Howard Komives, a sharpshooting guard who played for 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association but who was perhaps best remembered for the trade that sent him to the Detroit Pistons from the Knicks for the future Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere, died Sunday in Toledo, Ohio. He was 67. Komives’s son, Shane, said his father died after surgery for head trauma that apparently resulted from a fall at his home. Komives had had difficulty walking because of knee and ankle problems and was found unconscious by his wife, Marcia, his son said.
Komives, known as Butch, captured the National Collegiate Athletic Association scoring title in the 1963-64 season, averaging 36.7 points a game for Bowling Green when there was not a 3-point line. In the previous two seasons, he teamed with center Nate Thurmond, who became an N.B.A. All-Star with the Warriors.
At 6 feet 1 inch, Komives (pronounced KO-myvz) was a fine jump shooter and a scrappy defender adept at pressing opposing guards. He was named to the N.B.A.’s all-rookie team as a Knick in 1965 and had his best professional season in 1966-67, when he averaged 15.7 points and 6.2 assists.
The Knicks traded Komives and center Walt Bellamy to the Pistons on Dec. 19, 1968, for DeBusschere, an outstanding defender and rebounder at forward as well as a formidable scorer. The deal enabled the Knicks to move Willis Reed to center, his natural position, and they went on to win N.B.A. championships in 1970 and 1973.
Komives remained with the Pistons for three and a half seasons and later played for the Buffalo Braves and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. He had a career scoring average of 10.2 points.
“He was a great shooter,” Thurmond told The Toledo Blade after Komives’s death. “A guy who scores a lot of points many times was never thought of being able to play the other end. But he played both ends.”
In addition to his son and his wife, Komives is survived by his stepsons Christopher and David Cook; his sister, Elizabeth Meinert; a half-sister, Julie Woods; and two grandsons.
Early in his Knicks career, Komives was used as a playmaker, a role that did not fit his high-scoring style. He struggled at times and was booed at Madison Square Garden.
When he returned there for the first time as a Piston, in January 1969, he hustled under the defensive boards and roughed up the Knicks’ star guard Walt Frazier on occasion, bringing cheers from the fans, who, with the Knicks rolling to their 10th straight victory, could afford to be generous.
Asked afterward if he noticed anything different about the Knicks that night, Komives said, “It’s the same team, only they don’t press as good as they used to.”