I have been cursed by a witch to repeatedly travel back through time to relive every NBA draft. Fortunately, her spell sends me directly to the Utah Jazz war room on draft night and all the executives magically know I’m from the future and will do whatever I say. Unfortunately, the curse prevents me from seeing how my advice altered the future, as I am sent back to the previous year as soon as draft night ends.
June 29, 1982 – Madison Square Garden, New York City
Previous season:
The Utah Jazz were a young team in 1981-82 — their oldest player only had six years of experience — which meant their future was bright and full of hope. Adrian Dantley was an All-Star and finished 15th in MVP voting. He led the league in free throws, but also turnovers, unfortunately. Rickey Green and Darrell Griffith formed an intriguing backcourt, but nobody else on the roster showed much promise. After starting the season 5-2, the Jazz lost 10 of their next 13 games, leading to the abrupt firing of coach Tom Nissalke. General Manager Frank Layden was given double duties, but he didn't fare much better this year, and Utah finished at 25-57, which earned them the third pick of the 1982 Draft.
The draft:
National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson was widely regarded to be the No. 1 overall pick this year. But when he saw that the San Diego Clippers had a 50% chance of winning that pick, he decided to return to college for one more year. The Clippers ended up losing the coin flip with the Lakers, who had to "settle" on future Hall of Famer James Worthy. San Diego took Terry Cummings at No. 2, leaving Georgia small forward Dominique Wilkins to the Jazz at No. 3.
The Jazz didn't have a second-round pick due to a trade they made in 1979, but they did end up with two third-round picks after they traded former Ute Jeff Judkins to Detroit in 1981. With the 49th pick, Utah selected BYU big man Steve Trumbo. And they drafted Louisville point guard Jerry Eaves at No. 55.
In the fourth round, Utah took a chance on 26-year-old Mark Eaton from UCLA.
None of Utah's other picks played in the NBA, but here they are just for fun:
95. Mike McKay, UConn
118. Alvin Jackson, Southern University and A&M College
141. Thad Garner, Michigan
187. Riley Clarida, Long Island University
208. Michael Edwards, New Orleans
Analysis:
This is one of the most infamous drafts in Utah Jazz history. If you ask any Jazz fan, they'll most likely tell you the same story: Dominique Wilkins refused to play in Utah, but that was alright because the Jazz were able to sell his rights to Atlanta for $1 million, which the cash-strapped Jazz desperately needed to keep the team in Salt Lake. If you ask Wilkins today, he will readily admit that he didn't want to play for the Jazz, but he will diplomatically say it was only because Frank Layden wanted to play him as a power forward alongside Adrian Dantley. But what actually happened? To discover this, I spent an embarrassing amount of time combing through scanned newspapers from 1982. My efforts were rewarded, and I'm now able to put together a pretty clear picture of what people were thinking at the time.
First, let's examine Wilkins' story. Scroll back up and look at the picture of him shaking NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien's hand on Draft Day. That is the face of an unhappy man. That is the same face Steve Francis made when he was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies. Reading the newspapers from 1982, it seemed like a pretty open secret that Wilkins did not want to go to Utah. With Ralph Sampson opting to return to college, this became a three-player draft with Wilkins firmly in the third position. Layden admitted that the Jazz received many offers for the pick before the draft and it actually would have been easier to have traded it before they picked Wilkins.
In Wilkins' defense, Utah was not an ideal destination in 1982. Aside from the geographic and sociological challenges, the Utah Jazz franchise was on really shaky ground before Larry Miller took over the team. The Jazz frequently played "home" games in Las Vegas and owner Sam Battistone was constantly threatening to move the team to Minneapolis or even Toronto. So I understand Wilkins' hesitation there. But I don't understand his current story of not wanting to play power forward. First of all, Dantley was a small forward in name only. Despite his 6-5 height, he was actually a power forward for all intents and purposes. This was one of the main reasons why Utah traded him away after they drafted Karl Malone. But my second objection to Wilkins' story is that I can find no contemporary evidence to corroborate. None of the papers in 1982 even mentioned the difficulty of playing Wilkins alongside Dantley. There was some playful pondering of whether Wilkins would replace Darrell Griffith as the best dunker on the team, but that's it. On the day of the draft, the prevailing assumption was that the Jazz intended to play Wilkins because they didn't trade their pick before the draft.
Now what about the money? When Utah finally did send Wilkins to Atlanta in September, Battistone said that many teams offered to buy the rights to Wilkins, but he insisted on holding out for a deal that included quality players. Layden confirmed as much, saying the Jazz spent months negotiating with the Hawks and only agreed to the deal once two-time All-Star John Drew was included. The initial reporting hyped up the acquisition of both Drew and Freeman Williams, who had scored more points in college than anyone besides Pete Maravich at the time. The inclusion of $1 million in cash was treated as an afterthought.
I have no doubt that the money helped the Jazz a lot. But the narrative of that cash "saving" the Jazz appears to have been something that developed over time to justify the incredibly lopsided results of this trade. While Wilkins went on to become a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate, Drew and Williams failed to live up to the hype Layden bestowed on them. Drew missed 38 games in his first season in Utah due to an eight-week stint in drug rehab. He came back strong in his second season and was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year. (Unlike with Wilkins, there was an actual conversation about whether Drew could play alongside Dantley, as they both had very similar games. Which is why Drew was forced to come off the bench.) Sadly, Drew relapsed in 1984 and was waived after just 19 games into his third Jazz season. He later earned the distinction of becoming the first player banned by David Stern for substance abuse.
Williams fared no better, playing in only 18 games before quietly being waived in December 1982. It was later revealed that he also struggled with substance abuse. Eerily, both Drew and Williams passed away in April 2022.
I wonder if this was a complete coincidence that both the players Atlanta sent to Utah were essentially "damaged goods." It stands to reason that the Hawks would have known better than anyone whether their players were struggling with an addiction. And this was also an era of "gentlemanly" coverups. People simply didn't talk about things like drug addiction or sex with underage girls unless it really became a big problem. Regardless of Atlanta's inside knowledge (or the lack thereof), this trade would have been a complete disaster for Utah had it not been for that $1 million in cash. And since everyone loved Layden so much, it makes sense that they all collectively decided to spin this blunder in a more positive light — even if said spin required some revisionist history.
Now how about the rest of the draft? Well, Steve Trumbo never played in the NBA and Jerry Eaves gave Utah two quiet seasons in a reserve role before he was waived to make room for John Stockton. But Mark Eaton was one of the most inspiring success stories in NBA history. This blog has already gone on long enough, so I'll restrain myself from telling you what you probably already know.
My advice:
Believe it or not, I'm going to advise the Jazz to do everything the same. I'm not sure the Dominique Wilkins trade was the best possible trade for Utah to make — but I can't really help with that, as the witch's curse contains me just to the night of the draft. At the end of the day, I believe teams should use the draft to select the best player available, even if he refuses to play for your team. Acquiring valuable assets is the name of the game for general managers. And Dominique Wilkins was by far the most valuable asset available at the No. 3 spot. And, of course, Mark Eaton was a beautiful diamond in the rough that Utah can't afford to miss.
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