Daniel LaDrew Vranes (born October 29, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player.
Vranes led Skyline High School, in Salt Lake City, to the state basketball championship in his senior year (1977). He was named to the inaugural McDonald's All-American team, which played in the 1977 Capital Classic. A 6'7" small forward from the University of Utah, he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1st round (5th overall) of the 1981 NBA draft. Vranes played in seven NBA seasons with the SuperSonics and Philadelphia 76ers from 1981 to 1988.
He acquired a career high single-game total of 18 rebounds (nine offensive, nine defensive) on April 22, 1983, during a game 2 playoff elimination loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In his NBA career, Vranes played in 510 games and scored a total of 2,613 points. Perhaps his best year as a professional came during the 1983âÂÂ84 season as a member of the SuperSonics, appearing in 80 games and averaging 8.4 points per game. On January 18, 1984, Vranes recorded a career high six blocks in a 114âÂÂ107 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Known for his defense, after the 1984âÂÂ85 season, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. That season, on October 26, he recorded six steals, along with scoring a team-high 24 points, during a 102âÂÂ94 win over the Utah Jazz.
He played in Europe for AEK BC, Teorematour Arese and Breeze Milano.
His ancestors emigrated to the United States from Croatia in the early 1900s. Vranes is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is a cousin of Jeff Judkins, his teammate at Utah.
Vranes's nephew is Utah Utes safety Jackson Bennee.
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|- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 77 || 1 || 14.0 || .546 || .000 || .601 || 2.6 || .7 || .4 || .3 || 4.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 82 || 73 || 25.0 || .527 || .000 || .550 || 5.2 || 1.5 || .6 || .6 || 6.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 80 || 72 || 27.2 || .521 || .000 || .648 || 4.9 || 1.7 || .6 || .7 || 8.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 76 || 70 || 28.5 || .463 || .250 || .528 || 5.7 || 2.0 || 1.0 || .8 || 5.8 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 80 || 19 || 19.6 || .461 || .000 || .520 || 3.5 || .9 || .8 || .4 || 3.8 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 58 || 6 || 14.1 || .428 || .200 || .467 || 2.5 || .5 || .6 || .4 || 2.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 57 || 5 || 13.5 || .438 || .000 || .429 || 2.1 || .6 || .5 || .6 || 2.1 |- class=sortbottom |style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career | 510 || 246 || 20.8 || .496 || .105 || .570 || 3.9 || 1.2 || .7 || .5 || 5.1
|- |style="text-align:left;"|1982 |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 6 || || 4.8 || .200 || – || .500 || .3 || .0 || .2 || .0 || .5 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1983 |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 2 || || 28.0 || .353 || – || – || 9.5 || .5 || .0 || .5 || 6.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1984 |style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 5 || || 29.4 || .410 || .000 || .571 || 7.6 || 2.2 || .6 || 1.2 || 7.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1987 |style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 2 || 0 || 1.5 || – || – || – || 1.5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career | 15 || 0 || 15.7 || .377 || .000 || .556 || 4.1 || .8 || .3 || .5 || 3.4