1949 BAA draft

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title: "1949 BAA draft" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1949–50-nba-season", "basketball-association-of-america-draft", "march-1949-sports-events-in-the-united-states", "1949-in-sports-in-new-york-city", "1940s-in-manhattan", "basketball-in-new-york-city", "sporting-events-in-new-york-city"] description: "Basketball player selection" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_BAA_draft" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Basketball player selection ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox sports draft"]

Field	Value
name	1949 BAA draft
sport	Basketball
date	April 21, 1949
location	Commodore Hotel (New York City, NY)
league	BAA
teams	11
overall	76
rounds	11
first	Howie Shannon, Providence Steamrollers
territorial	Ed Macauley, St. Louis Bombers
Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
hofnum	{{Collapsible list
title	4
1	F Ed Macauley
2	F Vern Mikkelsen
3	G Dick McGuire
4	G Slater Martin}}
prev	1948
next	1950
::

| name = 1949 BAA draft | image = | caption = | logo = | logosize = | sport = Basketball | date = April 21, 1949 | location = Commodore Hotel (New York City, NY) | network = | league = BAA | teams = 11 | overall = 76 | rounds = 11 | first = Howie Shannon, Providence Steamrollers | territorial = Ed Macauley, St. Louis Bombers Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers | hofnum = {{Collapsible list | title = 4 |1 = F Ed Macauley |2 = F Vern Mikkelsen |3 = G Dick McGuire |4 = G Slater Martin}} | prev = 1948 | next = 1950 The 1949 BAA draft was the third annual draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the last draft that was done while going under the original Basketball Association of America name before the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) on August 3, 1949. The BAA's draft was held on April 21, 1949, months before the start of the 1949–50 NBA season, which debuted the NBA name properly. In this draft, eleven BAA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. However, one month before the BAA's final draft began, the NBL would end up getting an early jumpstart over the BAA with their own draft by starting their own draft system some time in March 1949. Three of the first round selections made by BAA teams (Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, and Ralph Beard) alongside college teammates Cliff Barker and Joe Holland would all agree to sign with the newly created Indianapolis Olympians expansion franchise, who had been intended to replace the Kautskys in the NBL before ultimately replacing the Jets for the NBA merger. After initial disagreements made from the previous year, the BAA and NBL would reconcile their differences after the BAA draft ended and eventually agreed to a merger on August 3, 1949, with the aforementioned Indianapolis Jets and Providence Steamrollers being left out on the BAA's side and the Oshkosh All-Stars, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, and Dayton Rens being left out on the NBL's side; this merger would now leave players with few alternative methods to enter the soon-to-be-renamed NBA draft going forward, since direct competition for payment between the two professional leagues was now essentially replaced by Amateur Athletic Union basketball, minor league basketball, and various barnstorming teams if players wanted to work before entering the draft system. During the draft, three teams agreed to give up certain draft picks in order to secure the player rights to underclassmen that left college, but already signed and played for the BAA the previous season, with Howie Shannon being considered the #1 pick by default for the Providence Steamrollers, George Kaftan being #4 for the Boston Celtics, and 1949 Rookie of the Year Harry Gallatin being #20 for the New York Knicks. The 76 players selected was one number higher to the number of players selected in the 1988 NBA draft; both drafts have had some of the fewest picks selected prior to 1989 (when the NBA draft was reduced to two rounds ever since).

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Howie Shannon from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Providence Steamrollers. However, Ed Macauley and Vern Mikkelsen were selected before the draft as St. Louis Bombers' and Minneapolis Lakers' territorial picks respectively. Four players from this draft, Vern Mikkelsen, Ed Macauley, Dick McGuire and Slater Martin have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Key

::data[format=table]

Position	Guard	Forward	Center
::

Draft

::data[format=table] | Round | Pick | Player | Position | width:"100px;"| Nationality | Team | College | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | T | – | ^ | F/C | United States | St. Louis Bombers | Saint Louis | | T | – | ^ | F/C | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Hamline | | 1 | 1 | | G/F | United States | Providence Steamrollers | Providence Steamrollers (BAA) | | 1 | 2 | * | C | United States | Indianapolis Jets | Kentucky | | 1 | 3 | | F/C | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Oklahoma State | | 1 | 4 | | F | United States | Boston Celtics | Yale | | 1 | 5 | | F/C | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Utah | | 1 | 6 | | C | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Wyoming | | 1 | 7 | ^ | G | United States | New York Knicks | St. John's | | 1 | 8 | | F | United States | Washington Capitols | Kentucky | | 1 | 9 | | F/C | United States | Chicago Stags | Loyola (IL) | | 1 | 10 | | G/F | United States | Rochester Royals | Seton Hall | | 2 | – | + | G/F | United States | Indianapolis Jets | Notre Dame | | 2 | – | * | G | United States | Chicago Stags | Kentucky | | 2 | – | + | F/C | United States | Rochester Royals | Louisville | | 2 | – | | G | United States | New York Knicks | Muhlenberg | | 2 | – | | F | United States | Boston Celtics | Boston Celtics (BAA) | | 2 | – | | C | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Georgia Tech | | 2 | – | | G | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Western Kentucky | | 2 | – | | F | United States | St. Louis Bombers | Beloit | | 2 | – | | G | United States | Washington Capitols | Baylor | ::

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game. ::data[format=table] | Round | Pick | Player | Position | width:"100px;"| Nationality | Team | College | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 3 | – | | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Temple | | 3 | – | + | G/F | United States | Chicago Stags | Illinois | | 3 | – | | F | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Notre Dame | | 3 | – | | G/F | United States | Providence Steamrollers | Dartmouth | | 3 | – | | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Holy Cross | | 3 | – | | F/C | United States | Indianapolis Jets | Bowling Green | | 3 | – | * | F | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | West Virginia | | 3 | – | | G/F | United States Canada | New York Knicks | Colgate | | 3 | – | ^ | G | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Texas | | 4 | – | | G | United States | Indianapolis Jets | Butler | | 4 | – | | G | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Loyola (IL) | | 4 | – | | G/F | United States | Providence Steamrollers | Tulane | | 5 | – | | G | United States | Washington Capitols | Kentucky | | 5 | – | | G | United States | Providence Steamrollers | Georgetown | | 5 | – | | F | United States | St. Louis Bombers | Northeast Missouri | | 6 | – | | G/F | United States | Indianapolis Jets | Western Michigan | | 7 | – | | C | United States | St. Louis Bombers | Drake | | 8 | – | | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Indiana State | | 8 | – | | G | United States | Providence Steamrollers | Indiana State | | – | – | | C | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Xavier | | – | – | + | G | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Michigan | | – | – | + | G/F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Tennessee | | – | – | | F | United States | St. Louis Bombers | Saint Louis | ::

Undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1949 draft but played at least one game in the NBA. ::data[format=table]

Player	Pos.	Nationality	School/club team
	SG/SF	United States	NC State (Jr.)
	SF/PF	United States	Denver (Sr.)
	SG	United States	Oklahoma A&M (Sr.)
	SF	United States	Miami (Ohio) (Sr.)
	SG/SF	United States	Canisius (Sr.)
	PG	United States	NYU (Jr.)
	PG	United States	Long Island (So.)
	SF/PF	United States	Marymount (So.)
	SG/SF	United States	Saint Joseph's (So.)
	C	United States	NC State (Sr.)
	PG	United States	Michigan (Sr.)
	SG	United States	Mount Union (Sr.)
	SF	United States	Seton Hall (Sr.)
	SG/SF	United States	Saint Mary's (California) (Jr.)
	PF/C	United States	Xavier (Jr.)
	C	United States	Western Illinois (Sr.)
	PG	United States	Holy Cross (So.)
	SG/SF	United States	California (Sr.)
	SG	United States	Western Kentucky (Sr.)
	SG	United States	Bowling Green (Sr.)
	SG/SF	United States	DePaul (Sr.)
	SF/PF	United States	Saint Louis (So.)
	SG	United States	Northern Arizona (Sr.)
	G	United States	Tennessee (Sr.)
	PG	United States	Benjamin Franklin (New York) (HS Sr.)
	PG	United States	Northern Illinois (Sr.)
::

Notes

References

;General

;Specific

References

1. Bradley, Robert D.. (2013). "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts". Scarecrow Press.
2. (4 August 1949). "NBL, BAA merge, end pro net war". The Republic.
3. Berger, Phil. "First Season". American Heritage Publishing.
4. "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com.
5. (22 March 1949). "3 'Tucky Stars among choices in BAA draft". [[The Journal Herald]].
6. (10 August 1949). "Basketball merger saved red face for Alex Groza". [[The Knoxville News-Sentinel]].
7. "1949 BAA Draft".
8. "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".

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