- Played nine seasons with Trail Blazers (1979-87)
- Averaged 16 points and 3.2 assists per game
- 2x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Jim Paxson was the No. 12 pick in the 1979 NBA Draft by Portland. He only averaged 17.6 minutes per game on a 38-win team in 1979-80, but began to break-out in his second season as a pro.
In 1980-81, Paxson became a full-time starter and his scoring shot up to 17.1 points per game, as he shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field. The Trail Blazers won 45 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The next year, Paxson’s scoring rose again, this time to 18.9 points per game. The following two years saw Paxson clear 21 points per game and make the All-Star team during each campaign.
As for the Trail Blazers as a team, they couldn’t break out of their mid-40s win total funk, and never got further than the second round of postseason play with Paxson on the team. But over the course of his nine years in Portland, Paxson was a potent scorer and important to the success that the team did have.
Paxson was traded to the Boston Celtics during the 1987-88 season in exchange for Jerry Sichting in a one-for-one swap. While Paxson was able to advance well past the first round with the Celtics, he played a bit role off the bench and never was able to win a ring.
But a dominant decade in the 1980s is enough to get Paxson to No. 9 on our countdown.