1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season

1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season
Head coach	Jack McCloskey
Arena	Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	21–61 (.256)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 1972–73 season was the third season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After finishing the previous season at 18-64, the Blazers earned the first overall selection in the 1972 NBA Draft, and infamously picked LaRue Martin over future Hall-of-Famer Bob McAdoo. LaRue would average seven points per game over a four-season NBA career. The Blazers finished at 21-61, a marginal three-game improvement from the previous season.

Draft picks

LaRue Martin was the Trail Blazers first overall pick.

Main article: 1972 NBA Draft

Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	LaRue Martin	C	United States	Loyola (Illinois)
2	14	Bob Davis	F	United States	Weber State
2	26	Dave Twardzik	G	United States	Old Dominion
2	30	Ollie Johnson	F	United States	Temple
3	31	Lloyd Neal	F/C	United States	Tennessee State

Roster

Portland Trail Blazers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 12 Adelman, Rick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Loyola Marymount SF 25 Davis, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Weber State SG 17 Davis, Charlie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Wake Forest SF 42 Dischinger, Terry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Purdue SF 44 Johnson, Ollie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Temple C 35 Martin, LaRue 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Loyola University SG 40 McKenzie, Stan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Utah State C 36 Neal, Lloyd 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Tennessee State PF 45 Petrie, Geoff 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Princeton SF 4 Smith, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Western Kentucky C 43 Smith, William 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Syracuse SG 15 Steele, Larry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Kentucky PF 34 Turner, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Akron PF 21 Wicks, Sidney 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA PG 13 Wohl, Dave 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Pennsylvania	Head coach Jack McCloskey (Pennsylvania) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

File:Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland).jpg

The Trail Blazers played their home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–	30–11	28–11	2–0	22–4
x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573	13	27–14	18–20	2–1	14–12
Phoenix Suns	38	44	.463	22	22–19	15–25	1–0	14–12
Seattle SuperSonics	26	56	.317	34	16–25	10–29	0–2	9–17
Portland Trail Blazers	21	61	.256	39	13–28	8–32	0–1	6–20

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732
2	y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732
3	x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622
4	x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573
5	Detroit Pistons	40	42	.488
6	Phoenix Suns	38	44	.463
7	Kansas City–Omaha Kings	36	46	.439
8	Seattle SuperSonics	26	56	.317
9	Portland Trail Blazers	21	61	.256

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and honors

• Sidney Wicks, NBA All-Star
• Lloyd Neal, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions

• July 31, 1972 — Traded a second round pick in the 1973 NBA Draft to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Fred Foster, who was traded again that day by the Trail Blazers to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard-forward Terry Dischinger.
• September 11, 1972 — Waived forwards Ron Knight and Jim Marsh and received a second round pick in the 1974 NBA Draft from the Philadelphia 76ers as compensation for signing veteran free agent forward Gary Gregor.
• September 19, 1972 — Waived guard Charlie Yelverton
• October 2, 1972 — Traded center Dale Schlueter to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for guard Dave Wohl.
• October 10, 1972 — Claimed forward Bill Turner off waivers from the Golden State Warriors.
• October 24, 1972 — Traded a third round pick in the 1974 NBA Draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard Charlie Davis.
• October 27, 1972 — Traded guard-forward Stan McKenzie to the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard-forward Greg Smith
• November 13, 1972 — Waived forward Bill Turner
• December 6, 1972 — Waived guard Dave Wohl, who was claimed by the Buffalo Braves
• April 24, 1973 — Traded a first round and third round pick in the 1973 NBA Draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for forward John Johnson and forward-center Rick Roberson and a first round pick in the 1973 NBA Draft.
• June 21, 1973 — Guard-forward Terry Dischinger retired
• June 27, 1973 — Signed free agent guard Bernie Fryer

Transactions from Sports Reference