After using his first choice in the 1970 NBA Draft on future Hall of Famer Dave Cowens, Red Auerbach selected a hot-shot guard from a Final Four team named Rex Morgan in Round 2, a floppy-haired Pete Maravich look-alike who’d benefited from playing with Artis Gilmore at Jacksonville.
About six months later, and with significantly less notice, Auerbach shipped a fifth-round pick in the following draft to San Diego for an ultraquick, undersized, overaged back-up nicknamed “Hambone.”
Fast-forward about 18 months more … both backcourt men are members of Coach Tom Heinsohn’s first roster to qualify for the play-offs, repelling Atlanta in six games before falling to the Knicks in the ECF in five.