Los Angeles Clippers: 25 Best Players To Play For The Clippers
By Phil Watson
7. player. 77. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Trade, Los Angeles Lakers, Sept. 12, 1973.. SF. 1973-76. Jim McMillian
The Buffalo Braves shored up two positions in one trade in September 1973, acquiring Jim McMillian from the Los Angeles Lakers for Elmore Smith.
McMillian took over at small forward and Bob McAdoo slid to center as the Braves made three straight trips to the playoffs.
McMillian was third in the NBA in field-goal percentage in 1975-76, as well.
His contract was sold to the New York Knicks in September 1976 and, not to say one player was the whole factor in the process, but the Braves made the playoffs each year McMillian was there and didn’t either before or after his departure.
In three years in Buffalo, McMillian averaged 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 37 minutes per game, shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and 85.3 percent at the line.
McMillian was the 13th overall pick out of Columbia by the Lakers in the 1970 NBA Draft and was on L.A.’s 1972 championship team.
He signed as a veteran free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers in December 1978 before he was waived in 1979.
He went on to play two seasons in Italy before retiring in 1981. McMillian died May 16, 2016, at a hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C., from complications of heart failure. He was 68 years old.
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