After the NBA-ABA merger, the Philadelphia 76ers acquired George McGinnis from the Indiana Pacers. He teamed up with Julius Erving and, along with Doug Collins, Darryl Dawkins and Lloyd Free, later to be known as World B. Free, and many people thought that team just had too many stars. It was heavily favored against Bill Walton’s Portland Trailblazers but lost the championship to them in 1977.
The team restructured brilliantly, trading for Bobby Jones and Moses Malone, who joined Erving up front. And they drafted brilliantly, picking Andrew Toney in 1980 and pairing him with Maurice Cheeks, a point guard they took in the second round in 1978.