Washington Wizards: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history
By John Buhler
- Three seasons w/Bullets (1992-94)
- All-Rookie First Team (1992-93)
- 165 career games w/Bullets
- 15.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game w/Bullets
Tom Gugliotta, like Truck Robinson, wasn’t for long with the Bullets. But that’s not to say that he wasn’t an excellent player for them while he was with the club. Washington selected Gugliotta No. 6 overall in the 1992 NBA Draft out of North Carolina State.
The 6-foot-10 power forward spent 13 seasons in the NBA playing for seven franchises, most notably the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns. Right away, Gugliotta was a starter for the Bullets in 1992-93, as he never came off the bench in his two years and change with the Washington professional franchise.
As a rookie in 1992-93, Gugliotta started 81 games, averaging 14.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 34.5 minutes per contest. No, the Bullets weren’t the least bit good, but Gugliotta was a star in the making, as he made the All-Rookie First Team by nearly averaging a double-double for Washington.
Gugliotta would nearly average a double-double in his sophomore campaign in the league with 17.1 points and 9.3 boards per night in 78 contests. However, that would end up being his last full season with the Bullets.
Six games into the 1994-95 NBA season, Gugliotta was traded to the Golden State Warriors in a package for Chris Webber. He played 40 games with the Warriors before being shipped out of town to the Timberwolves at the trade deadline for Donyell Marshall. Once in the Twin Cities, Gugliotta would find organizational stability and became an NBA All-Star in 1997.
In total, Gugliotta played in 165 games for the Bullets, averaging 15.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 35.2 minutes per contest. He might have only spent a little over two years with the team, but Gugliotta was a promising young piece that Washington used to land the enigmatic Webber in a deal with Golden State. His No. 6 overall selection by the Bullets is merited.