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NBA Draft

The National Basketball Association draft is an annual U.S. event in which the National Basketball Association's (NBA) thirty teams can select young players who wish to join the league. These players usually come from college level, but in recent drafts a greater number of international and high school players have been drafted.

1. Structure

The NBA draft is divided into two rounds. The order of selections is based on certain rules. The first turns of the draft belong to the fourteen teams that did not enter the playoffs in that year's season. These teams participate in a lottery that determines the spot each team will have in the draft.

The next sixteen spots in the draft are reserved for the teams that made it into that season's playoffs. The order of these sixteen teams' selection is determined by their regular-season win-loss record, going from worst to best. Therefore, the team with the best record selects last. Note that the team with the best record is not necessarily the champion; for example, in the 2004 NBA Draft, the last pick did not go to the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, but rather to the Indiana Pacers.

This same order is carried on to the second round. However, teams are allowed to trade their future draft picks in the same way as they would current players. Therefore, the structure of the second round can sometimes be very different than that of the first round because of trades.

Each team in the league is required to make at least one selection during the entire draft. Also, league rules prohibit a team from trading away future first-round picks in consecutive years. This rule was created partially as a reaction to the practices of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 1980s. Ted Stepien, who owned the team from 1980 to 1983, made a series of trades for players of questionable value that cost the team several years of first-round picks. The trades nearly destroyed the franchise; the NBA pressured Stepien into selling out, and in order to get a solid local owner (Gordon Gund), the league had to sweeten the deal by giving the Cavaliers several future bonus draft picks.

Note, however, that this rule only requires each team to have a first-round pick, not necessarily their pick. Some examples illustrating this rule follow. These examples assume that the 2005 NBA Draft has already taken place.

  • For the purposes of this discussion, let us assume that the San Antonio Spurs have no first-round pick in 2005, but have their first-round picks, and no others, in all future years. The Spurs may freely trade their 2006 first-round pick, since its 2005 pick is no longer a future pick. However, they cannot trade away their first-round picks for 2006 and 2007, or in any other consecutive years.
  • The Spurs make a trade after the 2005 draft, picking up another team's first-round pick for 2007. Now, the Spurs can trade their own 2006 and 2007 first-round picks, since they still have a 2007 first-round pick.

2. Players Selected

All U.S. players are automatically eligible upon the end of their college eligibility. Through 2005, U.S. players were also allowed to declare eligibility for the draft at any time between high school graduation and the completion of college eligibility. International players could declare eligibility in the calendar year of their 18th birthday, or later. Starting with the 2006 NBA Draft, a U.S. player will not be allowed to declare draft eligibility unless both of the following are true:

  • At least one year has passed since his high school class graduated.
  • The player is 19 or older on December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.

For international players, only the second of the above criteria applies.

This age limit for draftees is part of the new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players union.

The NBA has established two draft declaration dates. All players who wish to be drafted, and are not automatically eligible, must declare their eligibility on or before the first declaration date. Following this, the NBA runs several pre-draft camps for prospective draftees to allow them to show their skills to the league's teams, which may also audition players individually. A player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, one week before the draft. Players do not lose their college eligibility by declaring for the draft on the initial date, unless they have, in any previous year, declared and withdrawn from the draft; however, if they stay in the draft at the final declaration date, they lose further college eligibility, whether or not they are drafted. Also, signing with an agent automatically ends a player's college eligibility. Underclassmen may withdraw from the draft only once,

When a player is selected in the first round of the draft, the team that selected him is required to sign him to at least a one-year contract. Players selected in the second round are "owned" by the team for three years, but the teams are not required to sign them.

The earlier in the draft a player is selected, the higher his worth. The first pick of the draft is usually the best player available in the field. However, being the first pick doesn't necessarily means that the player will be a superstar. Michael Jordan was the third pick of the 1984 NBA draft, and yet he is generally recognized as the greatest player of all time. The two players selected ahead of Jordan in that draft illustrate the uncertainty of the draft. While the first pick, Hakeem Olajuwon, went on to a career that will certainly put him in the Hall of Fame, the second pick, Michael Hamilton, ended up a journeyman with a relatively short and injury-riddled career.

3. First Picks since 1979

  • 1979- Magic Johnson; Los Angeles Lakers
  • 1980- Joe Barry Carroll; Golden State Warriors
  • 1981- Mark Aguirre; Dallas Mavericks
  • 1982- James Worthy; Los Angeles Lakers
  • 1983- Ralph Sampson; Houston Rockets
  • 1984- Hakeem Olajuwon; Houston Rockets
  • 1985- Patrick Ewing; New York Knicks
  • 1986- Brad Daugherty; Cleveland Cavaliers
  • 1987- David Robinson; San Antonio Spurs
  • 1988- Danny Manning; Los Angeles Clippers
  • 1989- Pervis Ellison; Sacramento Kings
  • 1990- Derrick Coleman; New Jersey Nets
  • 1991- Larry Johnson; Charlotte Hornets
  • 1992- Shaquille O'Neal; Orlando Magic
  • 1993- Chris Webber; Orlando Magic
  • 1994- Glenn Robinson; Milwaukee Bucks
  • 1995- Joe Smith; Golden State Warriors
  • 1996- Allen Iverson; Philadelphia 76ers
  • 1997- Tim Duncan; San Antonio Spurs
  • 1998- Michael Olowokandi; Los Angeles Clippers
  • 1999- Elton Brand; Chicago Bulls
  • 2000- Kenyon Martin; New Jersey Nets
  • 2001- Kwame Brown; Washington Wizards
  • 2002- Yao Ming; Houston Rockets
  • 2003- LeBron James; Cleveland Cavaliers
  • 2004- Dwight Howard; Orlando Magic
  • 2005- Andrew Bogut; Milwaukee Bucks