Former First Rounder Has Passed

Traylor's struggle with his weight
ultimately shortened his career.

There have been many trades in NBA history, but one that occurred Draft night '98 would prove to be viable to the emergence of a NBA sports franchise. When the Dallas Mavericks traded their 6th overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for a young seven-footer from Germany it would alter the fate of how basketball was viewed in the great state of Texas for the next decade. Apart of that deal was the University of Michigan stand out Robert "Tractor" Traylor. 

    Traylor was found dead in his Puerto Rico home Wednesday after an apparent heart attack at the young age of 34. Traylor had experience heart problems much of his adult life, mainly due to being over weight, and it finally came back to bite him.

    Traylor was a highly touted recruit by the Wolverines have playing his high school ball locally at Murray-Wright in Detroit. Traylor played three seasons under head coach Steve Fisher, leading Michigan to the 1997 NIT Tournament championship and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In three years at Michigan, Traylor averaged 13.3 points per game and 8.2 rebounds, declaring for the NBA draft following his junior season.

    After being traded for Dirk Nowitzki, the Bucks would become one of the many teams the 6-foot-8 forward would play for during his NBA career. The Detroit native would make stops in Cleveland and New Orleans before the "Tractor" finally ran out of gas. He would only play seven seasons in the NBA averaging 4.8 points per game in 14.3 minutes.

    Dallas of the other hand received one of the most skilled big man the NBA has ever seen. Nowitzki is one of the top ten players in the NBA today and has been the face of Mavericks franchise for the last decade and a half. In 2006, he lead them to their first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, but came up short losing to Dwayne Wade's Miami Heat in six games.

    The thirty-two-year old, out of Western Germany was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player in '07. 

    The trade will always be considered one of the most lopsided in NBA history as Traylor never quiet worked out and Nowitzki has gone on to average 23 points per game in his career. Traylor was currently playing professional in Puerto Rico for the Bayamon Cowboys before his abrupt death. The result is a young man from the rugged streets of Detroit, Michigan gone far to soon.