NBA Draft: 2025 dates, schedule, how to watch, history and more

The 2025 NBA Draft will mark the 79th in history, as a new crop of young talent gets set to enter the league.

Let's get into all you need to know about the NBA Draft, including 2025 dates, schedule, how to watch and more.

NBA Draft 2025 dates

The start date for the 2025 NBA Draft has not yet been announced.

The draft is typically held in the fourth week of June, so a potential start date for the 2025 draft is Wednesday, June 25, 2025.

How to watch the NBA Draft, TV channel and streaming

The NBA Draft is broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, including ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.

NBA Draft location and venue

The 2025 NBA Draft will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The venue has hosted the draft every year since 2013, aside from in 2020.

How many rounds are in the NBA Draft?

The NBA Draft consists of two rounds, with 30 selections per round.

How many picks are in the NBA Draft?

There are a total of 60 picks made in the NBA Draft.

What is the NBA Draft Lottery?

The NBA Draft Lottery is a draw that determines the order of picks 1-14 for the draft itself, with the 14 teams that did not make that season's playoffs all involved.

Read more about the NBA Draft Lottery and how it works on site.

NBA Draft history

The NBA Draft was first introduced in 1947, with Clifton McNeely becoming the first-ever drafted player after being selected with the first pick by the Pittsburgh Ironmen.

Until the 2006 NBA Draft, high school players were eligible to be selected in drafts. The NBA created an age limit in 2006 stating that players must turn 19 years old by the end of the calendar year in which they were drafted to be eligible.

Between 1950 and 1966, teams could forfeit their first-round pick to use a territorial pick and select a player from the team's immediate geographic area. The best example of a territorial pick is Wilt Chamberlain, a Philadelphia native who was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959. Oscar Robertson, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Bradley were also territorial draft picks.

In the draft's early years, teams would select players in drafts until they ran out of prospects. For example, the drafts in 1960 and 1968 went 21 rounds. In 1974, the league stabilized the draft to 10 rounds.

The draft was shortened again in 1985, this time moving from 10 rounds to seven. The first NBA Draft Lottery was also held in 1985, and it was won by the New York Knicks who had the third-worst regular season record and used the ensuing top pick to select future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing.

In 1989, the draft was again shortened to its present-day format of two rounds.

Read more NBA Draft news on site.