[2] With the sixth overall pick in the 1971 NBA draft, Seattle selected Fred Brown from the University of Iowa.
After months of negotiation (the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association also selected him in the 1971 ABA draft), the Sonics signed him to a multi-year contract[3] Brown would go on to have a career spanning 13 seasons with the SuperSonics.
The Buffalo Braves selected Spencer Haywood with the 30th overall pick and intended to claim rights to the player from the SuperSonics.
[4] Tensions prior to the trial rose to the point that Buffalo decided to pay expansion fees to every team in the league with the exception of the Sonics.
[6] Since McDaniels was under contract with the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association, both teams began a legal battle over the player's contract,[7] with a judge in the King County Superior Court granting permission to McDaniels to play for the Sonics.