Bob Lanier was selected first overall by the Detroit Pistons.

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.

Draft selections and draftee career notes[link]

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 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 six Hall of Famers and twelve All-Stars.^[24] Three of 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.^[28][29]

Key[link]

Draft[link]

Rudy Tomjanovich was selected second overall by the San Diego Rockets. Dave Cowens was selected fourth overall by the Boston Celtics. Calvin Murphy was selected 18th overall by the San Diego Rockets.

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	Lanier, BobBob Lanier^	C	United States	Detroit Pistons	St. Bonaventure
1	2	Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich+	F	United States	San Diego Rockets	Michigan
1	3	Maravich, PetePete Maravich^	G	United States	Atlanta Hawks (from San Francisco)[a]	Louisiana State
1	4	Cowens, DaveDave Cowens^	F/C	United States	Boston Celtics	Florida State
1	5	Lacey, SamSam Lacey+	C	United States	Cincinnati Royals	New Mexico State
1	6	Ard, JimJim Ard	F/C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Cincinnati
1	7	Johnson, JohnJohn Johnson+	F	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Iowa
1	8	Petrie, GeoffGeoff Petrie+	G	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Princeton
1	9	Johnson, George E.George E. Johnson	C	United States	Baltimore Bullets (from Buffalo)[b]	Stephen F. Austin
1	10	Howard, GregGreg Howard	F/C	United States	Phoenix Suns	Brill Cagliari (Italy)[30][31]
1	11	Collins, JimmyJimmy Collins	G	United States	Chicago Bulls	New Mexico State
1	12	Henry, AlAl Henry	C	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Wisconsin
1	13	McMillian, JimJim McMillian	F	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Columbia
1	14	Vallely, JohnJohn Vallely	G	United States	Atlanta Hawks	UCLA
1	15	Hummer, JohnJohn Hummer	F/C	United States	Buffalo Braves (from Baltimore)[b]	Princeton
1	16	Freeman, GaryGary Freeman	F	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Oregon State
1	17	Price, MikeMike Price	G	United States	New York Knicks	Illinois
2	18	Murphy, CalvinCalvin Murphy^	G	United States	San Diego Rockets	Niagara
2	19	Archibald, NateNate Archibald^	G	United States	Cincinnati Royals (from San Francisco)[c]	Texas-El Paso
2	20	Ford, JakeJake Ford	G	United States	Seattle SuperSonics (from Detroit)[d]	Maryland State
2	21	Morgan, RexRex Morgan	G	United States	Boston Celtics	Jacksonville
2	22	Cook, DougDoug Cook#	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Davidson
2	23	Cross, PetePete Cross	F/C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	San Francisco
2	24	Warner, CornellCornell Warner	F/C	United States	Buffalo Braves	Jackson State
2	25	Gilmore, WaltWalt Gilmore	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Fort Valley State
2	26	Sorenson, DaveDave Sorenson	F	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Ohio State
2	27	Taylor, FredFred Taylor	G/F	United States	Phoenix Suns	Pan American
2	28	Ruffner, PaulPaul Ruffner	F/C	United States	Chicago Bulls	Brigham Young
2	29	DePre, JoeJoe DePre#	G	United States	Phoenix Suns (from Philadelphia)[e]	St. John's
2	30	Killum, EarnieEarnie Killum	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Stetson
2	31	Hester, DanDan Hester#	F	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Louisiana State
2	32	Warzynski, KenKen Warzynski#	F	United States	Detroit Pistons (from Baltimore)[f]	DePaul
2	33	Zopf, BillBill Zopf	G	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Duquesne
2	34	Wright, HowieHowie Wright#	G	United States	New York Knicks	Austin Peay

Other picks[link]

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
3	35	Perry, CurtisCurtis Perry	F	United States	San Diego Rockets	Southwest Missouri
3	38	Williams, WillieWillie Williams	F	United States	Boston Celtics	Florida State
3	39	Hyder, GregGreg Hyder	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Eastern New Mexico
3	40	Heard, GarGar Heard	F	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Oklahoma
3	46	Awtrey, DennisDennis Awtrey	C	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Santa Clara
3	50	Winkler, MarvMarv Winkler	G	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Southwestern Louisiana
4	53	Ogden, RalphRalph Ogden	F	United States	San Francisco Warriors	Santa Clara
4	54	Stricker, BillBill Stricker	F	United States	Baltimore Bullets (from Detroit)[f]	Pacific
4	64	Mikan, LarryLarry Mikan	F	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota
5	70	Fontaine, LeviLevi Fontaine	G	United States	San Francisco Warriors	Maryland State
5	76	Knight, RonRon Knight	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Cal State-Los Angeles
5	79	Johnson, George T.George T. Johnson	F/C	United States	Chicago Bulls	Dillard
5	82	Riley, BobBob Riley	F	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Mount St. Mary's
5	83	Zeller, GaryGary Zeller	G	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Drake
6	87	Bartolome, VicVic Bartolome	C	United States	San Francisco Warriors	Oregon State
6	94	Cooke, JoeJoe Cooke	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana
6	95	Thomas, JoeJoe Thomas	F	United States	Phoenix Suns	Marquette
7	103	Paultz, BillyBilly Paultz	F/C	United States	San Diego Rockets	St. John's
7	106	Scott, CharlieCharlie Scott+	G/F	United States	Boston Celtics	North Carolina
7	110	English, ClaudeClaude English	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Rhode Island
8	120	Adams, DonDon Adams	F	United States	San Diego Rockets	Northwestern
8	122	Issel, DanDan Issel^	F/C	United States	Detroit Pistons	Kentucky
8	129	Patterson, SteveSteve Patterson	C	United States	Phoenix Suns	UCLA
8	133	White, HerbHerb White	G	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Georgia
8	136	Fillmore, GregGreg Fillmore	C	United States	New York Knicks	Cheyney State
10	155	Dietrick, CobyCoby Dietrick	F/C	United States	San Francisco Warriors	San Jose State
14	205	Smith, RandyRandy Smith*	G/F	United States	Detroit Pistons	Buffalo State
16	224	Marlatt, HarveyHarvey Marlatt	G	United States	Detroit Pistons	Eastern Michigan

Trades[link]

• ^a 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.^[32][33] The Hawks used the pick to draft Pete Maravich.

• ^{b 1 2} 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.^[34][35] The Bullets used the pick to draft George E. Johnson while the Braves used the pick to draft John Hummer.

• ^c On December 25, 1969, the Cincinnati Royals acquired a second-round pick from the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for Adrian Smith.^[33][36] The Royals used the pick to draft Nate Archibald.

• ^d On November 1, 1969, the Seattle SuperSonics acquired a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Erwin Mueller.^[37][38] The Sonics used the pick to select Jake Ford.

• ^e On September 13, 1969, the Phoenix Suns acquired a second-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Bill Melchionni.^[39] The Suns used the pick to draft Joe DePre.

• ^{f 1 2} 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.^[38][40] The Pistons used the pick to draft Ken Warzynski. The Bullets used the pick to select Bill Stricker.

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

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

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

The NBA Draft is an annual event in which the thirty teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. These players are usually amateur U.S. college basketball players, but international players are also eligible to be drafted. College players who have finished their four-year college eligibility are automatically eligible for selection, while the underclassmen have to declare their eligibility and give up their remaining college eligibility. International players who are at least 22 years old are automatically eligible for selection, while the players younger than 22 have to declare their eligibility. Players who are not automatically eligible but have declared their eligibility are often called "early-entrants" or "early-entry candidates". The Draft usually takes place at the end of June, during the NBA off-season. The Draft consists of two rounds with a total of sixty players to be selected.

In the past, high school players were also eligible to be selected. However, starting in the 2006 Draft, high school players were not eligible to enter the draft directly after graduating high school. The rules now state that high school players will gain eligibility for draft selection one year after their high school graduation and they must also be at least 19 years old as of the end of the calendar year of the draft. Contrary to popular belief, they do not necessarily have to have at least one year of college basketball (as some players have chosen to use that year to play professionally in Europe for example).

NBA Draft Lottery[link]

The NBA Draft Lottery is an annual event held by the NBA to determine the draft order. The teams who missed the playoffs in the previous season participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order. The lottery winner would get the first selection in the draft. In the current rules, 14 non-playoff teams participate in the Draft Lottery. The lottery is weighted so that the team with the worst record has the best chance of obtaining higher draft picks. The lottery process determines the first three picks of the draft. The rest of the first-round order of picks is in reverse order of the teams' win-loss record. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the second round of the draft. The term "lottery pick" denotes a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while the non-playoff teams involved in the process are often called "lottery teams". The Draft Lottery system was first used in the 1985 Draft.

Draft selection process[link]

All players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft, and a player who completed basketball eligibility at an American high school must also be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class. Restrictions exist on players signing with sports agents and on declaring for, then withdrawing, from drafts—although most of them are enforced by the NCAA rather than the NBA.

In the early years of the draft, teams would select players until they ran out of prospects. The 1960 draft went 21 rounds. By 1974, it had stabilized to 10 rounds, which held up until 1985, when the draft was shortened to seven rounds. By agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, the drafts from 1989 onward have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team.^[1]

Globalization of the draft[link]

The NBA draft has been dominated by collegiate players since the draft was put in place in 1950. In more recent years high school seniors have also had a large impact on the draft. These include players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Amar'e Stoudemire. However, because of the new age requirement put in place in 2005, high school seniors are no longer eligible for the draft. During the same stretch that high school players were making a large impact on the draft, another group of players started to make their presence felt in the draft.

Selecting foreign players[link]

Foreign players have made a large impact on how teams are now drafting. When the draft began, foreign players were not selected. As the years progressed, things began to change and a few international players were selected. The first foreign player, in the sense of being a national of a country other than the U.S., to be chosen first overall in the draft was Bahamian Mychal Thompson in 1978. However, Thompson's selection was not a true harbinger of the game's globalization, as he had spent much of his childhood in Florida, and had played college basketball at Minnesota. One of the first foreign players selected in the draft to play in the NBA was Manute Bol out of the Sudan in 1983 in the 5th round by the San Diego Clippers. Bol's selection was later deemed ineligible by the NBA. Two years later Bol was drafted again by the NBA this time out of Division II University of Bridgeport in 1985 as the 31st pick overall in the second round. Although Bol did not have a stellar career, he is known for being one of the tallest players ever to play the game at 7 feet and 7 inches. He holds the record for being the tallest player ever to hit a 3 point field goal. The following two years saw two players born outside the U.S. selected first overall—Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 and Jamaica-born American Patrick Ewing in 1985. However, like Thompson before them, both had played U.S. college basketball—Olajuwon at Houston and Ewing at Georgetown—and Ewing had also played high school basketball in the U.S.

By the 1997 Draft, the number of foreign players being drafted dramatically increased. The top pick in that draft, Tim Duncan, became the third international player picked number 1 overall—although his designation as "international" is a matter of semantics, as he is a native of the United States Virgin Islands and, like all USVI natives, is a U.S. citizen by birth. He also had played U.S. college basketball at Wake Forest. Including Duncan, 12 international players were selected in the two rounds of the draft—although half of them, including Duncan and the next two such players picked, had played college basketball. The 1998 draft saw another foreign player picked first overall, Nigerian Michael Olowokandi, but like Duncan he had played college basketball, in his case at Pacific. In 2001 the highest drafted foreign player, Pau Gasol, was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks. That would all change the following season when Yao Ming became the first foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall. Not only was the first overall pick an international player, but five more picks in the first round alone were also from overseas. In total, the 2002 draft produced 17 international players, with only three of them (all second-round picks) having U.S. college experience.

International players selected number 1 overall[link]

As noted earlier, four international players had gone first overall before 2002, although all had played college basketball in the U.S., and one of them was in fact a U.S. citizen by birth. It was not until 2002 that an international player without college experience went first overall—Yao Ming. His selection was not only a watershed moment for the NBA, it also had a large impact in Yao's homeland of China. Hannah Beech (2003) writes "Yao has single-handedly transformed his countrymen from nameless, faceless millions into mighty men who can jam with the very best." ^[2] Yao has helped the NBA grow into a worldwide product. Beech (2003) goes on to write "Ratings for NBA games broadcast on Chinese TV have never been higher than this year as the nation keeps track of its new favorite team, Yao's Houston Rockets." ^[2] For his career Yao is averaging a solid 19.0 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, 1.89 blocks per game, and is shooting 82.6 percent from the free throw line.

2001 Draft[link]

From the 2001 draft to the 2006 Draft there were a total of 6 foreign players selected. This trend shows how NBA teams are expanding the way they are selecting players in the draft. Players like Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Tony Parker, Nenê and Luol Deng are changing the landscape of the NBA to include a wide array of players from all over the globe.

2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts[link]

The 2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts saw international players picked first overall. In 2002 the Houston Rockets selected Yao Ming from China first in the draft. Also in 2005, the Milwaukee Bucks picked Andrew Bogut, from Australia by way of the University of Utah, #1. The next year, the Toronto Raptors made Andrea Bargnani the second foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall.

Other notable past NBA drafts[link]

Some of the most noted NBA draft years are 1984, 1996, and 2003. Each of those is often referred to as one of, if not the, best NBA Draft ever, though the 2003 Draft was too recent to accurately compare. The 2000 NBA Draft has been regarded as the worst in history, with Sports Illustrated calling its first round "a horrible group of players."^[3] The 1986 Draft was notable for the number of solid and even outstanding players selected in later rounds, partly because of drug problems that claimed the life of second overall pick Len Bias and affected the careers of several other first-round picks.^[4][5]

See also[link]

• Draft bust
• Expansion draft
• Haywood v. National Basketball Association
• Mock draft
• NBA Draft Lottery
• NBA first overall draft pick
• NBA territorial pick
• WNBA Draft

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

• NBA.com: NBA Draft History
• Basketball-Reference.com: NBA Draft Index.
• TheDraftReview.com: NBA Draft Index

Dean Peter Meminger (born May 13, 1948, in Walterboro, South Carolina) is an American basketball player and coach. Meminger starred at Rice High School in New York City. He attended Marquette University, where he played for coach Al McGuire. He helped Marquette win the 1970 National Invitational Tournament. Marquette's 1970 team was ranked 8th in the country at the time and was inivted to the NCAA tournament, which it turned down, for a better NIT bid. The NCAA was so incensed by Marquette that it instituted a rule which forced an NCAA Division I team to accept an NCAA bid over an NIT bid. A subsequent antitrust case brought by the NIT against the NCAA over this issue was later settled out of court. Dean was also the MVP in the 1970 National Invitation Tournament National Championship Game. Dean was drafted in the first round (number 16 overall) of the 1971 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, where he played from 1971 to 1974 and 1976-1977.^[1] Meminger played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1974 to 1976.^[2]

Career[link]

Meminger was head coach of the New York Stars in the Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL), which played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981.^[3][4] Meminger, with rookie trainer Rick Capistran at his side, guided the Stars to the league championship during the 1979-80 season and was named the league's coach of the year. The team's great success, however, was not enough to save the Stars, which lost so much money the team folded without being able to repeat as champions.^[5] Meminger was coaxed to head west, leaving Capistran behind, when he signed up to coach the San Francisco Pioneers in what would be the league's final season.^[6]