The 1949 BAA draft was the third annual draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the last draft that was done while going under the original Basketball Association of America name before the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) on August 3, 1949. The BAA's draft was held on April 21, 1949, months before the start of the 1949–50 NBA season, which debuted the NBA name properly. In this draft, eleven BAA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. However, one month before the BAA's final draft began, the NBL would end up getting an early jumpstart over the BAA with their own draft by starting their own draft system some time in March 1949. Three of the first round selections made by BAA teams (Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, and Ralph Beard) alongside college teammates Cliff Barker and Joe Holland would all agree to sign with the newly created Indianapolis Olympians expansion franchise, who had been intended to replace the Kautskys in the NBL before ultimately replacing the Jets for the NBA merger. After initial disagreements made from the previous year, the BAA and NBL would reconcile their differences after the BAA draft ended and eventually agreed to a merger on August 3, 1949, with the aforementioned Indianapolis Jets and Providence Steamrollers being left out on the BAA's side and the Oshkosh All-Stars, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, and Dayton Rens being left out on the NBL's side; this merger would now leave players with few alternative methods to enter the soon-to-be-renamed NBA draft going forward, since direct competition for payment between the two professional leagues was now essentially replaced by Amateur Athletic Union basketball, minor league basketball, and various barnstorming teams if players wanted to work before entering the draft system. During the draft, three teams agreed to give up certain draft picks in order to secure the player rights to underclassmen that left college, but already signed and played for the BAA the previous season, with Howie Shannon being considered the #1 pick by default for the Providence Steamrollers, George Kaftan being #4 for the Boston Celtics, and 1949 Rookie of the Year Harry Gallatin being #20 for the New York Knicks. The 76 players selected was one number higher to the number of players selected in the 1988 NBA draft; both drafts have had some of the fewest picks selected prior to 1989 (when the NBA draft was reduced to two rounds ever since).

Draft selections and draftee career notes Howie Shannon from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Providence Steamrollers. However, Ed Macauley and Vern Mikkelsen were selected before the draft as St. Louis Bombers' and Minneapolis Lakers' territorial picks respectively. Not only that, but Shannon would also join George Kaftan of the Boston Celtics and Harry Gallatin of the New York Knicks as three BAA/NBA draft picks where they would be drafted in this year's draft, but played in the previous BAA season with the same team that drafted them earlier on. Four players from this draft, Vern Mikkelsen, Ed Macauley, Dick McGuire and Slater Martin have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Key Pos.GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter

Draft Round Pick Player Position Team College / ClubT– ^ F/C St. Louis Bombers Saint LouisT– ^ F/C Minneapolis Lakers Hamline11 ~ G/F Providence Steamrollers Providence Steamrollers 12 *~ C Indianapolis Jets Kentucky13 F/C Fort Wayne Pistons Oklahoma State14 F Boston Celtics Yale15 F/C Philadelphia Warriors Utah16 C Baltimore Bullets Wyoming17 ^ G New York Knicks St. John's18 F Washington Capitols Kentucky19 F/C Chicago Stags Loyola (IL)110 G/F Rochester Royals Seton Hall2– + G/F Indianapolis Jets Notre Dame2– * G Chicago Stags Kentucky2– + F/C Rochester Royals Louisville2– G New York Knicks Muhlenberg2– F Boston Celtics Boston Celtics 2– C Philadelphia Warriors Georgia Tech2– G Fort Wayne Pistons Western Kentucky2– F St. Louis Bombers Beloit2– G Washington Capitols Baylor

Other picks The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game. Round Pick Player Position Team College3– G Philadelphia Warriors Temple3– + G/F Chicago Stags Illinois3– F Baltimore Bullets Notre Dame3– G/F Providence Steamrollers Dartmouth3– G Boston Celtics Holy Cross3– F/C Indianapolis Jets Bowling Green3– * F Fort Wayne Pistons West Virginia3– G/F New York Knicks Colgate3– ^ G Minneapolis Lakers Texas4– G Indianapolis Jets Butler4– G Fort Wayne Pistons Loyola (IL)4– G/F Providence Steamrollers Tulane5– G Washington Capitols Kentucky5– G Providence Steamrollers Georgetown5– F St. Louis Bombers Northeast Missouri6– G/F Indianapolis Jets Western Michigan7– C St. Louis Bombers Drake8– G Boston Celtics Indiana State8– G Providence Steamrollers Indiana State–– C Baltimore Bullets Xavier–– + G Minneapolis Lakers Michigan–– + G/F Minneapolis Lakers Tennessee–– F St. Louis Bombers Saint Louis

Undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1949 draft but played at least one game in the NBA. Player Pos. Nationality School/club teamSG/SFNC State (Jr.)SF/PFDenver (Sr.)SGOklahoma A&M (Sr.)SFMiami (Ohio) (Sr.)SG/SFCanisius (Sr.)PGNYU (Jr.)PGLong Island (So.)SF/PFMarymount (So.)SG/SFSaint Joseph's (So.)CNC State (Sr.)PGMichigan (Sr.)SGMount Union (Sr.)SFSeton Hall (Sr.)SG/SFSaint Mary's (California) (Jr.)PF/CXavier (Jr.)CWestern Illinois (Sr.)PGHoly Cross (So.)SG/SFCalifornia (Sr.)SGWestern Kentucky (Sr.)SGBowling Green (Sr.)SG/SFDePaul (Sr.)SF/PFSaint Louis (So.)SGNorthern Arizona (Sr.)GTennessee (Sr.)PGBenjamin Franklin (New York) (HS Sr.)PGNorthern Illinois (Sr.)

See also List of first overall NBA draft picks NBA records

Notes

References General

Specific

External links NBA.com NBA.com: NBA Draft History