The NBA Draft is one of the most anticipated events in the basketball calendar, offering a chance for teams to acquire new talent and for young players to achieve their dreams of playing professionally.
Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the NBA Draft system.
Overview
The NBA Draft typically takes place in late June, following the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
It consists of two rounds, with each of the 30 NBA teams selecting once per round, making a total of 60 picks.
The order of the picks is determined by a combination of the draft lottery and team records from the preceding season.
Lottery
The NBA Draft lottery is a crucial process that primarily determines the order of the top 14 picks, which are known as lottery picks.
These lottery picks are allocated to the 14 teams that did not qualify for the playoffs in the preceding season.
The lottery's main purpose is to discourage teams from deliberately losing games to secure a higher draft position, a practice commonly referred to as "tanking."
Order for Playoff Teams
For the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs, their draft order is determined by their regular-season records.
The team that achieved the best regular-season record will pick last in the draft.
This inverse order system is designed to maintain competitive balance across the league by assigning the lowest picks to the most successful teams.
Trading Picks
Teams frequently engage in trades to move around the draft board, exchanging current players, future draft picks, or cash considerations.
To secure a highly coveted player, teams may trade up, often offering multiple lower picks or valuable players to move into a higher draft position. For instance, a team might trade their 10th pick and a future first-round pick to acquire the 5th pick.
Conversely, teams may trade down to acquire additional assets, such as extra picks or players, if they believe they can still select a desired player at a lower position.
Draft Combine
In the run-up to the draft, the NBA organises a combine.
Invited prospects attend this event to showcase their skills and athleticism, and to be interviewed by NBA teams.
A player's performance during the combine can have a considerable impact on their draft prospects.
Draft Eligibility
To be eligible for the draft, players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and must have completed high school at least one year prior.
While most prospects emerge from college basketball, international players and those from the NBA G League are also eligible.
Rookie Contracts
Upon being drafted, players sign rookie scale contracts, the terms of which are dictated by their draft position.
These contracts adhere to set salary scales, ensuring the first overall selection earns considerably more than players picked later in the draft.
Rookie deals are generally for four years and typically include team options for the third and fourth seasons.
History
The NBA Draft was first held in 1947, following the league's inaugural season, and has taken place annually ever since, though with various modifications.
The establishment of the draft lottery in 1966 marked the beginning of what is now recognised as the modern NBA Draft.
Up until 1984, the process involved only the worst-performing teams in each conference. These two teams would compete in a coin flip, with the winner securing the rights to the first overall pick.
From 1985 onwards, the NBA Board of Governors broadened the lottery to include all teams that had failed to make the playoffs in the previous season.
In 1985, the lottery was used to determine the draft order for all teams that did not qualify for the postseason.
However, starting in 1986, the lottery was limited to deciding only the first three selections. The remaining draft positions, for both non-playoff and playoff teams, were then allocated based on their season record.
Over the years, there have been minor adjustments concerning the number of draft spots determined by the lottery and a team's odds of securing a particular pick based on its league standing.
The most recent change occurred in 2017, when the NBA Board of Governors extended the lottery to cover the first four draft positions. This change also assigned an equal 14% chance of winning the No. 1 pick to each of the three teams with the worst records in the league.
