maryland Eastern Shore (Sr.)541 Tyrone Medley 1# G United States Memphis Tams Utah (Sr.)542 Bernard Harris 1# C United States Virginia Squires VCU (Sr.)543 Bernard Hardin 1# F United States Denver Rockets New Mexico (Sr.)544 Greg Lee basketball PG United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Sr.)545 Gene Short SF United States San Antonio Spurs Jackson State (So.)546 Eddie Woods 1# C United States Indiana Pacers Oral Roberts (Sr.)547 Mickey Johnson PF United States Carolina Cougars Aurora College (Sr.)548 Steve Brooks basketball# C United States Utah Stars Arkansas State (Sr.)549 Seymour Reed 1# F United States Kentucky Colonels Bradley (Sr.)550 Eric Fernsten C/PF United States New York Nets San Francisco (Jr.)651 Wolfgang Fengler 1#https://bluehens.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/wolfgang-fengler/10668 Wolfgang Fengler University of Delaware Athletics Dec 23, 2024 C/PF United States Memphis Tams Delaware (Sr.)652 Phil Lumpkin PG United States Virginia Squires Miami (OH) (Sr.)653 Richard Wallace 1# G United States San Diego Conquistadors Georgia Southern (Sr.)654 Luther Burden SG United States Denver Rockets Utah (So.)655 Gary Anderson 1# G United States San Antonio Spurs Wisconsin (Sr.)656 Ron deVries 1# C United States Indiana Pacers Illinois State (Sr.)657 Gary Novak 1# F United States Carolina Cougars Notre Dame (Sr.)658 Harvey Catchings PF/C United States Carolina Cougars (from Utah) Hardin–Simmons (Sr.)659 Bill Ligon G United States Kentucky Colonels Vanderbilt (Sr.)660 Gary Brokaw G United States New York Nets Notre Dame (Jr.)761 Lawrence Johnson 1# F United States Memphis Tams Prairie View A&M (Sr.)762 Earl Williams basketball player C United States Virginia Squires Winston-Salem State (Sr.)763 Eric Money PG United States Denver Rockets Arizona (Jr.)764 Leon Benbow SG United States San Diego Conquistadors Jacksonville (Sr.)765 Gerald Cunningham 1# F United States San Antonio Spurs Kentucky State (Fr.)766 Alex English^ SF United States Indiana Pacers South Carolina (So.)767 Jimmy Foster basketball+ PG United States Carolina Cougars Connecticut (Sr.)768 Ron Lee PG United States Utah Stars Oregon (So.)769 Bill Butler 1# G United States Kentucky Colonels Louisville (Sr.)770 Dean Tolson PF United States New York Nets Arkansas (Sr.)871 Willie Biles 1# G United States Memphis Tams Tulsa (Sr.)872 John Drew basketball SF United States Virginia Squires Gardner–Webb (So.)873 Daniel Anderson basketball PG United States San Diego Conquistadors USC (Sr.)874 Larry Fogle SG United States Denver Rockets Canisius (So.)875 Hercle Ivy 1# G United States San Antonio Spurs Iowa State (Sr.)876 Bob Florence 1# G United States Indiana Pacers UNLV (Sr.)877 Thomas L. Kivisto# PG United States Carolina Cougars Kansas (Sr.)878 Ed Palubinskas# G Utah Stars LSU (Sr.)879 Leonard Coulter 1# F United States Kentucky Colonels Morehead State (Sr.)880 Al Skinner SG United States New York Nets Massachusetts (Sr.)981 Ron Brown 1# G United States Memphis Tams Penn State (Sr.)982 Bill Campion# C United States Virginia Squires Manhattan (Jr.)983 Tony Byers 1# G United States Denver Rockets Wake Forest (Sr.)984 Stan Washington PG United States San Diego Conquistadors San Diego (Sr.)985 Walter Luckett# SG United States San Antonio Spurs Ohio (So.)986 Kevin Fitzgerald 1# G United States Indiana Pacers Oklahoma State (Sr.)987 Marcus Washington 1# G United States Carolina Cougars Marquette (Sr.)988 Glenn Hansen SG United States Utah Stars LSU (Jr.)989 Lionel Hollins PG United States Kentucky Colonels Arizona State (Jr.)990 Bob Fleischer 1# F United States New York Nets Duke (Jr.)1091 Candy LaPrince 1# PG United States Memphis Tams Iowa (Sr.)1092 Mark Cartwright 1# C United States Virginia Squires Bowling Green (Jr.)1093 Marques Johnson SF United States San Diego Conquistadors UCLA (Fr.)1094 Roscoe Pondexter# F United States Denver Rockets Long Beach State (Jr.)1095 Charles McKinney 1# C United States San Antonio Spurs Baylor (Sr.)1096 Mark Brown 1# F United States Indiana Pacers Missouri Western State (Sr.)1097 Mike Sylvester# F United States Carolina Cougars Dayton (Sr.)1098 Mike Westra 1# F United States Utah Stars USC (Sr.)1099 Steve Walker 1# G United States Kentucky Colonels Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.)10100 Mike Ogan 1# C United States San Antonio Spurs (from New York) Carson–Newman (Sr.) Notable undrafted players These players were officially considered draft eligible for the 1974 ABA draft and went undrafted this year, yet played at least one regular season or playoff game for the ABA before the ABA-NBA merger commenced two years later. Player Pos. Nationality School/Club team Clyde Dickey SG Boise State (Sr.) Bill Higgins basketball SG United States Ashland (Jr.) Aulcie Perry C United States Bethune–Cookman (Sr.) Dennis Van Zant PF United States Azusa Pacific (Sr.) Donald Washington basketball SF United States Geneva (Switzerland) Hank Williams basketball SF United States Jacksonville (Jr.) 1974 ABA draft of NBA players 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.https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1974-aba-draft-of-nba.htm 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players Transactions However, none of the NBA's players would go ahead and sign up with the ABA teams that drafted them there, partially due to the media's general confusion on what to make of this specific drafting event. 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 upon entering the 1974–75 ABA season. A couple of these players that were drafted by the ABA would actually later retire from professional play before the upcoming season began as well, with one of these players in particular (Dave DeBusschere) later becoming the final commissioner in the history of the ABA. Interestingly, at least three players drafted here (Bob Christian, George E. Johnson, and Connie Hawkins) had also previously played in the ABA while being drafted by that league earlier on before being selected here in this draft as well, with one of them doing so due to them previously being banned from playing in the NBA at the time. Regardless, all of the ABA's failures relating to this particular draft combined with their compounding financial issues behind the scenes led to the ABA not implementing this kind of draft again for what would become the league's final draft year in the following year of 1975. thumb|150px|Connie Hawkins (who previously played in the ABA as an MVP-caliber player for the Pittsburgh / Minnesota Pipers early on in the ABA) was selected as the 44th pick of the 1974 ABA draft of NBA players by the San Diego Conquistadors as an attempt to lure him back into the ABA again. Rnd. Draft round Pick Overall selection number Player Pos. Position(s) played Nationality Player's representative nationalityn nationality 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. ABA Team NBA Team Most recent NBA team played for before the draft began11 Bob Kauffman PF/C Virginia Squires Buffalo Braves12 Rick Roberson PF/C United States Memphis Tams Portland Trail Blazers13 Nate Thurmond^ C/PF United States Denver Rockets Golden State Warriors14 Cazzie Russell SF United States San Diego Conquistadors Golden State Warriors15 Tom Boerwinkle C United States San Antonio Spurs Chicago Bulls16 Clifford Ray C/PF United States Indiana Pacers Chicago Bulls17 Pete Maravich^ SG United States Carolina Cougars Atlanta Hawks18 Bob Christian basketball C United States Utah Stars Phoenix Suns19 Jim Price basketball PG United States Kentucky Colonels Los Angeles Lakers110 Phil Chenier SG United States New York Nets Capital Bullets211 Norm Van Lier PG United States Memphis Tams Chicago Bulls212 George E. Johnson basketball C United States Virginia Squires Golden State Warriors213 Sidney Wicks PF United States San Diego Conquistadors Portland Trail Blazers214 Tom Van Arsdale SG/SF United States Denver Rockets Philadelphia 76ers215 Clyde Lee PF/C United States San Antonio Spurs Golden State Warriors216 Bill Bradley^ SF United States Indiana Pacers New York Knicks217 Henry Bibby PG United States Carolina Cougars New York Knicks218 Geoff Petrie PG/SG United States Utah Stars Portland Trail Blazers219 Greg Smith basketball, born 1947 PF/SF United States Kentucky Colonels Portland Trail Blazers220 Dave Cowens^ C United States New York Nets Boston Celtics321 Dick Snyder SF/SG United States Virginia Squires Seattle SuperSonics322 Lenny Wilkens^ PG United States Memphis Tams Cleveland Cavaliers323 Don Adams basketball SF United States Denver Rockets Detroit Pistons324 Curtis Rowe PF United States San Diego Conquistadors Detroit Pistons325 Neal Walk C United States San Antonio Spurs Phoenix Suns326 Mel Counts C/PF United States Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Lakers327 Phil Jackson^ PF United States Carolina Cougars New York Knicks328 Howard Porter basketball PF/SF United States Utah Stars Chicago Bulls329 Rowland Garrett SF United States Kentucky Colonels Chicago Bulls330 Jerry Sloan^ SG United States New York Nets Chicago Bulls431 Paul Silas PF United States Memphis Tams Boston Celtics432 Calvin Murphy^ PG United States Virginia Squires Houston Rockets433 Gail Goodrich^ SG United States San Diego Conquistadors Los Angeles Lakers434 Rick Adelman^ PG United States Denver Rockets Chicago Bulls435 Steve Kuberski PF/C United States San Antonio Spurs Boston Celtics436 Pat Riley^ SG United States Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Lakers437 Paul Westphal^ SG/PG United States Carolina Cougars Boston Celtics438 Rudy Tomjanovich^ PF United States Utah Stars Houston Rockets439 Herm Gilliam SG/PG United States Kentucky Colonels Atlanta Hawks440 Jim Fox basketball, born 1943 PF/C United States New York Nets Seattle SuperSonics541 Barry Clemens PF United States Virginia Squires Cleveland Cavaliers542 Dave DeBusschere^ PF/SF United States Memphis Tams New York Knicks543 Lou Hudson^ SG/SF United States Denver Rockets Atlanta Hawks544 Connie Hawkins^‡ PF/C United States San Diego Conquistadors Los Angeles Lakers545 Lloyd Neal C/PF United States San Antonio Spurs Portland Trail Blazers546 Jim Davis basketball player PF/C United States Indiana Pacers Detroit Pistons547 Jeff Mullins basketball SG United States Carolina Cougars Golden State Warriors548 Bob McAdoo^ C United States Utah Stars Buffalo Braves549 Larry Steele G United States Kentucky Colonels Portland Trail Blazers550 Gar Heard PF United States New York Nets Buffalo Braves Notes n References External links 1974 ABA Draft on databaseBasketball.com 1974-75 ABA Rookies Draft Draft Draft ABA draft ABA draft ABA draft ABA draft Category:Basketball in New York City Category:Sporting events in New York City