The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Portland Trail Blazers won the coin flip on March 27 and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Philadelphia 76ers 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.
Prior to the draft, the Capital Bullets were renamed the Washington Bullets. The expansion New Orleans Jazz took part in their first NBA draft and were assigned the tenth pick in each round. 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. Before the draft, 20 college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 178 players.
Draft selections and draftee career notes
Bill Walton, from the University of California Los Angeles, was selected first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. Jamaal Wilkes (then known as Keith Wilkes), also from UCLA, was selected eleventh by the Golden State Warriors and went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Walton, Wilkes, and fortieth pick George Gervin have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Both Walton and Gervin were also named to the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. Walton won the NBA championship, along with the Finals Most Valuable Player Award, with the Blazers in 1977. Later in his career, he won another NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1986. During that season, he also won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Walton's other achievements include one Most Valuable Player Award in 1978, two All-NBA Team selections and two All-Star Game selections. Gervin had left college in 1972 to play professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Virginia Squires. He later joined the NBA in 1976 after both leagues merged. His achievements include two All-ABA Team selections, seven All-NBA Team selections, three ABA All-Star Game selections and nine NBA All-Star Game selections.
Jamaal Wilkes won four NBA championships, one with the Golden State Warriors and three with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was selected to three All-Star Games. Maurice Lucas, the 14th pick, was selected to one All-NBA Team and four All-Star Games. He also won the NBA championship in 1977 with the Trail Blazers. Truck Robinson, the 22nd pick, and Phil Smith, the 29th pick, were selected to one All-NBA Team and two All-Star Games each. Bobby Jones, the 5th pick, initially opted to play in the ABA. He played two seasons in the ABA before finally joined the NBA with the Denver Nuggets when both leagues merged. His achievements include an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983, one All-ABA Team selection, one ABA All-Star Game selection, four NBA All-Star Game selections, nine NBA All-Defensive Team selections and one Sixth Man of The Year Award. Five other players from this draft, 6th pick Scott Wedman, 8th pick Campy Russell, 12th pick Brian Winters, 21st pick Billy Knight and 25th pick John Drew, were also selected to at least one All-Star Game. Two players drafted went on to have coaching careers in the NBA: Brian Winters and 45th pick Kim Hughes.
Key Pos.GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter
Draft
Player Team 11 ^ F/C Portland Trail Blazers UCLA 12 F/C Philadelphia 76ers Providence 13 C Seattle SuperSonics North Carolina State 14 F/C Phoenix Suns Notre Dame 15 ^ F Houston Rockets North Carolina 16 + G/F Kansas City-Omaha Kings Colorado 17 G Atlanta Hawks Hawaii 18 + F Cleveland Cavaliers Michigan 19 F/C Buffalo Braves Maryland 110 F/C Atlanta Hawks Utah 111 Keith Wilkes^~ G/F Golden State Warriors UCLA 112 + G/F Los Angeles Lakers South Carolina 113 F/C Washington Bullets Maryland 114 * F/C Chicago Bulls Marquette 115 F Detroit Pistons Missouri 116 F/C Chicago Bulls Long Beach State 117 G/F Boston Celtics Long Beach State 118 G Milwaukee Bucks Notre Dame 219 G Philadelphia 76ers Dayton 220 G/F Portland Trail Blazers Vanderbilt 221+ G/F Los Angeles Lakers Pittsburgh 222* F/C Washington Bullets Tennessee State 223 G/F Houston Rockets Texas-El Paso 224 C Kansas City-Omaha Kings Tennessee 225+ G/F Atlanta Hawks Gardner–Webb 226 F Seattle SuperSonics Long Beach State 227 G Chicago Bulls Jacksonville 228 F New Orleans Jazz Grambling 229* G Golden State Warriors San Francisco 230 G Washington Bullets Syracuse 231 F Phoenix Suns Syracuse 232 G New York Knicks Virginia Commonwealth 233 G Detroit Pistons Arizona 234 G Portland Trail Blazers Miami (Ohio) 235 G Boston Celtics Providence 236 # G Portland Trail Blazers Maryland Eastern Shore 337 G Philadelphia 76ers Arizona 338 G Cleveland Cavaliers West Georgia 339 F/C Cleveland Cavaliers San Francisco 340 ^ G/F Phoenix Suns Virginia Squires 341 # F Houston Rockets Iowa State 342 F/C Philadelphia 76ers Hardin–Simmons 343 G Atlanta Hawks North Carolina 344 G/F Seattle SuperSonics Maryland Eastern Shore 345 C Buffalo Braves Wisconsin 346 # G New Orleans Jazz Pan American 347 F Golden State Warriors Purdue 348 # F Los Angeles Lakers Kentucky Colonels 349 F/C Phoenix Suns Winston-Salem State 350 # F New York Knicks Wichita State 351 # C Detroit Pistons New Mexico State 352 G Chicago Bulls Wichita State 353 # F Boston Celtics Long Beach State 354 # F Milwaukee Bucks Oral Roberts 455 # C Philadelphia 76ers Jacksonville 456 F Portland Trail Blazers Aurora 457 # G Cleveland Cavaliers UConn 458 # G Phoenix Suns IUP 459 # F Houston Rockets Texas 460 # G Kansas City–Omaha Kings Cincinnati 461 # G Atlanta Hawks LSU 462 # G Seattle SuperSonics Maryland Eastern Shore 463 F Buffalo Braves Virginia Commonwealth 464 # F New Orleans Jazz Washington 465 # G Golden State Warriors Tulsa 466 G Washington Bullets San Diego State 467 # C Los Angeles Lakers Illinois State 468 # C New York Knicks Southwestern Louisiana 469 # F Detroit Pistons Pittsburgh 470 # F Chicago Bulls UTEP 471 # F Boston Celtics Fairmont State 472 # F Milwaukee Bucks Duquesne 573 # F Philadelphia 76ers Hardin–Simmons 574 # F Portland Trail Blazers New Mexico 575 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Notre Dame 576 # F Phoenix Suns Creighton 577 F Houston Rockets Detroit 578 # G Kansas City–Omaha Kings Vanderbilt 579 # G Atlanta Hawks Utah 580 F Seattle SuperSonics Arkansas 581 # G Buffalo Braves Wake Forest 582 F New Orleans Jazz St. John's 583 # C Golden State Warriors Oregon State 584 # F Los Angeles Lakers Bradley 585 # G Washington Bullets Wisconsin 586 G New York Knicks Guilford 587 # F Detroit Pistons Temple 588 # F Chicago Bulls Texas A&M 589 F Boston Celtics Florida State 590 # F Milwaukee Bucks Denver 691 # F Philadelphia 76ers USC 692 G Portland Trail Blazers USC 693 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Richmond 694 # F Phoenix Suns LSU 695 # F Houston Rockets Prairie View A&M 696 # C Kansas City–Omaha Kings Arizona State 697 # F Atlanta Hawks SMU 698 F Seattle SuperSonics Ohio State 699 # F Buffalo Braves Missouri 6100 # C New Orleans Jazz Florida State 6101 # G Golden State Warriors Pacific (California) 6102 # G Washington Bullets Montana State Billings 6103 # F Los Angeles Lakers Saint Louis 6104 # F New York Knicks St. Thomas (Minnesota) 6105 # F Detroit Pistons Dayton 6106 # C Chicago Bulls St. Thomas (Minnesota) 6107 # F Boston Celtics Creighton 6108 # F Milwaukee Bucks Kansas State 7109 # F Philadelphia 76ers Gannon 7110 # G Portland Trail Blazers BYU 7111 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Michigan State 7112 # G Phoenix Suns Boise State 7113 # G Houston Rockets Oklahoma State 7114 # F Kansas City–Omaha Kings Missouri Western State 7115 G Atlanta Hawks UCLA 7116 # G Seattle SuperSonics West Georgia 7117 # G Buffalo Braves UCLA 7118 # F New Orleans Jazz Old Dominion 7119 # G Golden State Warriors California 7120 # F Los Angeles Lakers Azusa 7121 # G Washington Bullets West Georgia 7122 # F New York Knicks Mercer 7123 # F Detroit Pistons Tulsa 7124 # F Chicago Bulls Missouri Western State 7125 # G Boston Celtics Penn State 7126 # F Milwaukee Bucks West Virginia 8127 # F Philadelphia 76ers Middle Tennessee 8128 # G Portland Trail Blazers Pacific (Oregon) 8129 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Wisconsin 8130 # F Phoenix Suns Oklahoma 8131 # F Houston Rockets Arkansas State 8132 # G Kansas City–Omaha Kings Fairfield 8133 # G Atlanta Hawks Louisville 8134 # F Seattle SuperSonics Morehead State 8135 # F Buffalo Braves St. Bonaventure 8136 # F New Orleans Jazz Roanoke 8137 # F Golden State Warriors UC Santa Barbara 8138 # F Washington Bullets Huntington 8139 # G Los Angeles Lakers UNLV 8140 # F New York Knicks St. Francis Brooklyn 8141 # G Detroit Pistons Drexel 8142 # G Chicago Bulls Oral Roberts 8143 # G Boston Celtics Georgia Southern 8144 # F Milwaukee Bucks Cameron 9145 G Philadelphia 76ers Georgia Southern 9146 # G Portland Trail Blazers Colorado 9147 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Upper Iowa 9148 # F Phoenix Suns Oklahoma 9149 # G Houston Rockets Missouri–Rolla 9150 # G Kansas City–Omaha Kings Illinois 9151 # G Atlanta Hawks Kansas State 9152 # G Seattle SuperSonics Dillard 9153 # G Buffalo Braves Davidson 9154 F New Orleans Jazz Boston University 9155 # F Golden State Warriors California 9156 # F Washington Bullets Boston College 9157 # F New York Knicks Lafayette 9158 # F Detroit Pistons Millikin 9159 # G Chicago Bulls Cameron 9160 G Boston Celtics Massachusetts 9161 # G Milwaukee Bucks SUNY Potsdam 10162 # G Philadelphia 76ers Towson 10163 # G Portland Trail Blazers Oregon State 10164 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Loras 10165 # F Phoenix Suns Arizona State 10166 # G Houston Rockets Marquette 10167 # F Kansas City–Omaha Kings Arkansas 10168 # F Atlanta Hawks Nebraska 10169 G Seattle SuperSonics Seattle 10170 # F Buffalo Braves Princeton 10171 # F New Orleans Jazz Chattanooga 10172 # G Golden State Warriors Nevada 10173 # F Washington Bullets High Point 10174 # F New York Knicks North Carolina 10175 G Detroit Pistons Vanderbilt 10176 # F Chicago Bulls Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) 10177 # F Boston Celtics Fairfield 10178 # C Milwaukee Bucks Texas State – # C Boston Celtics Bethune–Cookman – # F Boston Celtics Harvard – F Boston Celtics Temple – # C Boston Celtics New Hampshire College
Trades On the draft-day, the Seattle SuperSonics acquired a first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Dick Snyder and a first-round pick. The Sonics used the pick to draft Tommy Burleson. The Cavaliers used the pick to draft Campy Russell. On May 20, 1974, the Atlanta Hawks acquired Bob Kauffman, Dean Meminger, the tenth pick, a 1975 first-round pick, 1975 and 1976 second-round picks, and a 1980 third-round pick from the New Orleans Jazz in exchange for Pete Maravich. The Hawks used the pick to draft Mike Sojourner. On the draft-day, the Chicago Bulls acquired a first-round pick from the New York Knicks in exchange for Howard Porter and a 1975 second-round pick. The Bulls used the pick to draft Maurice Lucas. On August 31, 1972, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired a second-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Jim Cleamons. The Lakers used the pick to draft Billy Knight.