The ledger
Birth in New Orleans (1974–1979)1974–75 New Orleans Jazz
The first season in franchise history. The New Orleans Jazz were admitted to the NBA as an expansion franchise on June 7, 1974, under an ownership group led by Sam Battistone, and team officials picked the name for its dictionary definition — collective improvisation. The colors were purple, gold and green.
48 in, 1 out. Every move the record shows for this season, with the reason where a source gives one. Where no reason is documented, the entry says nothing rather than guess.
In
48 ARRIVEDtrade with Hawks (per Jazz media guide)
- The expansion Jazz gave Atlanta a package of picks for him in May 1974, mocked as the Louisiana Purchase. He moved with the club to Utah in 1979, but his knees kept him out of practice and Tom Nissalke did not play men who missed practice. Utah waived him that January.
- Still the NCAA all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points — in three seasons, with no three-point line and no freshman eligibility.
- Background: The club's motive per Wikipedia: "His exciting style of play made Maravich a good draft target for the franchise. Additionally, he was already a celebrity in the state due to his accomplishments at LSU." That is, he was acquired as an attraction for the crowd. source
- THE ARRIVAL: before they had even played a game, the expansion New Orleans Jazz traded with the Atlanta Hawks for Maravich, who had played at LSU and was already a local legend. The price: two first-round picks, three second-round and one third-round pick over the following three years (per the local franchise history). Wikipedia puts it more generally: "the Jazz traded two players and four draft picks to Atlanta". source
- the club gave up: 1974 first round pick (#10-Mike Sojourner), 1975 first round pick (#1-David Thompson (O'Neil)), 1975 second round pick (#19-Bill Willoughby), 1976 second round pick (#23-Alex English), 1974 NBA expansion draft second overall pick (Bob Kauffmann), 1974 NBA expansion draft third overall pick (Dean Meminger)
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Cavaliers)
Barry Clemens never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Sonics)
- Seattle left him unprotected for the 1974 expansion draft and the brand-new New Orleans Jazz took him, making him one of the original members of the franchise.
- Scored 50 points in a single game for Kansas against Missouri in 1972.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Bucks)
Curtis Perry never played a minute for the club
- Taken by the brand-new Jazz in the May 1974 expansion draft, he was traded to Phoenix that September — before the franchise had played a single game.
- Never played an official game for the Jazz — expansion-drafted in May 1974, traded to Phoenix in September, before the franchise's first tip-off.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Bulls)
Dennis Awtrey never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Rockets)
- The expansion Jazz took him in the 1974 expansion draft, and within two seasons he was the team's best defender and one of the last originals still in uniform.
- Was on the very first New Orleans Jazz roster in 1974–75.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Warriors)
- The Jazz took him from Golden State in the 1974 expansion draft, and traded him with Neal Walk to New York on February 1, 1975 for Henry Bibby, a first-round pick and cash.
- Was a member of the very first New Orleans Jazz team.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Kings)
- New Orleans took him in the 1974 expansion draft, making him an original Jazzman, but a hamstring limited him to four games before the club traded him to Chicago that November for Rick Adelman.
- Was on the very first New Orleans Jazz team in 1974–75.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Suns)
- Phoenix left him unprotected and New Orleans took him in the 1974 expansion draft. He played 15 games before being waived.
- Was on the inaugural New Orleans Jazz team.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Wizards)
- The expansion Jazz took him from the Capital Bullets in the 1974 expansion draft. He averaged 11.2 and then 12.5 points, the best two seasons of his career, and the Jazz waived him in 1976.
- Was a second-round pick in 1973 and spent one season with the New Orleans Jazz.
- Background: Drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in 1973. Before the 1974-75 season the expansion Jazz selected him in the expansion draft from the Capital Bullets. source
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Lakers)
Nate Hawthorne never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Blazers)
- The Jazz took him from Portland in the 1974 expansion draft, and traded him with Rick Adelman to Kansas City for Nate Williams in February 1975.
- Was on the franchise's very first roster.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Celtics)
Steve Kuberski never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Pistons)
- The Jazz took him from Detroit in the 1974 expansion draft and re-signed him two days later. That December they traded him to the Lakers for cash and the pick that became Jim McElroy.
- Was on the very first New Orleans Jazz team in 1974–75.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from 76ers)
- His career ended in the Jazz's inaugural 1974-75 season, and it ended almost immediately — three games in New Orleans.
- Led all of NCAA Division I in rebounding in 1964–65 at Connecticut.
1974 NBA expansion draft pick (from Hawks)
- The Hall of Fame centre closed his career with the Jazz in 1974-75. The club waived him after what proved to be his final NBA game.
- Finished his Hall of Fame career with the 1974–75 New Orleans Jazz.
re-signed to a multi-year contract
1974 NBA draft second round pick (#28 overall)
- New Orleans used the first draft pick in franchise history on him, 28th overall in 1974, and he never played for anyone else — his five seasons were the club's five seasons in Louisiana.
- Played every NBA game of his career for this one franchise — 355 in total.
1974 NBA draft third round pick (#46 overall)
Bruce King
1974 NBA draft fourth round pick (#64 overall)
Ray Price
1974 NBA draft fifth round pick (#82 overall)
Ed Searcy never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA draft sixth round pick (#100 overall)
Lawrence McCray never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA draft seventh round pick (#118 overall)
Joel Copeland never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA draft eighth round pick (#136 overall)
Jay Piccola never played a minute for the club
1974 NBA draft ninth round pick (#154 overall)
Kenny Boyd
1974 NBA draft tenth round pick (#171 overall)
Walt McGary never played a minute for the club
trade with Lakers
- The Lakers traded him to the expansion Jazz on June 13, 1974, and the club waived him in February 1976.
- Won NBA championships with the Boston Celtics in 1965 and 1966.
- Background: The Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the newly created New Orleans Jazz in 1974 for 'future considerations' — no draft pick. source
- the club gave up: future draft considerations (cash per 1974-75 NBA Guide) (?)
signed second round pick
trade with Hawks
Eddie Palubinskas never played a minute for the club
- the club gave up: future considerations (?)
trade with Blazers
- He was traded to the expansion Jazz for his sixth season and fourth team. It was a brief and largely lost stint, and the club waived him.
- Was drafted eighth overall in 1969 and averaged a double-double in three different seasons.
- the club gave up: Barry Clemens, future considerations (1976 second round pick (#20-Major Jones) on 1976-05-25), cash
trade with Suns
- He was traded to the expansion New Orleans Jazz for the club's first season and moved on to New York the next year.
- Phoenix drafted him second overall in 1969 after losing the coin toss for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- the club gave up: Dennis Awtrey, Nate Hawthorne, Curtis Perry, 1976 first round pick (#6-Adrian Dantley)
trade with Bucks
- He was traded to the brand-new Jazz before the 1974-75 season, played 15 games and was cut.
- Was on the inaugural 1974–75 New Orleans Jazz roster.
- the club gave up: Steve Kuberski, 1975 second round pick (#22-Clyde Mayes)
trade with Bulls
- Chicago traded him to New Orleans for John Block on November 11, 1974, and three months later he went to Kansas City with Ollie Johnson for Nate Williams.
- Was on the franchise's very first roster in 1974–75.
- the club gave up: John Block
signed free agent
- Kansas City-Omaha cut him in July 1974 and Detroit in November, so New Orleans signed him as a free agent on January 21, 1975. He finished eighth in the league in blocks the next season and moved to Italy after 1976-77.
- Was part of the original 1974–75 New Orleans Jazz team.
- Background: HE CAME: the Kansas City-Omaha Kings released him on July 30, 1974. The Detroit Pistons signed him as a free agent on November 18, 1974 and released him nine days later — on November 27, 1974. The New Orleans Jazz signed him as a free agent on JANUARY 21, 1975. That is, he was released twice in five months — the Jazz picked him up literally off the street in the middle of the franchise's first season. source
signed free agent
- Portland's second-round pick in 1973 spent part of the franchise's very first season in New Orleans, and retired in 1975.
- Went from playing in the NBA to refereeing more than 1,000 NBA games.
trade with Knicks
- New Orleans sent Jim Barnett and Neal Walk to New York on February 1, 1975 for Bibby and a first-round pick. The Jazz sold his rights to Philadelphia for cash on September 17, 1976, and he reached two NBA Finals there.
- Won three NCAA titles at UCLA and an NBA title with the Knicks in 1973.
- Background: February 1, 1975: the New Orleans Jazz send Jim Barnett and Neal Walk to the New York Knicks for Bibby and a 1975 first-rounder. source
- the club gave up: Jim Barnett, Neal Walk
trade with Kings
- Kansas City traded him to New Orleans for Rick Adelman and Ollie Johnson on February 1, 1975. He played 222 games for the Jazz before going out in the January 1978 three-team deal that brought Slick Watts in.
- Entered the NBA through the league's 1971 hardship draft out of Utah State.
- Background: The same from a second angle: the transaction list for the 1977-78 season shows Golden State sending a 1978 second-round pick to New Orleans for Nate Williams, meaning the deal happened DURING the 1977-78 season, not in the summer. source
- the club gave up: Rick Adelman, Ollie Johnson
trade with Kings
- Kansas City traded him to New Orleans for a 1975 first-round pick on May 28, 1975. He left through one of the odder mechanisms of the era — when the Jazz signed Truck Robinson, Behagen and cash went to Atlanta as compensation.
- Was the fifth overall pick of the 1973 draft after starring at Minnesota.
- Background: 28 May 1975: the New Orleans Jazz acquired Behagen and a pick from the Kansas City Kings for a 1975 first-round pick. Before that he had played for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1973-1975. source
- the club gave up: 1975 first round pick (#10-Bill Robinzine)
1975 NBA draft first round pick (#7 overall)
- New Orleans took him seventh overall in 1975. He was traded to New Jersey in 1979 in the deal for Bernard King and came back to Utah for one more season in 1982.
- Was drafted by the Jazz in New Orleans and returned to the franchise years later in Utah.
1975 NBA draft third round pick (#38 overall)
- New Orleans took him 38th overall in 1975 with the pick it got from the Lakers for Stu Lantz. He left as a veteran free agent for Detroit in July 1979, returning to the city he grew up in, with the Jazz taking a second-rounder and $125,000 as compensation.
- Started in the New Orleans backcourt through the Pete Maravich era.
- Background: Confirmation that he grew up in Detroit: born October 4, 1953 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, raised in Detroit, Murray-Wright High School, Central Michigan for college. source
- HOW HE CAME: on December 6, 1974 the Lakers send a 1975 third-round pick to New Orleans for Stu Lantz. With that pick the Jazz take McElroy 38th overall in the 1975 draft (third round, second pick). Debut October 23, 1975. source
1975 NBA draft third round pick (#37 overall)
Rudy Hackett never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft fourth round pick (#55 overall)
Mack Coleman never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft fifth round pick (#73 overall)
Andre Hampton never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft sixth round pick (#91 overall)
Rich Schmidt never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft seventh round pick (#109 overall)
Bill Higgins never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft eighth round pick (#127 overall)
Harvey Carmichael never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft ninth round pick (#145 overall)
Fred Stokes never played a minute for the club
1975 NBA draft tenth round pick (#161 overall)
Aleksander Belov never played a minute for the club