Remember that high school players going straight into the draft was a new thing in 1996. He was an important role player for the Nets' back-to-back Eastern Conference championships in 20. Knee injuries would plague him after that, and he played just eight seasons in the league before retiring.

Kittles started off his career with a bang, averaging 16.4 ppg as a rookie and 17.2 ppg the following season. The Nets went with the surer thing in Kittles. The two choices that Calipari was considering were Kerry Kittles, who was Villanova's all-time leading scorer and won the Big East Player of the Year in 1995, or a high school kid named Kobe Bryant. They had also dealt Kenny Anderson to the Charlotte Hornets for Kendall Gill, but Gill played just 11 games before injuring his hand. The frontcourt was retooled, but the backcourt was a big mess. They traded Derrick Coleman for Shawn Bradley in the middle of the 1995-1996 season and had an up-and-coming big man in Jayson Williams they were excited about. 8 pick in the draft, new New Jersey Nets head coach John Calipari knew he wanted a scorer at the wing. Marbury would bounce around with the Nets, Suns, Knicks, and Celtics (yes, where he'd be teammates with Allen) before embarking on a highly successful career in the Chinese Basketball Association. where they'd bring the Celtics their 17th championship in 2008.Īllen would go on to become a Hall of Fame player, winning a second title with the Miami Heat and becoming one of the greatest three-point shooters in history. He would eventually get to play with Garnett. Allen would play six-plus years in Milwaukee before being dealt to Seattle. It didn't work out that way as Marbury was unhappy and forced his way out in three years. A year after drafting high schooler Kevin Garnett, the Wolves were pairing him with 'Starbury' and setting up for a dynamic point guard-athletic forward duo that could vault the franchise to the next must-see team. Fifteen minutes later, the two would be swapped.Īt the time, Minnesota was the buzzworthy franchise. Soon after, the Minnesota Timberwolves took UConn sharp-shooter Ray Allen. With the fourth pick in the draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected point guard Stephon Marbury from Georgia Tech. Nearly three decades after leaving behind a job as a shoe salesman, Dawson will wrap up a career with the Rockets that began on the sideline and will end with his name hanging in the rafters alongside such greats as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.Ĭlick here for complete NBA.After Marcus Camby and Sharif Abdur-Rahim went second and third in the draft, one of the biggest deals of the draft occurred. 'I love working for an NBA team and I love being involved in basketball. 'I've never been comfortable with the spotlight,' Dawson said. He'd rather remain the mostly anonymous figure who has been working behind the scenes in the Rockets organization. HOUSTON - He could be less than a month away from retirement, but Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson would rather talk about his team's postseason push than the end of his career in Houston.įrankly, he doesn't want to create a fuss. Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson will be honored by the organization during Monday night's game against Phoenix. Dawson set to end a 27-year run with the Rockets

2007 houston rockets roster