we acquired john drew from the atlanta hawks along with a freeman williams and a bunch of cash in 1982. the player we gave up (i was going to save this for tomorrow) was dominique wilkins. the jazz (mostly owned by battistone at that point) were in danger of going under and 'nique was reluctant to play for the jazz anyway. so, it seemed to make the most sense to trade 'nique for cash and a couple of serviceable vets. of course, 'nique went on to become a 9-time allstar while freeman williams played a grand total of 18 games with the jazz (and even drew only lasted for parts of three seasons) so you can call this one a rather lopsided deal.
John Drew was more than a "servicable vet" - he was a two-time All-Star, who averaged over 20 ppg for his career. At the time it wasn't a bad trade, but no-one knew that Wilkins would blossom into a 30ppg player and end up in the Hall, or that Drew's career would flame out in such a spectacular manner and end up in the gutter. While in retrospect the trade was lopsided and did turn into a major disaster for the Jazz, it was one that couldn't be foreseen - or could it have been?
Frank Layden had been an assistant coach at Atlanta for three years before joining the New Orleans Jazz as GM in 1979, and knew Drew well from his time there - or thought he did. He had heard rumors that Drew was a drug abuser, but there were no signs of this from his performance on the court, and he was never so much as late for practice. What he didn't know was that Drew had started using cocaine during the 77-78 season, but he was careful not to allow his drug use to affect his play. He never played under the influence of drugs, although sometimes he was still feeling the aftereffects of previous usage. Off-court, though, his behavior changed, and this started the rumors. The Hawks took notice of the rumors, and although they had no firm evidence of his addiction, they acted on their suspicions and three times they sent Drew to a detox clinic for a month. But Drew didn't see his drug use as a problem, so the effort was doomed to failure every time, but each time he came out the team management could tell themselves he was "clean".
However, as a result of the depression arising his drug use, Drew's time in Atlanta became less and less enjoyable for him. During his tenure in the late 70's, coach Hubie Brown rode Drew mercilessly and ridiculed him publicly, even though he led the team in scoring every season. Brown suspected (correctly) that both Drew and guard Eddie Johnson were drug users and blamed them for every team setback, but like everyone else, he had no proof. Nor could he do anything if he had, as the NBA had no drug policy at that time. Even though Brown was fired before the end of the 80-81 season, Drew's depression continued. He decided that Atlanta itself was the cause, and after the 81-82 season, he asked for a trade. With Wilkins refusing to even visit Utah, the Jazz looked for trade partners, and the Hawks were keen to acquire the Georgia alum, so it seemed a good match, particularly with the Hawks being willing to add the required million dollars the Jazz needed to stay solvent. When the trade was being discussed, Layden asked the Hawks GM, Stan Kasten, and president, Michael Gearon, who were his former employers, about the rumors of Drew's drug issues, and was told directly: "He's clean". Layden doesn't think they lied to him - as far as they knew, he was, even if they may have suspected otherwise - but after Drew arrived in Utah, it quickly became clear to Layden that Drew wasn't clean. Unlike his time in Atlanta, his addiction impacted his professional conduct, and he missed practices, flights, and even a game.
Layden had previous experience dealing with a player with drug issues, and that hadn't ended well. Terry Furlow had been traded (ironically, also from Atlanta) to the Jazz during the 79-80 season, and it soon became clear he had a problem, but Layden decided to wait until the summer before approaching him about it. Furlow never made it to summer, wrapping his car around a lightpole in May, with an autopsy finding a cocktail of drugs in his bloodstream. This time, Layden decided to act straight away with Drew. On a road trip to Cleveland, Layden confronted him. Drew's denials lasted three minutes; two hours later, he was on a plane to Baltimore for an eight-week detox program. He missed 38 games, but came back clean. The following season (83-84) he played 81 games and won the Comeback Player of the Year award, but that was also the season that the league introduced its anti-drug policy. The very next season he relapsed, and became the first player permanently banned from the league for violation of the anti-drug policy in January 1986. The "life" ban was reviewable after two years, so he played for the Wyoming Wildcatters in the CBA, planning to make an NBA comeback once his ban was lifted, although he would be 32 years old by that time.
While in the NBA, it was easy for Drew to purchase drugs. The drug culture was rife in the league (it was estimated at least a quarter of the league abused drugs and/or alcohol before the introduction of the anti-drug policy), and sellers knew how to become part of the NBA's entourage. Drew didn't have to find a dealer; dealers found him. Once out of the NBA he had to find dealers himself. He also needed an income to support his habit, and became a seller as well as a buyer. He was arrested several times for attempting to buy or sell drugs to undercover cops, and spent 6 months in jail. His continuing abuse - as demonstrated by his arrests - ensured that his ban was never lifted, and his planned comeback never eventuated. He faded from public view and became a piece NBA trivia.
Had he stayed clean, John Drew - who was still scoring 16ppg in less than half a game during his last seasons, even as his years of drug abuse caught up with him - could have been a veteran member of the Jazz in the same era as John Stockton, Karl Malone, Darrell Griffith, Adrian Dantley, Thurl Bailey and Mark Eaton. Especially with Griff's absence in the 85-86 season, he would have made these teams better. It is unlikely these teams would have been Championship material in the Bird-Magic era, but a few extra quality seasons from Drew on teams making deep playoff runs would have put this trade in a completely different light. It's worth noting that in the 83-84 season (Drew's last full season), the Jazz finished 45-37 and won the Midwest, while the Hawks 40-42 record gave them the 7th seed in the East.
John Drew was last known to be living in Houston and working as a cab driver.
[Having said all that: if we'd retained Wilkins (who would have been in his prime at the same time as Stockton and Malone), we may well have won a Championship - although when we did the trade, we didn't know we were going to draft two more Hall of Famers a few years later]
