Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets: 15 best draft picks of all-time (updated through 2018-19)

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets, NBA Draft
BOSTON – 1979: Bernard King #22 of the New Jersey Nets waits for the ball against Don Chaney #12 of the Boston Celtics during a game played in 1979 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1979 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

player. 147. . SF. New York Nets (1st round, 7th overall, 1977 NBA Draft). Bernard King. 11

Bernard King goes down in franchise history as the last first-round pick of the New York Nets, who shuffled off to Piscataway later in the summer of 1977 after taking King from Tennessee with the seventh overall pick.

On a bad New Jersey Nets team as a rookie, King provided many of the highlights as he averaged 24.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 39.1 minutes per game on his way to All-Rookie First Team honors.

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Those numbers would have gotten a guy Rookie of the Year in many seasons, but King had the bad luck of entering the league the same year as Walter Davis and Marques Johnson, who both finished ahead of him in the voting for the award.

He followed up his stellar rookie season with a solid sophomore campaign, averaging 21.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 34.9 minutes per game, playing in all 82 contests as the Nets secured their first NBA playoff berth.

But amid rumors of problems with alcohol, which King later confirmed in his autobiography, per amnewyork.com, the Nets opted to deal King with John Gianelli and Jim Boylan to the Utah Jazz, getting center Rich Kelley in return, in October 1979.

King would have all sorts of off-court problems in Utah and wound up being suspended for much of the season. He revived his career in 1981-82 with the Golden State Warriors before rising to the superstar level with the New York Knicks before a serious knee injury in 1985 nearly ended his career.

King went on to the Washington Bullets for four seasons before sitting out all of 1991-92 with another knee injury. Released by the Bullets, King returned to New Jersey for a 32-game cameo in 1993.

A Hall of Famer, King averaged 22.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 37.0 minutes per game in his first two seasons with the Nets. His scoring average of 20.2 points per game, counting the 1993 stopover, ranks seventh in franchise history.

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