Brooklyn Nets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Nets
By Phil Watson
147. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Trade, Virginia Squires, Aug. 11, 1970.. C. 1970-75. Billy Paultz. 10. player
The New York Nets shopped close to home, acquiring the rights to St. John’s center Billy Paultz from the Virginia Squires in exchange for cash and a future draft pick and signing the center that had averaged almost 16 points and more than 14 rebounds per game as a senior.
Paultz brought size and grit to the Nets, earning two All-Star berths and helping the team to two ABA Finals and an ABA title in 1974. He was third in the ABA in rebounding in 1972-73 and fifth in blocks in 1973-74.
In the 1972 ABA Finals, Paultz averaged 19.3 points per game as the Nets fell in six games to the
, he averaged 14.8 points per game in the five-game win over the Utah Stars in 1974.
He was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in September 1975 in exchange for Rich Jones, Kim Hughes, Bob Warren and Chuck Terry.
In five seasons in New York, Paultz averaged 15.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and two assists in 34.2 minutes per game, shooting .501/0-for-11/.722.
He was a seventh-round pick by the San Diego Rockets in the 1970 NBA Draft, but entered the NBA with the Spurs in 1976 as part of the ABA-NBA merger.
Paultz was an ABA All-Star with San Antonio in 1976, leading the league in blocks. He was traded to the Houston Rockets in January 1980.
The Rockets waived Paultz in April 1983 and he signed two days later with San Antonio. Paultz signed with the Atlanta Hawks in September 1983 as a veteran free agent and went to the Utah Jazz as a veteran free agent in September 1984.
Waived by the Jazz in September 1985, Paultz retired.
He was seventh in ABA history with 5,406 rebounds, third with 751 blocked shots and an average of 2.3 blocks per game and 10th with an average of 11.1 rebounds per game.
Paultz was named to the ABA All-Time Team in 1997.
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