The1980 NBA expansion draft was the seventhexpansion draft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 28, 1980, so that the newly foundedDallas Mavericks could acquire players for the upcoming1980–81 season.Dallas had been awarded theexpansion team on February 3, 1980.[1] 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 twenty-two other NBA teams had protected eight players from their roster and the Mavericks selected twenty-two unprotected players, one from each team.[2]
The Mavericks were formed and owned by a group headed byDon Carter and Norm Sonju.Washington Bullets head coach and1971Coach of the YearDick Motta was hired asthe franchise's first head coach.[1] The Mavericks' went with young players in the expansion draft and avoided selecting experienced players with large contracts or injury problems.[3] Eighteen of the twenty-two players chosen had less than three years of NBA experience.[1] The Mavericks' selections included formerfirst overall pickAustin Carr, one-timeAll-Defensive TeamJim Cleamons and eleven-year veteranBingo Smith. However, Cleamons and Smith never played for the Mavericks and Carr only played briefly before he was sold to theWashington Bullets.[4] Eleven of the selections were former first-rounddraft picks.[1] Eleven players from the expansion draft joined the Mavericks for their inaugural season, but only two played more than one season for the team.Tom LaGarde played two seasons andJim Spanarkel played four seasons for the Mavericks.[5][6]
^"Ex-State Star Leads Portland".The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Journal Communications. September 24, 1979. Archived fromthe original on June 29, 2012. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2010.
