The1974 NBA expansion draft was the sixthexpansion draft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 20, 1974, so that the newly foundedNew Orleans Jazz could acquire players for the upcoming1974–75 season.New Orleans had been awarded theexpansion team on March 7, 1974.[1] The Jazz moved toSalt Lake City in 1979 and are currently known as theUtah Jazz.[2] 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 seventeen other NBA teams had protected seven players from their roster and the Jazz selected seventeen unprotected players, one from each team.[3]
The Jazz were formed and owned by a group headed by Fred Rosenfeld and Sam Battistone.[4][5] Formercollege basketball coachScotty Robertson was hired asthe franchise's first head coach and 11-timeAll-StarElgin Baylor was named as one of the assistant coach.[2] The Jazz's selections included five-time All-StarWalt Bellamy, three-time All-StarBob Kauffman and one-time All-StarJohn Block. However, none of them had long careers with the Jazz; Bellamy, who was 35 years old, was waived after one game and both Kauffman and Block were traded. Prior to the draft, the Jazz made a trade with theAtlanta Hawks which brought two-time All-StarPete Maravich to the Jazz. In exchange for Maravich, the Jazz sent the first guard and forward chosen in the expansion draft, which turned out to be Bob Kauffman andDean Meminger, along with future draft picks to the Hawks.[3][6] Ten players from the expansion draft joined the Jazz for their inaugural season, but only three played more than one season for the team.
