Before the Chicago Bulls built the biggest dynasty the NBA ever saw around Michael Jordan, they drafted a now-deprecated league superstar.
In June 1979, the American Basketball Association folded. Four teams, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, the Denver Nuggets and the New York Net, joined the NBA, with the remaining two teams, the Kentucky Colonel and the Spirits of St. Louis, in a “dispersed draft” for the NBA team to pick players.
On August 5, 1979, 12 players from Kentucky and St. Louis were selected for 10 different teams, with the Chicago Bulls earning their first superstar on their first overall pick. Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers have made a serious error.
With superstars like George Gervin, Julius Erving and Rick Barry already in the NBA, the Bulls had a simple choice and made Artis Gilmore the first choice in the spray draft.
During Gilmore’s first five ABA seasons with the Colonel, he made an All-Star Game every year and won the MVP in his rookie season. For the right scale, he created all four defensive teams.
Gilmore played six seasons with the Bulls, winning MVP votes in three of those years. He averages 20.1 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for Chicago, ranking fourth in victory shares behind Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and Chetwalker.
Gilmore was the first true superstar to play for the Bulls. His handlebar mustache and Afro made him stand out on the court, and he was consistently one of the best players in both leagues he played.
Of course, Jordan led the Bulls to six championships, with Gilmore’s team making only two playoffs, making it a small but important place in franchise history.
Gilmore was the best player to be selected, but he wasn’t alone, with two other Hall of Fame joining the NBA.
On the 10th pick in the draft, the Spurs scooped up Louie Dampier. He was one of Gilmore’s teammates in Kentucky, but unlike Gilmore, he was past his prime. He was a seven-time All-Star in the ABA, but never averaged double-digit points in three NBA seasons at San Antonio.
By the time he was drafted, he was 32 years old. Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers were selected fifth in the draft, but a few months later they traded picks for the Buffalo Braves.
It was the biggest blunder in franchise history, and would be even bigger than choosing Greg Auden over Kevin Durant. In exchange for Rick Robbie, Portland gave up three MVP award winners, Moses Malone.
After trading Malone in 1976, the Blazers won the only title behind Bill Walton in 1977, but Malone and Walton’s frontcourt would have dominated the league even with Walton’s prolonged injuries.
Malone only played in two ABA seasons before the league collapsed, but didn’t actually hit his path until 1978, but during his peak in 2012 he averaged 24.2 points and 13.7 rebounds, giving the Blazers virtually nothing.