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On April 24th, 1973 the 27th annual NBA Draft was held. The Number one overall pick that was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers, they took Doug Collins, a guard, from Illinois State University.
There were once again 20 rounds and 211 players selected. The 66th overall pick happened to be one of the better things to happen to the Sonics, though he never played for them, George Karl was selected in the fourth round by the New York Knicks.
Name: Mike Green
School: Louisiana Tech University
Pick: First round, 4th overall
Breakdown: The Denver Rockets of the ABA also drafted Green in 1973 and that is where he chose to play his rookie year. He was all ABA-Rookie team and also appeared in the 1975 ABA All-Star game. He would go on to play one season with the Virginia Squires before signing with the Sonics in 1976.
|
Season |
G |
MP |
FG |
FGA |
FG% |
FT |
FTA |
FT% |
TRB |
AST |
PF |
PPG |
|
1976-77 |
77 |
25.4 |
3.8 |
8.7 |
.441 |
2.2 |
3.1 |
.706 |
6.6 |
1.6 |
2.6 |
8.8 |
|
1977 |
9 |
27.8 |
4.8 |
9.7 |
.494 |
2.3 |
3.4 |
.677 |
6.1 |
1.1 |
2.9 |
11.9 |
|
Sonics Career |
85 |
2.5 |
3.9 |
8.7 |
.446 |
2.2 |
3.1 |
.703 |
6.5 |
1.5 |
2.6 |
10.0 |
Green played a total of 85 games with the Sonics before he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kevin McDonald and a 1979 2nd round draft pick. He wasn't exactly terrible in the nine games he played with the Sonics, but his career was really too short here to give him a high grade. Especially being the fourth overall pick, taking three years to get to Seattle and then only playing nine games.
Grade: F
The Sonics would go on to pick seven others in the draft. They were June Harris (56th, NCA&T), Chuck Iverson (73rd, South Dakota), Bill McCoy (90th, Northern Iowa), Jim Andrews (107th, Kentucky), Wardell Jeffries (124th, Oklahoma Baptist), Greg Williams (141st, Seattle University), Bob Bodell (155th, Maryland),
None would go on to play for the Sonics or a single game in the NBA or ABA.
This was a terrible draft all the way around, not just for the Sonics, but for a lot of other teams out there. Overall this deserves an F grade.
Update: Forgot this part originally, but the Sonics signed a free agent guard from Xavier University of Louisiana who ended up being pretty good.
Donald "Slick" Watts
|
Season |
G |
MP |
FG |
FGA |
FG% |
FT |
FTA |
FT% |
TRB |
AST |
PF |
PPG |
|
1973-74 |
62 |
23.0 |
3.2 |
8.2 |
.388 |
1.6 |
2.5 |
.645 |
2.9 |
5.7 |
3.3 |
8.0 |
|
1974-75 |
82 |
25.1 |
2.8 |
6.7 |
.421 |
1.1 |
1.9 |
.608 |
3.2 |
6.1 |
3.1 |
6.8 |
|
1975-76 |
82 |
33.9 |
5.3 |
12.4 |
.427 |
2.4 |
4.2 |
.578 |
4.5 |
8.1 |
3.3 |
13.0 |
|
1976-77 |
79 |
33.3 |
5.4 |
12.8 |
.422 |
2.2 |
3.7 |
.587 |
3.9 |
8.0 |
3.2 |
13.9 |
|
1977-78 |
32 |
25.3 |
3.4 |
8.6 |
.404 |
0.9 |
1.7 |
.566 |
2.5 |
4.2 |
2.8 |
7.8 |
|
Sonics Career |
344 |
27.8 |
4.0 |
9.7 |
.414 |
1.7 |
2.9 |
.96 |
3.4 |
6.5 |
3.1 |
9.8 |
|
Sonics Playoffs |
15 |
31.9 |
4.9 |
10.8 |
.451 |
1.7 |
3.3 |
.510 |
3.4 |
7.5 |
3.9 |
11.4 |
Picking Watts was definitely the best pickup for the Sonics, even though he wasn't drafted. Since he wasn't drafted, there will be no grade.