Syracuse Basketball: Fantasy NBA Draft featuring SU legends

Final Pick, “Team Ryan”: Billy Owens

Ok, I want to pick out that somehow Billy Owens went 11th overall? What? That is more of a sign of the overall depth at forward all-time for Syracuse.

A position that has the depth that can rival any program in the nation allowed me to snag a guy who averages 17.9 points 8.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists as my bench piece. A guy who scored 23.3 points his junior and final season with the Orange before being the third pick in the NBA is going to be  my “glue guy.”

To select him here is only fitting as he is one of the most underrated and underappreciated guys in SU history. That rounds my team out, so beat that Paul.

Final Pick, “Team Paul”: Billy Gabor

With my final pick, I select Billy Gabor. Most of the newer/younger Syracuse fans won’t recognize the name, but Billy Gabor is a historic player at Syracuse.

He was recently in the news because of his unfortunate passing. He lived a long life (97 years old), from our research Billy was the first player in history to have his jersey retired and was also the oldest living former NBA player on the planet.

In terms of his game, I recently spoke with an NBA historian who said he was “an annoyance”, a pesky defender and earned the nickname “The Bullet” because of his uncanny speed. He was the first 1,000 point scorer in SU history and was the all-time leader in points when he left. Billy has championship experience (won the 1955 NBA Championship with the Syracuse Nationals) and that’ll come in handy with this rowdy bunch.

While Billy played so long ago that he wasn’t around when the three-point shot entered the mix (missed most of it), he will be able to adapt on the fly and help this team secure that win. –Paul.