Buffalo Braves Regular Season Rosters

1976-1977 Buffalo Braves Regular Season Roster

Player Pos HT WT YOS Pre-Draft Team Draft Status Nationality
Zaid Abdul-Aziz FC 6-9 235 8 Iowa State 1968 Rnd 1 Pick 5 United States
Don Adams SF 6-6 210 6 Northwestern 1970 Rnd 8 Pick 1 United States
Bird Averitt SG 6-1 170 0 Pepperdine 1973 Rnd 4 Pick 3 United States
Adrian Dantley SF 6-5 208 0 Notre Dame 1976 Rnd 1 Pick 6 United States
Ernie DiGregorio PG 6-0 180 3 Providence 1973 Rnd 1 Pick 3 United States
Fred Foster SF 6-5 210 7 Miami (OH) 1968 Rnd 3 Pick 6 United States
Gus Gerard GF 6-8 200 0 Virginia 1975 Rnd 3 Pick 14 United States
John Gianelli FC 6-10 220 4 Pacific 1972 Rnd 2 Pick 7 United States
George Johnson FC 6-11 205 5 Dillard 1970 Rnd 5 Pick 11 United States
Clyde Mayes PF 6-8 225 1 Furman 1975 Rnd 2 Pick 4 United States
Bob McAdoo FC 6-9 210 4 North Carolina 1972 Rnd 1 Pick 2 United States
Tom McMillen PF 6-11 215 1 Maryland 1974 Rnd 1 Pick 9 United States
Swen Nater C 6-11 240 0 UCLA 1973 Rnd 1 Pick 16 Netherlands
Johnny Neumann F 6-6 200 0 Ole Miss 1973 Rnd 6 Pick 12 United States
Jim Price G 6-3 195 4 Louisville 1972 Rnd 2 Pick 3 United States
John Shumate FC 6-9 235 2 Notre Dame 1974 Rnd 1 Pick 4 United States
Randy Smith GF 6-3 180 5 Buffalo State 1970 Rnd 14 Pick 2 United States
Claude Terry GF 6-4 195 0 Stanford 1972 Rnd 3 Pick 12 United States
Chuck Williams PG 6-2 175 0 Colorado 1968 Rnd 6 Pick 12 United States

1976-1977 Buffalo Depth Chart

  PG SG SF PF C
Starters E. DiGregorio R. Smith A. Dantley D. Adams J. Shumate
Rotation   B. Averitt F. Foster    
Lim PT C. Williams   G. Gerard G. Johnson  
Lim PT       J. Gianelli  

1976-1977 Atlantic Division Standings

RankTeamRecordGB
1Philadelphia Sixers50-32-
2Boston Celtics44-386
3New York Knicks40-4210
4Buffalo Braves30-5220
5New York Nets22-6028

1976-1977 Buffalo Awards & Honors

Player Award / Honor
Adrian Dantley Wilt Chamberlain Rookie Of The Year (1977)
Adrian Dantley All-Rookie First Team (1977)

1976-1977 Buffalo Season Stat Leaders

Player GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK
Randy Smith 82 37.7 20.7 5.6 5.4 2.1 0.1
Adrian Dantley 77 36.6 20.3 7.6 1.9 1.2 0.2
John Shumate 74 35.1 15.1 9.5 2.1 1.2 1.1
Ernie DiGregorio 81 28.0 10.7 2.3 4.7 0.7 0.0
Bird Averitt 75 15.1 7.9 1.0 1.8 0.4 0.1
Don Adams 77 22.2 7.3 4.8 1.9 1.0 0.2
Bob McAdoo 20 38.4 23.7 13.2 3.2 0.8 1.7
John Gianelli 57 22.5 7.0 5.2 1.0 0.4 1.2
George Johnson 39 27.1 7.6 10.3 2.0 0.6 2.7
Gus Gerard 41 14.4 5.9 2.9 1.0 0.6 0.8
Fred Foster 59 11.7 3.9 1.3 0.8 0.3 0.0
Chuck Williams 44 12.6 2.8 1.5 2.0 0.5 0.1
Claude Terry 33 9.2 3.5 0.8 1.0 0.3 0.0
Tom McMillen 20 13.5 5.8 3.6 0.8 0.1 0.1
Jim Price 20 16.6 5.2 1.7 1.9 1.2 0.2
Zaid Abdul-Aziz 22 8.9 3.8 4.1 0.3 0.1 0.4
Johnny Neumann 4 12.2 8.8 2.2 1.0 0.8 0.5
Clyde Mayes 2 3.5 1.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0
Moses Malone 2 3.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

1976-1977 Buffalo Braves Roster Composition

Selected via Draft

Bird Averitt was selected as the #3 pick in the 4 Round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. Bird Averitt signed a multi-year contract with the Buffalo Braves on August 5, 1976.

Adrian Dantley was selected as the #6 pick in the First Round of the 1976 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves. Adrian Dantley signed a multi-year contract with the Buffalo Braves on September 21, 1976.

Ernie DiGregorio was selected as the #3 pick in the First Round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves. Ernie DiGregorio signed a multi-year contract with the Buffalo Braves on April 24, 1973.

Randy Smith was selected as the #2 pick in the 14 Round of the 1970 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves. Randy Smith signed a multi-year contract with the Buffalo Braves on September 1, 1971.

Acquired via Trade

Gus Gerard was acquired in a trade by the Buffalo Braves from the Denver Nuggets on December 15, 1976.

John Gianelli was acquired in a trade by the Buffalo Braves from the New York Knicks on December 9, 1976.

George Johnson was acquired in a trade by the Buffalo Braves from the Golden State Warriors on January 18, 1977.

John Shumate was acquired in a trade by the Buffalo Braves from the Phoenix Suns on February 1, 1976.

Chuck Williams was acquired in a trade by the Buffalo Braves from the Denver Nuggets on December 15, 1976.

Acquired via Free Agency

Don Adams signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Buffalo Braves on December 5, 1975.

Fred Foster signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Buffalo Braves on September 15, 1976.