The

1948–49 BAA season The 1948–49 BAA season was the third and final season of the Basketball Association of America. The 1949 BAA Playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the BAA Championship, beating the Washington Capitols in six games in the 1949 BAA F ...

was the Steamrollers' third and final season in the NBA/BAA. The team would fold after finishing last in the league for a second consecutive season, at 12–48.

Draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Awards and records

Ken Sailors Kenneth Lloyd Sailors (January 14, 1921 – January 30, 2016) was an American professional basketball player and played basketball in the 1940s and early 1950s. A guard, he is regarded as being one of the players who developed the jump shot as ...

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

Dispersal Draft

Originally, the Providence Steamrollers planned on continuing to play for another season like every other

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

team had done at the time, as noted by the 1949 BAA draft showcasing the Steamrollers participating in the event, with them notably selecting

Howie Shannon Howard Shannon (June 10, 1923 – August 16, 1995) was an American basketball player and coach. He played professionally in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the early years of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He later co ...

from

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

as the official #1 pick of the final BAA draft ever done before it officially got rebranded as the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

(even though he already played for them during this final season the Steamrollers would ever play in, the Steamrollers joined the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

that would give up a draft pick in the 1949 BAA draft in order to get rookies to play during this final BAA season of play), as well as acquiring

Carl Shaeffer Carl Edgel Shaeffer (October 25, 1924 – October 25, 1974) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Indianapolis Olympians in the National Basketball Association between 1949–50 and 1950–51 after a collegiate career ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Ed Leede Edward Horst Leede (July 17, 1927 – February 24, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. Leede was selected in the third round in the 1949 BAA draft by the Providence Steamrollers. He played for the Boston Celtics, however, durin ...

from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Warren Perkins Warren Charles "Red" Perkins (February 2, 1922 – September 12, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Perkins was selected in the fourth round of the 1949 BAA Draft by the Providence Steamrollers after a collegiate career at Tu ...

from

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

Ray Corley Raymond Charles Corley (January 1, 1928 – February 5, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. Corley was selected in the fifth round of the 1949 BAA Draft by the Providence Steamrollers after a collegiate career at Georgetown. H ...

from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Paul Courty Paul Jack "Lefty" Courty (September 14, 1925 – December 10, 2008), from Windsor, Missouri, was an American basketball player who had a successful career at the University of Oklahoma from 1945 to 1949. He then played in the Amateur Athletic Unio ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, Bill Tanzler from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Bob Royer Robert Dee Royer (October 15, 1927 – May 30, 1973) was an American professional basketball player.Bob ...

from

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

, and Jack Theolan from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

as the last selections they'd ever have in the third and final BAA draft that they would ever participate in. However, after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) officially merged together to become the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) on August 3, 1949, the newly formed NBA would purchase up the players from both the BAA's defunct teams (the

Indianapolis Jets The Indianapolis Jets were a Basketball Association of America (BAA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded as the Indianapolis Kautskys and used that name until the team joined the BAA. They played for one year in the BAA and then ceased o ...

and Providence Steamrollers) as a means of buying out both of the BAA's teams that didn't make it to the new merger into the NBA. For the Steamrollers' case, seven of their players would be bought out and sign up for the

in what would officially be considered the first ever NBA season, with

Ernie Calverley Ernest A. Calverley (January 30, 1924 – October 20, 2003) was an American professional basketball player. He was an All-American while playing for the University of Rhode Island. He played professionally with the Providence Steamrollers of th ...

, Ken Goodwin, Chick Halbert,

, Les Pugh,

, and Brady Walker all being received by the

nine days later on August 12, 1949. Not only that, but Warren Perkins was slated to have been traded to the

Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada * Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of C ...

and Bob Royer was slated to have been traded to the original Denver Nuggets NBL turned NBA team before the start of what can be considered the first proper NBA season.https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1949

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1948-49 Providence Steamrollers season Providence Steamrollers seasons

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...