Houston Rockets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Rockets
By Phil Watson
player. 169. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Trade, Buffalo Braves, Oct. 24, 1976.. C. 1976-82. Moses Malone. 2
The Houston Rockets once acquired a future two-time MVP for a pair of draft picks. No, really.
In October 1976, Moses Malone was traded for the second time in six days, dealt to the Rockets by the Buffalo Braves in exchange for first-round picks in 1977 and 1978.
Cheap at twice the price, as they say.
Malone was the NBA MVP in 1978-79 and 1981-82, was a five-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA selection and an All-Defensive pick in 1978-79 for the Rockets. He was also fourth in the MVP voting in 1980-81.
He led the NBA in rebounding in 1978-79, 1980-81 and 1981-82, led the league in minutes per game in 1978-79 and 1981-82, finished second in scoring twice and fifth twice, was second in rebounding two times and third once and was second in minutes per game in 1980-81.
Malone also helped Houston to one of the most likely NBA Finals runs ever in 1981, putting a 40-42 team on his back and guiding it through two huge upsets before running out of steam.
He averaged 22.2 points, 16.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 assists in 44.8 minutes per game, shooting .403/—/.673 in a six-game loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1981 NBA Finals.
But he left in September 1982 to sign as a veteran free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Rockets received Caldwell Jones and a first-round pick in 1983 as compensation.
In parts of six seasons in Houston, Malone averaged 24.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 38.3 minutes per game, shooting .514/1-for-15/.736.
He was never drafted by an NBA franchise, signing out of Petersburg (Va.) High School in August 1974 with the ABA’s Utah Jazz—the first player to go straight from high school to the pro ranks.
Malone was acquired by the Spirits of St. Louis when the Stars folded in December 1975 and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the ABA dispersal draft in August 1976 after St. Louis’ franchise folded as part of the ABA-NBA merger agreement in August 1976.
He was traded to the Braves in October 1976.
With the 76ers, Malone was the MVP in 1982-83 and the MVP of the 1983 Finals as Philadelphia captured the title. He was also a four-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection and an All-Defensive pick in 1982-83, leading the NBA in rebounding three times.
Traded to the Washington Bullets in June 1986, Malone was a two-time All-Star and an All-NBA selection in 1986-87 before signing with the Atlanta Hawks as an unrestricted free agent in August 1988, earning his final All-Star bid in 1989.
He signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks in July 1991 and returned to the 76ers as a free agent in August 1993. Waived in June 1994, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs in August of that year before retiring in 1995.
Malone is 14th in NBA history with 1,329 games, 17th with 45,071 minutes played, 15th with an average of 12.2 rebounds per game, fifth with 16,212 rebounds, 26th with 1,733 blocked shots, eighth with 27,409 points and 47th with an average of 20.6 points per game.
Malone was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. He died Sept. 13, 2015, at the age of 60 from cardiovascular disease.
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