The 1973–74 Denver Rockets season was the seventh season of the franchise and their last under their original Denver Rockets name. The Rockets ended up with a 37–47 record, which was tied for fourth in the Western Division, which necessitated a one-game playoff match at home versus the San Diego Conquistadors on March 29, 1974. Despite having the home-court advantage on display and the Rockets beating the Conquistadors throughout the majority of the regular season, the Rockets lost the game 131–111, which would have sent the Rockets up into the 1974 ABA Playoffs properly. Instead, it ended up becoming the second season in franchise history behind the 1970–71 season where the Rockets would miss the ABA Playoffs, which would also be the final season they'd miss the playoffs while using that particular team name. On August 7, 1974, in anticipation of a move to the National Basketball Association that already had a team christened the "Rockets" around in the NBA during the same season the Denver franchise was first created, the team was renamed as the Denver Nuggets, partially in tribute to the former original Denver Nuggets team of the same name that played in the National Basketball League and NBA before leaving the latter league in 1950 and renaming themselves as the Denver Refiners during their brief time in the short-lived National Professional Basketball League, which they still use to this day.

ABA Draft

Interestingly, this year's ABA draft would involve four different types of drafts throughout the early 1973 year: a "Special Circumstances Draft" on January 15, a "Senior Draft" on April 25, an "Undergraduate Draft" also on April 25, and a "Supplemental Draft" on May 18. As such, the following selections were made in these respective drafts by the Rockets, which could be considered the last official drafts the Denver franchise would do in the ABA while using the Rockets name if you don't include them using that team name during the 1974 ABA draft period.

ABA Special Circumstances Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 1 Mike Bantom SF/PF United States St. Joseph's 2 13 Clyde Turner F United States Minnesota Due to the "Special Circumstances Draft" being held in January, this draft was the only draft where the Rockets held the #1 pick for that specific draft. Every other draft that was done later in the year had the San Diego Conquistadors selecting first in each draft instead.

ABA Senior Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 6 Ed Ratleff SG/SF United States Long Beach State 2 16 Steve Mitchell F United States Kansas State 3 26 Kevin Stacom SG United States Providence 4 36 Patrick McFarland SG United States St. Joseph's 5 46 Larry Farmer F United States UCLA 6 56 Martinez Denmon F United States Iowa State 7 66 James Brown F United States Harvard 8 76 Gary Rhoades G United States Colorado State 9 86 Connie Warren F United States Xavier University (Ohio) 10 96 Jeff Dawson G United States Illinois (redshirt) The "Senior Draft" done in April is often considered the official, main draft period of the 1973 ABA draft by basketball historians.

ABA Undergraduate Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 11 (1) 106 (6) Marvin Barnes PF/C United States Providence 12 (2) 116) (16) Dennis DuVal G United States Syracuse The "Undergraduate Draft" is considered a continuation of the "Senior Draft" that was done earlier that same day, hence the numbering of the rounds and draft picks here.

ABA Supplemental Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 4 Lamont King G United States Long Beach State 2 12 Tom Peck F United States Wisconsin–Eau Claire 3 20 Lindell Reason G United States Eastern Michigan Of the eight teams that participated in this specific draft, the Rockets would be the team to utilize the least amount of selections from this draft with three total selections here when most of the other teams would at least have eight overall selections in mind for this draft. That being said, none of the three players selected in the "Supplemental Draft" would ever play for Denver (either as the Rockets or as the future Nuggets) once this draft concluded in May.

Roster

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Season standings Eastern Division + Team W L % GB New York Nets 55 29 .655 - Kentucky Colonels 53 31 .631 2 Carolina Cougars 47 37 .560 8 Virginia Squires 28 56 .333 27 Memphis Tams 21 63 .250 34

Western Division + Team W L % GB Utah Stars 51 33 .607 - Indiana Pacers 46 38 .548 5 San Antonio Spurs 45 39 .536 6 San Diego Conquistadors 37 47 .440 14 Denver Rockets 37 47 .440 14

Game log 1973-74 Denver Rockets Schedule and Results | Basketball-Reference.com

Statistics RkPlayerAgeGMPFGFGAFG%3P3PA3P%2P2PA2P%FTFTAFT%ORBDRBTRBASTSTLBLKTOVPFPTS1Warren Jabali274934.95.213.4.3910.92.5.3664.310.9.3974.55.6.8031.73.35.07.32.00.24.03.415.92Julius Keye277932.81.94.2.4470.00.1.2001.84.1.4510.71.1.6792.85.98.71.70.51.91.13.04.53Al Smith277632.04.110.3.3990.30.9.3063.89.3.4092.53.2.7730.72.43.28.11.30.13.63.410.94Ralph Simpson247529.98.018.6.4280.00.3.0837.918.3.4342.83.7.7541.52.84.32.51.40.22.62.518.75Dave Robisch248429.45.311.3.4730.00.05.311.3.4733.84.9.7742.65.88.41.80.50.81.22.714.56Steve Jones314227.55.712.7.4480.30.9.3615.411.9.4542.02.6.7710.82.53.33.00.30.12.63.013.77Willie Long238225.14.711.3.4140.00.0.0004.711.3.4153.34.0.8312.43.35.71.20.70.21.93.012.68Byron Beck298224.15.210.0.5160.00.0.0005.210.0.5171.51.7.8512.03.15.10.90.60.11.02.811.89Mike Green227920.94.610.1.4590.00.0.5004.610.1.4592.12.9.7482.84.57.40.80.61.61.62.411.410Marv Roberts243518.43.06.8.4470.00.01.0003.06.7.4451.41.8.7741.72.13.71.30.40.11.42.17.511Patrick McFarland226711.32.45.4.4430.10.4.3332.35.0.4510.50.8.6730.91.12.01.00.30.10.61.05.412Claude Terry24609.81.94.3.4430.20.6.4001.73.7.4501.01.2.8700.40.81.21.20.20.11.01.15.01973-74 Denver Rockets Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

Awards and honors Assist per game leader: Al Smith (8.1) Total assists: Al Smith (619) All-Defensive 1st team: Julius Keye All-Rookie Team: Mike Green All-Stars: Warren Jabali, Ralph Simpson,1973-74 ABA Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com

References