The1970 NBA expansion draft was the fifthexpansion draft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA).^[a] The draft was held on May 11, 1970, so that the newly foundedBuffalo Braves,Cleveland Cavaliers, andPortland Trail Blazers could acquire players for the1970–71 season.^[6]Buffalo,Cleveland, andPortland were awarded theexpansion teams on February 6, 1970.^[7]Houston was also awarded a franchise, but the group backing the team was unable to come up with theUS$750,000down payment on theUS$3.7 million entrance fee that was required before the1970 NBA draft.^[7][8] The Braves later underwent two relocations, moving to San Diego in1978 and changing their name from the Braves to the Clippers, and then relocating to Los Angeles in1984.^[9] They are currently known as theLos Angeles Clippers.^[10]

In an NBA expansion draft, new NBA teams are allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league. Not all players on a given team are available during an expansion draft, since each team can protect a certain number of players from being selected. In this draft, each of the other fourteen NBA teams protected seven players from their roster. After each round, after all of the expansion teams had selected one player, each of the existing teams added another player to their protected list. In the first round, the Braves had the first pick, while the Blazers and the Cavaliers had the second and the third picks respectively. In the subsequent rounds, the Braves and the Cavaliers exchanged their order of selection, while the Blazers had the second pick throughout the draft. The draft continued until all three teams had selected eleven unprotected players each, while the existing teams had lost two or three players each.^[8][11]

The Buffalo Braves were formed and owned by local businessmanPaul Snyder.^[12] He hired formerPhiladelphia 76ers head coach and1966Coach of the YearDolph Schayes asthe franchise's first head coach.^[13] The Braves' selections included six-timeAll-StarBailey Howell. Howell was immediatelytraded to the 76ers, however, in exchange forBob Kauffman and a future second-round pick.^[14] Nine players from the draft joined the Braves for their inaugural season, but only three played more than one season for the team.^[5][15][16]

The Cleveland Cavaliers were formed and owned by businessmanNick Mileti.^[17] He hired formercollege basketball coachBill Fitch asthe franchise's first head coach.^[18] The Cavaliers' selections included five-time All-StarDon Ohl and one-time All-StarLen Chappell. Ohl retired from playing prior to the start of the season, however, and Chappell only played briefly before he waswaived.^[19][20] Eight players from the draft joined the Cavaliers for their inaugural season, but only four played more than one season for the team.^[5][21][22]Butch Beard was the ninth player from the expansion draft to play for the Cavaliers. He joined the team for the1971–72 season after serving for a year in themilitary.^[23]Bingo Smith played nine and a half seasons with the Cavaliers before he was traded to theSan Diego Clippers in 1979.^[24] He was the franchise's leader in games played when he left, a record that stood until2000 whenDanny Ferry broke it.^[25]

The Portland Trail Blazers were formed byHarry Glickman, who created the franchise through the financiers turned co-ownersLarry Weinberg,Herman Sarkowsky and Robert Shmertz.^[26] They hired formercollege basketball coachRolland Todd asthe franchise's first head coach.^[27] The Blazers' selections included formerfirst overall pickFred Hetzel and former third pickLarry Siegfried. Hetzel was waived without playing a game for the Blazers, however, and Siegfried was immediately traded to the San Diego Rockets in exchange forJim Barnett.^[28][29][30] Six players from the draft joined the Blazers for their inaugural season, but only three played more than one season for the team.^[5][31][32] The Blazers also selectedPat Riley, who never played for the team, but went on to have aHall of Fame coaching career, enshrined in 2008.^[33][34][35]

Source:^[5]

Draft selections

Player	Position	Nationality	Team	Prev. Team	Years in NBA[b]	Career with franchise[c]	Ref.
Em Bryant	G	United States	Buffalo Braves	Boston Celtics	6	1970–1972	[36]
Freddie Crawford	G/F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Milwaukee Bucks	4	1970	[37]
Dick Garrett	G	United States	Buffalo Braves	Los Angeles Lakers	1	1970–1973	[38]
Herm Gilliam	G/F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Cincinnati Royals	1	1970–1971	[39]
Bill Hosket	F/C	United States	Buffalo Braves	New York Knicks	2	1970–1972	[40]
Bailey Howell^	F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Boston Celtics	11	—[d]	[41]
Paul Long	G	United States	Buffalo Braves	Detroit Pistons	2	1970–1971	[42]
Mike Lynn	F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Los Angeles Lakers	1	1970	[43]
Don May	F	United States	Buffalo Braves	New York Knicks	2	1970–1971	[44]
Ray Scott	F/C	United States	Buffalo Braves	Baltimore Bullets	9	—[d]	[45]
George Wilson	C	United States	Buffalo Braves	Philadelphia 76ers	6	1970–1971	[46]
Butch Beard+	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Atlanta Hawks	1	1971–1972;1975	[47]
Len Chappell+	F/C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Milwaukee Bucks	8	1970	[20]
Johnny Egan	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Los Angeles Lakers	9	1970	[48]
Bob Lewis	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	San Francisco Warriors	3	1970–1971	[49]
McCoy McLemore	F/C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Detroit Pistons	6	1970–1971	[50]
Don Ohl+	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Atlanta Hawks	10	—[d]	[19]
Loy Petersen	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Chicago Bulls	2	—[d]	[51]
Luther Rackley	C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cincinnati Royals	1	1970–1971	[52]
Bingo Smith	G/F	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	San Diego Rockets	1	1970–1979	[24]
John Warren	G/F	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	New York Knicks	1	1970–1974	[53]
Walt Wesley	C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Chicago Bulls	4	1970–1972	[54]
Rick Adelman	G	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	San Diego Rockets	2	1970–1973	[55]
Jerry Chambers	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Phoenix Suns	2	—[d]	[56]
LeRoy Ellis	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Baltimore Bullets	8	1970–1971	[57]
Fred Hetzel	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Philadelphia 76ers	5	—[d]	[28]
Joe Kennedy	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle SuperSonics	2	—[d]	[58]
Ed Manning	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Chicago Bulls	3	1970–1971	[59]
Stan McKenzie	G/F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Phoenix Suns	3	1970–1972	[60]
Dorie Murrey	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Seattle SuperSonics	4	1970	[61]
Pat Riley	G/F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	San Diego Rockets	3	—[d]	[62]
Dale Schlueter	C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	San Francisco Warriors	2	1970–1972;1977–1978	[63]
Larry Siegfried	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Boston Celtics	7	—[d]	[29]

• 1970–71 NBA season
• Los Angeles Clippers lists
• Cleveland Cavaliers lists
• Portland Trail Blazers lists
• NBA expansion draft
• May 1970 sports events in the United States

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