1971–72 rookie class

1971 NBA Draft

Every selection in order, with the drafting team, player affiliation and a direct path into each available Athlore career profile.

237selections

19rounds

17teams selecting

First off the board

Top five picks

Pick #1

Cleveland Cavaliers

Austin Carr

Notre Dame

Pick #2

Portland Trail Blazers

Sidney Wicks

California-Los Angeles

Pick #3

Buffalo Braves

Elmore Smith

Kentucky State

Pick #4

Cincinnati Royals

Ken Durrett

La Salle

Pick #5

Atlanta Hawks

George Trapp

Long Beach State

Complete draft board

Every pick

Round one is open. Expand any later round to continue through the class.

Round 117 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
1	Austin Carr	Cleveland Cavaliers	Notre Dame	1
2	Sidney Wicks	Portland Trail Blazers	California-Los Angeles	2
3	Elmore Smith	Buffalo Braves	Kentucky State	3
4	Ken Durrett	Cincinnati Royals	La Salle	4
5	George Trapp	Atlanta Hawks	Long Beach State	5
6	Fred Brown	Seattle SuperSonics	Iowa	6
7	Cliff Meely	Houston Rockets	Colorado	7
8	Darnell Hillman	Golden State Warriors	San Jose State	8
9	Stan Love	Baltimore Bullets	Oregon	9
10	Clarence Glover	Boston Celtics	Western Kentucky	10
11	Curtis Rowe	Detroit Pistons	California-Los Angeles	11
12	Dana Lewis	Philadelphia 76ers	Tulsa	12
13	Jim Cleamons	Los Angeles Lakers	Ohio State	13
14	John Roche	Phoenix Suns	South Carolina	14
15	Kenny McIntosh	Chicago Bulls	Eastern Michigan	15
16	Dean Meminger	New York Knicks	Marquette	16
17	Collis Jones	Milwaukee Bucks	Notre Dame	17

Round 218 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
18	Steve Patterson	Cleveland Cavaliers	California-Los Angeles	1
19	Fred Hilton	Buffalo Braves	Grambling	2
20	Willard Sojourner	Chicago Bulls	Weber State	3
21	John Mengelt	Cincinnati Royals	Auburn	4
22	Ted, Hound Dog McClain	Atlanta Hawks	Tennessee State	5
23	Jim McDaniels	Seattle SuperSonics	Western Kentucky	6
24	Mike Newlin	Houston Rockets	Utah	7
25	Charlie Yelverton	Portland Trail Blazers	Fordham	8
26	Amos Thomas	Buffalo Braves	Southwestern Oklahoma	9
27	Richard Fisher	Portland Trail Blazers	Colorado State	10
28	Jim Rose	Boston Celtics	Western Kentucky	11
29	Isaiah Wilson	Detroit Pistons	Baltimore	12
30	Spencer Haywood	Buffalo Braves	Detroit Mercy	13
31	Joe Bergman	Cincinnati Royals	Creighton	14
32	Howard Porter	Chicago Bulls	Villanova	15
33	Marvin Stewart	Philadelphia 76ers	Nebraska	16
34	Gregg Northington	New York Knicks	Alabama State	17
35	Willie Long	Cleveland Cavaliers	New Mexico	18

Round 316 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
36	Gerald Lockett	Cleveland Cavaliers	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	1
37	Larry Steele	Portland Trail Blazers	Kentucky	2
38	Rich Yunkus	Cincinnati Royals	Georgia Tech	3
39	Jeff Halliburton	Atlanta Hawks	Drake	4
40	Clifford Ray	Chicago Bulls	Oklahoma	5
41	Jackie Ridgle	Cleveland Cavaliers	California	6
42	Bill Smith	Portland Trail Blazers	Syracuse	7
43	Rich Rinaldi	Baltimore Bullets	St. Peter's	8
44	Dave Robisch	Boston Celtics	Kansas	9
45	Marv Roberts	Detroit Pistons	Utah State	10
46	Dave Wohl	Philadelphia 76ers	Pennsylvania	11
47	Mike Gale	Chicago Bulls	Elizabeth City State	12
48	Dennis Layton	Phoenix Suns	Southern California	13
49	Dick Gibbs	Chicago Bulls	Texas-El Paso	14
50	Ken Mayfield	New York Knicks	Tuskegee	15
51	Gary Brell	Milwaukee Bucks	Marquette	16

Round 417 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
52	Cliff Harris	Cleveland Cavaliers	Hardin-Simmons	1
53	Jimmy O'Brien	Buffalo Braves	Boston College	2
54	Bobby Fields	Portland Trail Blazers	La Salle	3
55	Sid Catlett	Cincinnati Royals	Notre Dame	4
56	Jim Welch	Atlanta Hawks	Houston	5
57	Pembroke Burrows	Seattle SuperSonics	Jacksonville	6
58	Tom Owens	Houston Rockets	South Carolina	7
59	Greg Gary	Golden State Warriors	St. Bonaventure	8
60	Willie Allen	Baltimore Bullets	Miami (FL)	9
61	Randy Denton	Boston Celtics	Duke	10
62	Jarrett Durham	Detroit Pistons	Duquesne	11
63	Erwin Johnson	Philadelphia 76ers	Augusta State	12
64	Roger Brown	Los Angeles Lakers	Kansas	13
65	Walt Szczerbiak	Phoenix Suns	George Washington	14
66	Jim Irving	Chicago Bulls	Saint Louis	15
67	Steve Niles	New York Knicks	Texas A&M	16
68	Henry Smith	Milwaukee Bucks	Missouri	17

Round 517 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
69	Brian Mahoney	Cleveland Cavaliers	Manhattan	1
70	Garry Nelson	Buffalo Braves	Duquesne	2
71	Hector Blondet	Portland Trail Blazers	Murray State	3
72	Jim Guymond	Cincinnati Royals	Eastern New Mexico	4
73	Tyrone Marionneaux	Cincinnati Royals	Loyola (LA)	5
74	Jeff Smith	Seattle SuperSonics	New Mexico State	6
75	Rudy Benjamin	Houston Rockets	Michigan State	7
76	Odis Allison	Golden State Warriors	Nevada-Las Vegas	8
77	Don Johnson	Baltimore Bullets	Tennessee	9
78	Greg Nelson	Houston Rockets	Jacksonville	10
79	Vincent White	Detroit Pistons	Savannah State	11
80	Richard Hood	Philadelphia 76ers	Phillips	12
81	Lee Dedmon	Los Angeles Lakers	North Carolina	13
82	Kenneth Gardner	Phoenix Suns	Utah	14
83	Larry Weatherford	Chicago Bulls	Purdue	15
84	Bob Kissane	Phoenix Suns	Holy Cross	16
85	Barry Nelson	Milwaukee Bucks	Duquesne	17

Round 617 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
86	Mike Childress	Cleveland Cavaliers	Colorado State	1
87	Glen Summors	Buffalo Braves	Gannon	2
88	Jim Day	Portland Trail Blazers	Morehead State	3
89	Gil McGregor	Cincinnati Royals	Wake Forest	4
90	Willie Humes	Atlanta Hawks	Idaho	5
91	Mike Neciase	Seattle SuperSonics	William Carey	6
92	Garry Reist	Houston Rockets	Rice	7
93	Charlie Johnson	Golden State Warriors	California	8
94	John Novey	Baltimore Bullets	Mount St. Mary's	9
95	Thorpe Weber	Boston Celtics	Vanderbilt	10
96	Jim Larranga	Detroit Pistons	Providence	11
97	Jake Jones	Philadelphia 76ers	Assumption	12
98	Bill Brickhouse	Los Angeles Lakers	Montana State	13
99	William Graham	Phoenix Suns	Kentucky State	14
100	Jim England	Chicago Bulls	Tennessee	15
101	Bill Mainor	New York Knicks	Fordham	16
102	Ed Kemp	Milwaukee Bucks	Adams State	17

Round 717 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
103	Tom Bush	Cleveland Cavaliers	Drake	1
104	Randy Smith	Buffalo Braves	Buffalo State	2
105	Gene Knolle	Portland Trail Blazers	Texas Tech	3
106	Ollie Shannon	Cincinnati Royals	Minnesota	4
107	Mike Jordan	Atlanta Hawks	Savannah State	5
108	John Duncan	Seattle SuperSonics	Kentucky Wesleyan	6
109	Eric Hill	Houston Rockets	Minnesota	7
110	Ken May	Golden State Warriors	Dayton	8
111	Dennis Hogg	Baltimore Bullets	Washington State	9
112	Skip Young	Boston Celtics	Florida State	10
113	Steve Kelly	Detroit Pistons	Brigham Young	11
114	Curtis Ford	Philadelphia 76ers	Northeastern State	12
115	Gene Gathers	Los Angeles Lakers	Bradley	13
116	Ralph Brateris	Phoenix Suns	College of New Jersey	14
117	Artis Gilmore	Chicago Bulls	Jacksonville	15
118	Danny Davis	New York Knicks	Henderson State	16
119	Gene Phillips	Milwaukee Bucks	Southern Methodist	17

Round 817 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
120	Charlie Davis	Cleveland Cavaliers	Wake Forest	1
121	Craig Love	Buffalo Braves	Ohio	2
122	John Sutter	Portland Trail Blazers	Tulane	3
123	Frank Fitzgerald	Cincinnati Royals	Boston College	4
124	Jim Smith	Atlanta Hawks	Kentucky Wesleyan	5
125	Chuck Lowery	Seattle SuperSonics	Puget Sound	6
126	Rich Katherman	Houston Rockets	Duke	7
127	Jim Haderlein	Golden State Warriors	Loyola-Marymount	8
128	Russell Golden	Baltimore Bullets	Jackson State	9
129	John Ribock	Boston Celtics	South Carolina	10
130	Wayne Jones	Detroit Pistons	Niagara	11
131	Barry Yates	Philadelphia 76ers	Maryland	12
132	Luke Adams	Los Angeles Lakers	Lamar	13
133	Vernell Ellzy	Phoenix Suns	Florida State	14
134	Clarence Sherrod	Chicago Bulls	Wisconsin	15
135	Leroy Eldridge	New York Knicks	Cheyney	16
136	Felix Thurston	Milwaukee Bucks	Trinity (TX)	17

Round 916 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
137	Rich Walker	Cleveland Cavaliers	Bowling Green	1
138	Gary Stewart	Buffalo Braves	Canisius	2
139	Eugene Kennedy	Portland Trail Blazers	Texas Christian	3
140	Ernie Fleming	Atlanta Hawks	Jacksonville	4
141	Larry Holliday	Seattle SuperSonics	Oregon	5
142	Willie Kerry	Houston Rockets	Denver	6
143	Clarence Smith	Golden State Warriors	Villanova	7
144	Ron Johnston	Baltimore Bullets	Murray State	8
145	Ray Green	Boston Celtics	California (PA)	9
146	Paul Botts	Detroit Pistons	Central Michigan	10
147	Tom Lee	Philadelphia 76ers	Arizona	11
148	Bob Cheeks	Los Angeles Lakers	Whittier	12
149	Mike Johnson	Phoenix Suns	Kansas State	13
150	Jackie Dinkins	Chicago Bulls	Voorhees	14
151	Mike O'Brien	New York Knicks	Saint Leo	15
152	Rick Howat	Milwaukee Bucks	Illinois	16

Round 1016 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
153	Jim Meredith	Cleveland Cavaliers	Washington State	1
154	Don Ward	Buffalo Braves	Colgate	2
155	Greg Starrick	Portland Trail Blazers	Southern Illinois	3
156	Ron Rippitoe	Atlanta Hawks	Lipscomb	4
157	Ed Huston	Seattle SuperSonics	Puget Sound	5
158	Calvin Oliver	Houston Rockets	Texas-Pan American	6
159	Bill Drosdiak	Golden State Warriors	Oregon	7
160	Eddie Myers	Baltimore Bullets	Arizona	8
161	Dale Dover	Boston Celtics	Harvard	9
162	Steve Butcher	Detroit Pistons	Pikeville	10
163	Jim Dinwiddie	Philadelphia 76ers	Kentucky	11
164	Cliff Mosely	Los Angeles Lakers	Quinnipiac	12
165	Tom Newell	Phoenix Suns	Hawaii	13
166	David Withers	Chicago Bulls	Delaware	14
167	Andy Toth	New York Knicks	Cheyney	15
168	Dan Fife	Milwaukee Bucks	Michigan	16

Round 1114 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
169	Mike Casey	Cleveland Cavaliers	Kentucky	1
170	Bill Warner	Buffalo Braves	Arizona	2
171	Howard Burford	Portland Trail Blazers	Gonzaga	3
172	Levi Wyatt	Atlanta Hawks	Alcorn State	4
173	Jerome Perry	Seattle SuperSonics	Western Kentucky	5
174	Doug Rex	Houston Rockets	California-Santa Barbara	6
175	Chuck Olowski	Baltimore Bullets	Baltimore	7
176	Reggie Brooks	Boston Celtics	New Hampshire	8
177	Larry Saunders	Detroit Pistons	Duke	9
178	Dana Pagett	Philadelphia 76ers	Southern California	10
179	Paul Leitz	Phoenix Suns	Western Carolina	11
180	Al Smith	Chicago Bulls	Bradley	12
181	Ken Davis	New York Knicks	Georgetown	13
182	Blaine Henry	Milwaukee Bucks	Marshall	14

Round 1213 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
183	Doug Hess	Cleveland Cavaliers	Toledo	1
184	Butch Webster	Buffalo Braves	New Orleans	2
185	Don Sechler	Portland Trail Blazers	Delaware Valley	3
186	Roger Moore	Atlanta Hawks	Columbus State	4
187	Chris Schrobilgen	Houston Rockets	Southern California	5
188	Bob Connor	Baltimore Bullets	Loyola-Maryland	6
189	John Dalton	Boston Celtics	Suffolk	7
190	Bob Horn	Detroit Pistons	Drake	8
191	Ken Kowall	Philadelphia 76ers	Ohio	9
192	Floyd Mason	Phoenix Suns	Alcorn State	10
193	Ken Riley	Chicago Bulls	Middle Tennessee State	11
194	Carl Greenfield	New York Knicks	Eastern Kentucky	12
195	Gene Mumford	Milwaukee Bucks	Scranton	13

Round 1312 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
196	Bobby Jones	Cleveland Cavaliers	Drake	1
197	Pete Smith	Buffalo Braves	Valdosta State	2
198	Ed Jenkins	Atlanta Hawks	Michigan Lutheran	3
199	Lee McCollough	Houston Rockets	Indiana	4
200	Ron Crosswhite	Baltimore Bullets	Dayton	5
201	Leroy Chalk	Boston Celtics	Nebraska	6
202	Willie Roberson	Detroit Pistons	Wyoming	7
203	Hank Commodore	Philadelphia 76ers	Northwestern Oklahoma State	8
204	Ron Dorsey	Phoenix Suns	Tennessee State	9
205	Ed Goode	Chicago Bulls	DePaul	10
206	Larry Duckworth	New York Knicks	Henderson State	11
207	Pierre Russell	Milwaukee Bucks	Kansas	12

Round 149 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
208	Bubbles Harris	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana	1
209	Ray Lavender	Buffalo Braves	Drury	2
210	Gene Roberson	Houston Rockets	Canisius	3
211	Rudolph Peele	Baltimore Bullets	Norfolk State	4
212	Art Davis	Detroit Pistons	Johnson C. Smith	5
213	Ken Booker	Phoenix Suns	California-Los Angeles	6
214	Richard Dixon	Chicago Bulls	Loyola (LA)	7
215	Jack O'Connor	New York Knicks	Great Falls	8
216	George Jackson	Milwaukee Bucks	Dayton	9

Round 158 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
217	Larry Baker	Cleveland Cavaliers	Wittenberg	1
218	William Chatmon	Buffalo Braves	Baylor	2
219	Terry Guigg	Houston Rockets	Gonzaga	3
220	James Morrell	Baltimore Bullets	Norfolk State	4
221	James Fleming	Detroit Pistons	Alcorn State	5
222	Curtis Carter	Phoenix Suns	Bishop	6
223	Liscio Thomas	Chicago Bulls	Furman	7
224	Loyd King	Milwaukee Bucks	Virginia Tech	8

Round 165 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
225	Vance Tyree	Cleveland Cavaliers	Wisconsin-La Crosse	1
226	James Douglas	Buffalo Braves	Memphis	2
227	Leonard Jackson	Houston Rockets	Oregon	3
228	Fred Smiley	Detroit Pistons	Detroit Mercy	4
229	Bob Bissant	Chicago Bulls	Loyola (LA)	5

Round 173 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
230	Nelson Isley	Buffalo Braves	Louisiana State	1
231	Steve Sims	Houston Rockets	Pepperdine	2
232	Leroy Jenkins	Detroit Pistons	Detroit Mercy	3

Round 183 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
233	Joey Meyer	Buffalo Braves	DePaul	1
234	Carlos Quintanar	Houston Rockets	Asociacion Deportiva Mexicana de Basquetbol (Mexico)	2
235	Ike Bundy	Detroit Pistons	Detroit Tech	3

Round 192 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
236	Gary Schneider	Houston Rockets	San Diego State	1
237	Ed Jenkins	Detroit Pistons	Shaw	2

Source: NBA.com Draft History. Draft-night trades can cause the team attached to a selection to differ from the player’s eventual rookie team.