1970 NBA draft explained

1970 NBA draft
Sport:	Basketball
Date:	March 23, 1970
Location:	New York City, New York
League:	NBA
Overall:	239
Rounds:	19
First:	Bob Lanier, Detroit Pistons
Prev:	1969
Next:	1971

The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip.^[1] The Detroit Pistons won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the San Diego Rockets were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Three expansion franchises, the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh, the eighth and the ninth pick in each round. In the first round, the Cavaliers had the seventh pick, while the Blazers and the Braves had the eighth and the ninth pick respectively. In the subsequent rounds, the Cavaliers and the Braves exchanged their order of selection, while the Blazers had the eighth pick throughout the draft. The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 239 players; it holds the record for the most prospects selected in any NBA draft.

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Bob Lanier from St. Bonaventure University was selected first overall by the Detroit Pistons. Rudy Tomjanovich from the University of Michigan and Pete Maravich from Louisiana State University were selected second and third respectively. Fourth pick Dave Cowens from Florida State University and eighth pick Geoff Petrie from Princeton University went on to be named as joint winners of the Rookie of the Year Award in their first season.^[2] Six players from this draft, Lanier, Maravich, Cowens, 18th pick Calvin Murphy, 19th pick Nate Archibald and 122nd pick Dan Issel, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.^[3] Maravich, Cowens and Archibald were also named to the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996.^[4] Maravich had four All-NBA Team selections and five All-Star Game selections.^[5] Cowens won two NBA championships with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976, one Most Valuable Player Award in 1973, and had three All-NBA Team selections and seven All-Star Game selections.^[6] Archibald won one NBA championship with the Celtics in 1981 and had five All-NBA Team selections and six All-Star Game selections.^[7] Lanier and Murphy were selected to eight and one All-Star Games respectively.^{[8] [9]} Dan Issel initially opted to play in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Kentucky Colonels. He played six seasons in the ABA before finally joining the NBA with the Denver Nuggets when both leagues merged. He was selected to five All-ABA Teams, six ABA All-Star Games and one NBA All-Star Game.^{[10] [11]}

Randy Smith, who was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 205th pick, did not enter the league until the 1971–72 season, after he was drafted again in the 1971 NBA draft by the Buffalo Braves with the 104th pick. He was selected to both the All-NBA Team and the All-Star Game.^[12] Tomjanovich was selected to five All-Star Games during his career.^[13] Charlie Scott, the 106th pick, initially opted to play in the ABA with the Virginia Squires before joining the NBA in 1972. He was selected to two All-ABA Teams, two ABA All-Star Games and three NBA All-Star Games.^[14] Three other players from this draft, fifth pick Sam Lacey, seventh pick John Johnson and eighth pick Geoff Petrie, was also selected to at least one All-Star Game.^{[15] [16] [17]} The Rockets' first and second round picks, Tomjanovich and Murphy spent all of their playing career with the Rockets. Tomjanovich played 11 seasons while Murphy played 13 seasons with the Rockets.^{[9] [13]}

Lanier, Tomjanovich, Cowens and Issel all became head coaches after ending their playing career. Lanier was the interim head coach of the Golden State Warriors in the 1995.^[18] Tomjanovich coached two NBA teams, the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. He coached the Rockets for 12 seasons, leading them to the NBA championship twice in 1994 and 1995.^[19] He also coached the United States national basketball team to a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. Cowens started his coaching career as a player-coach with the Celtics during the 1978–79 season, before returning to a full-time player in the next season. He later coached two more NBA teams, most recently with the Golden State Warriors.^[20] Issel coached the Denver Nuggets for six seasons in two separate three-year stints.^[21] Two other players drafted also went on to have coaching careers in the NBA: 40th pick Gar Heard and 125th pick George Irvine.^{[22] [23]}

The 1970 draft class is considered to be one of the best in NBA history as it produced eight Hall of Famers and twelve All-Stars from those draftees who played in the NBA.^[24] The first four picks were inducted to the Hall of Fame and seven of the first eight picks became All-Stars. The 1970 Draft is also known as the first draft where international players who had never played U.S. high school and college basketball were selected. In the 10th and 11th round, the Atlanta Hawks drafted Mexican Manuel Raga and Italian Dino Meneghin; both were playing in the Italian league at the time.^[25] They became the first two international players drafted to the NBA.^[26] However, neither of them ever played in the league as the Hawks did not have US$35,000 to buy out either of their contracts with their teams.^[27] Meneghin, who played 28 seasons in Italy, has been inducted by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to the FIBA Hall of Fame and also to the Basketball Hall of Fame.^{[28] [29] [30]} Raga has also been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	^	C		Detroit Pistons	St. Bonaventure
1	2	^	F		San Diego Rockets	Michigan
1	3	^	G		Atlanta Hawks (from San Francisco)	Louisiana State
1	4	^	F/C		Boston Celtics	Florida State
1	5	^+	C		Cincinnati Royals	New Mexico State
1	6		F/C		Seattle SuperSonics	Cincinnati
1	7	^+	F		Cleveland Cavaliers	Iowa
1	8	^+	G		Portland Trail Blazers	Princeton
1	9		C		Baltimore Bullets (from Buffalo)	Stephen F. Austin
1	10		F/C		Phoenix Suns	Brill Cagliari (Italy)^[31]
1	11		G		Chicago Bulls	New Mexico State
1	12		C		Philadelphia 76ers	Wisconsin
1	13		F		Los Angeles Lakers	Columbia
1	14		G		Atlanta Hawks	UCLA
1	15		F/C		Buffalo Braves (from Baltimore)	Princeton
1	16		F		Milwaukee Bucks	Oregon State
1	17		G		New York Knicks	Illinois
2	18	^	G		San Diego Rockets	Niagara
2	19	^	G		Cincinnati Royals (from San Francisco)	Texas-El Paso
2	20		G		Seattle SuperSonics (from Detroit)	Maryland State
2	21		G		Boston Celtics	Jacksonville
2	22		F		Cincinnati Royals	Davidson
2	23		F/C		Seattle SuperSonics	San Francisco
2	24		F/C		Buffalo Braves	Jackson State
2	25		F		Portland Trail Blazers	Fort Valley State
2	26		F		Cleveland Cavaliers	Ohio State
2	27		G/F		Phoenix Suns	Pan American
2	28		F/C		Chicago Bulls	Brigham Young
2	29		G		Phoenix Suns (from Philadelphia)	St. John's
2	30		G		Los Angeles Lakers	Stetson
2	31		F		Atlanta Hawks	Louisiana State
2	32		F		Detroit Pistons (from Baltimore)	DePaul
2	33		G		Milwaukee Bucks	Duquesne
2	34		G		New York Knicks	Austin Peay

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.^{[32] [33]}

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
3	35		F		San Diego Rockets	Southwest Missouri
3	38		F		Boston Celtics	Florida State
3	39		F		Cincinnati Royals	Eastern New Mexico
3	40		F		Seattle SuperSonics	Oklahoma
3	46		C		Philadelphia 76ers	Santa Clara
3	50		G		Milwaukee Bucks	Southwestern Louisiana
4	53		F		San Francisco Warriors	Santa Clara
4	54		F		Baltimore Bullets (from Detroit)	Pacific
4	64		F		Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota
5	70		G		San Francisco Warriors	Maryland State
5	76		F		Portland Trail Blazers	Cal State-Los Angeles
5	79		F/C		Chicago Bulls	Dillard
5	82		F		Atlanta Hawks	Mount St. Mary's
5	83		G		Baltimore Bullets	Drake
6	87		C		San Francisco Warriors	Oregon State
6	94		G		Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana
6	95		F		Phoenix Suns	Marquette
7	103		F/C		San Diego Rockets	St. John's
7	106	^	G/F		Boston Celtics	North Carolina
7	110		F		Portland Trail Blazers	Rhode Island
8	120		F		San Diego Rockets	Northwestern
8	122	^	F/C		Detroit Pistons	Kentucky
8	129		C		Phoenix Suns	UCLA
8	133		G		Atlanta Hawks	Georgia
8	136		C		New York Knicks	Cheyney State
10	155		F/C		San Francisco Warriors	San Jose State
14	205		G/F		Buffalo Braves	Buffalo State
16	224		G		Detroit Pistons	Eastern Michigan

Trades

• On February 2, 1970, the Atlanta Hawks acquired a first-round pick and future consideration (the Hawks acquired Clyde Lee on October 4, 1974) from the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for Zelmo Beaty.^{[34] [35]} The Hawks used the pick to draft Pete Maravich.
• On the draft-day, the Baltimore Bullets acquired the Buffalo Braves' first-round pick from the Braves in exchange for Mike Davis and the Bullets' first-round pick.^{[36] [37]} The Bullets used the pick to draft George E. Johnson while the Braves used the pick to draft John Hummer.
• On December 25, 1969, the Cincinnati Royals acquired a second-round pick from the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for Adrian Smith.^{[35] [38]} The Royals used the pick to draft Nate Archibald.
• On November 1, 1969, the Seattle SuperSonics acquired a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Erwin Mueller.^{[39] [40]} The Sonics used the pick to select Jake Ford.
• On September 13, 1969, the Phoenix Suns acquired a second-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Bill Melchionni.^[41] The Suns used the pick to draft Joe DePre.
• On February 1, 1970, the Detroit Pistons acquired Bob Quick and a second-round pick from the Bullets in exchange for Eddie Miles and a fourth-round pick.^{[40] [42]} The Pistons used the pick to draft Ken Warzynski. The Bullets used the pick to select Bill Stricker.

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1970 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Player	Pos.	Nationality	School/club team
	G		New Mexico State
	F		Jackson State
	G		Kansas State

See also

• List of first overall NBA draft picks
• NBA records

References

General

• Web site: Complete First Round Results 1970–79. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 20, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100321192426/http://www.nba.com/history/draft_round1_1970s.html. 21 March 2010. dead.
• Web site: 1970 NBA Draft. basketball-reference.com. March 20, 2010. May 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100525180418/http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1970.html. live.
• Web site: 1967–1971 NBA Drafts. The Association for Professional Basketball Research. March 20, 2010. September 17, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100917082401/http://apbr.org/6771drft.html. live.

Specific

External links

• NBA.com
• NBA.com: NBA Draft History

Notes and References

1. Web site: Evolution of the Draft and Lottery. March 20, 2010. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. https://web.archive.org/web/20100321141751/http://www.nba.com/history/draft_evolution.html. 21 March 2010. dead.
2. Web site: Rookie of the Year. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100329231204/http://www.nba.com/history/awards_rookieofyear.html. 29 March 2010. dead.
3. Web site: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees. basketball-reference.com. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100510070651/http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/hof.html. 10 May 2010 . live.
4. Web site: The NBA's 50 Greatest Players. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100405004357/http://www.nba.com/history/50greatest.html. 5 April 2010. dead.
5. Web site: Pete Maravich Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100402064325/http://www.nba.com/history/players/maravich_bio.html. 2 April 2010 . live.
6. Web site: Dave Cowens Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100324120814/http://www.nba.com/history/players/cowens_bio.html. 24 March 2010 . live.
7. Web site: Nate "Tiny" Archibald Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100324100221/http://www.nba.com/history/players/archibald_bio.html. 24 March 2010 . live.
8. Web site: Bob Lanier Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100320033221/http://www.nba.com/history/players/lanier_bio.html. 20 March 2010 . live.
9. Web site: Calvin Murphy Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. February 20, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090220185624/http://www.nba.com/history/players/murphy_bio.html. live.
10. Web site: Dan Issel Bio. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 28, 2010. August 24, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120824025204/http://www.nba.com/history/players/issel_bio.html. live.
11. Web site: Dan Issel Statistics . basketball-reference.com . June 10, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100610083919/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/isselda01.html . June 10, 2010 .
12. Web site: Randy Smith Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 28, 2010. May 12, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130512192615/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/maravpe01.html. live.
13. Web site: Rudy Tomjanovich Statistics. basketball-reference.com. April 12, 2010. May 12, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130512192615/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/maravpe01.html. live.
14. Web site: Charlie Scott Statistics. basketball-reference.com. April 12, 2010. November 24, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101124073916/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/scottch01.html. live.
15. Web site: Geoff Petrie Statistics. basketball-reference.com. April 12, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100524010030/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/petrige01.html. 24 May 2010 . live.
16. Web site: Sam Lacey Statistics. basketball-reference.com. April 12, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100404171809/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/laceysa01.html. 4 April 2010 . live.
17. Web site: John Johnson Statistics. basketball-reference.com. April 12, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100428051303/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/johnsjo01.html. 28 April 2010 . live.
18. Web site: Bob Lanier Coaching Record. basketball-reference.com. May 19, 2010. April 15, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090415013508/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/laniebo01c.html. live.
19. Web site: Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record. basketball-reference.com. April 11, 2010. March 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190320190923/https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/tomjaru01c.html. live.
20. Web site: Dave Cowens Coaching Record . basketball-reference.com . April 11, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080517143419/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/cowenda01c.html . May 17, 2008 .
21. Web site: Dan Issel Coaching Record. basketball-reference.com. April 11, 2010. November 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101125074831/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/isselda01c.html. live.
22. Web site: Gar Heard Coaching Record. basketball-reference.com. May 18, 2010. December 28, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081228084417/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/heardga01c.html. live.
23. Web site: George Irvine Coaching Record. basketball-reference.com. May 18, 2010. January 17, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130117193148/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/irvinge01c.html. live.
24. NBA's Best Draft Classes. Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. August 18, 2010. May 28, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110528111215/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0903/nba.best.draft.classes/content.4.html. dead.
25. Web site: NBA goes global, with good reason. June 27, 2003. Jeff. Zilgitt. USA Today. June 24, 2010. November 16, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101116023843/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/zillgitt/2003-06-27-zillgitt_x.htm. live.
26. Web site: Out of the South. Brad. Friedman. NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 24, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101210154622/http://www.nba.com/fedex/eng/mexico.html. December 10, 2010. dead.
27. Web site: Searching for the next Pau Gasol. June 22, 2004. Darren. Rovell. ESPN.com. June 24, 2010. November 5, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121105005321/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2004/news/story?id=1826128. live.
28. Web site: Un'altra Hall of Fame per Dino Meneghin . February 8, 2013 . October 23, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101023192519/http://www.corriere.it/sport/10_agosto_20/meneghin-hall-fame_52e29964-ac6c-11df-9663-00144f02aabe.shtml . live .
29. Web site: FIBA announces 2010 Hall of Fame Class . August 20, 2010 . FIBA . November 29, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101019073536/http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/news/p/newsid/42798/arti.html . 19 October 2010 . dead .
30. Web site: Dino Meneghin Bio . August 18, 2010 . FIBA . November 29, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120305034933/http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/indu/play/2007/p/lid_17904_newsid/42701/bio.html . March 5, 2012 .
31. News: Pete 3rd Draft Pick; Cowens 4th. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. March 24, 1970. March 31, 2010.
32. Web site: 1970 NBA draft. December 2, 2017. May 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100525180418/http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1970.html. live.
33. Web site: NBA Past Drafts - RealGM. May 5, 2018. July 11, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170711192339/http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1970. live.
34. Web site: Zelmo Beaty Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100502012621/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/beatyze01.html. 2 May 2010 . live.
35. Web site: Golden State Warriors 2009–10 Media Guite: Draft & Transactions. NBA.com/Warriors. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 21, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100320115556/http://www.nba.com/warriors/media/0910_GSWMG_DraftTransactions.pdf. 20 March 2010. dead.
36. Web site: Mike Davis Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. April 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210416190200/https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/davismi01.html. live.
37. Web site: Clippers: All-Time Transactions. NBA.com/Clippers. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 21, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100319232102/http://www.nba.com/clippers/history/transactions.html. 19 March 2010. dead.
38. Web site: Adrian Smith Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. April 11, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190411030609/https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithad01.html. live.
39. Web site: Erwin Mueller Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100316021313/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mueller01.html. 16 March 2010 . live.
40. Web site: Pistons: All-Time Transactions. NBA.com/Pistons. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 21, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100320040345/http://www.nba.com/pistons/history/transactions_alltime.html. 20 March 2010 . live.
41. Web site: Bill Melchionni Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. August 8, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100808015255/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/melchbi01.html. live.
42. Web site: Eddie Miles Statistics. basketball-reference.com. March 21, 2010. March 6, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110306063607/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/milesed01.html. live.