2006 NBA Draft
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General information
Date(s)	June 28, 2006
Time	7:30 pm (EDT)
Location	Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
Network(s) (US)	ESPN
First selection	Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
NBA Draft  < 2005 2007 >

The 2006 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2006 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It is generally considered one of the weakest drafts in history, producing only three eventual All-Stars, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy and Rajon Rondo, while many of the top picks never lived up to their initial hype.

Italian Andrea Bargnani was selected first overall by Toronto Raptors, who won the draft lottery.^[1] He became the second player without competitive experience in the United States to be drafted first overall. Prior to the draft he was playing with Italian club Benetton Treviso for 3 years.^[2] Sixth overall pick Brandon Roy from University of Washington was named Rookie of the Year for the 2006–07 season.^[3] Roy was originally drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves but his draft rights were traded to Portland Trail Blazers on draft day. Portland also acquired the draft rights to second overall pick from University of Texas, LaMarcus Aldridge from Chicago Bulls on draft day.^[4]

The University of Connecticut had four players selected in the first round, tying the record set by Duke University in 1999 and the University of North Carolina in 2005.^[5] These players were Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone. With Denham Brown also selected in the second round, Connecticut became the first school ever to have five players selected in a two-round draft.^[6] Connecticut joined eight other schools that had five players selected in a single draft, second only to the UNLV, who had six players selected in the eight-round 1977 Draft.^[7]

Eligibility[link]

The new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) took into effect starting in this year's draft. Under the new agreement, high school players were not eligible for selection. The new rules stated that high school players must wait one year after their high school class graduates and must be at least 19 year old to be eligible for the draft.^[8][9]

The basic requirements for draft eligibility are:

• All drafted players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1987).^[9]
• Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.^[9]

The CBA defines "international players" as players who permanently resided outside the U.S. for three years before the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university.^[10]

The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility.^[11] Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players" are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1984).^[12]

A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft.^[13][14] An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft.^[15] On June 19, 2006, NBA announced that 37 college players and 10 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the 2006 Draft, while 47 players who had previously declared as early entry candidates had withdrawn from the draft.^[16]

Draft Lottery[link]

The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the playoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery would determine the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss record in the previous season. On April 20, 2007, the NBA performed a tie-breaker to determine the order of the picks for teams with identical win-loss record.^[17]

The 2006 Draft Lottery was held on May 23, 2006 in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Toronto Raptors, who had the fifth-worst record, won the lottery with just 8.8% chance to win. The Chicago Bulls, who acquired the New York Knicks' first-round draft pick from a previous trade, landed the second overall pick. The Portland Trail Blazers who had the best chance to land the top pick fell out of the top three and had to settle with 4th pick. Portland's 4th pick was the lowest possible pick that Portland could obtained through the lottery.^[18]

Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2006 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:^[19][20]

^ a: New York Knicks' pick was conveyed to the Chicago Bulls.^[o]

Draft[link]

Andrea Bargnani, the 1st pick of the Toronto Raptors LaMarcus Aldridge, the 2nd pick of the Chicago Bulls and was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers Tyrus Thomas, the 4th pick of the Portland Trail Blazers and was traded to the Chicago Bulls Brandon Roy, the 6th pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves and was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers Rudy Gay, the 8th pick J.J. Redick, the 11th pick of the Orlando Magic Thabo Sefolosha, the 13th pick Rajon Rondo, the 21st pick of the Phoenix Suns and was traded to the Boston Celtics Jordan Farmar, the 26th pick of the Los Angeles Lakers

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	Bargnani, AndreaAndrea Bargnani	F	Italy	Toronto Raptors	Benetton Treviso (Italy) 1985
1	2	Aldridge, LaMarcusLaMarcus Aldridge*	F	United States	Chicago Bulls (from New York, traded to Portland)[o][a]	Texas (So.)
1	3	Morrison, AdamAdam Morrison	F	United States	Charlotte Bobcats	Gonzaga (Jr.)
1	4	Thomas, TyrusTyrus Thomas	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (traded to Chicago)[a]	LSU (Fr.)
1	5	Williams, SheldenShelden Williams	F	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Duke (Sr.)
1	6	Roy, BrandonBrandon Roy*	G	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Portland)[b]	Washington (Sr.)
1	7	Foye, RandyRandy Foye	G	United States	Boston Celtics (traded to Minnesota via Portland)[b]	Villanova (Sr.)
1	8	Gay, RudyRudy Gay	F	United States	Houston Rockets (traded to Memphis)[c]	Connecticut (So.)
1	9	O'Bryant, PatrickPatrick O'Bryant	C	United States	Golden State Warriors	Bradley (So.)
1	10	Sene, MouhamedMouhamed Sene	C	Senegal	Seattle SuperSonics	Verviers-Pepinster (Belgium) 1986
1	11	Redick, J. J.J. J. Redick	G	United States	Orlando Magic	Duke (Sr.)
1	12	Armstrong, HiltonHilton Armstrong	C	United States	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets	Connecticut (Sr.)
1	13	Sefolosha, ThaboThabo Sefolosha	G	Switzerland	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Chicago)[d]	Angelico Biella (Italy) 1984
1	14	Brewer, RonnieRonnie Brewer	G	United States	Utah Jazz	Arkansas (Jr.)
1	15	Simmons, CedricCedric Simmons	F	United States	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (from Milwaukee)[p]	NC State (So.)
1	16	Carney, RodneyRodney Carney	F	United States	Chicago Bulls (traded to Philadelphia)[d]	Memphis (Sr.)
1	17	Williams, ShawneShawne Williams	F	United States	Indiana Pacers	Memphis (Fr.)
1	18	Pecherov, OleksiyOleksiy Pecherov	C	Ukraine	Washington Wizards	BC Kyiv (Ukraine) 1985
1	19	Douby, QuincyQuincy Douby	G	United States	Sacramento Kings	Rutgers (Jr.)
1	20	Balkman, RenaldoRenaldo Balkman	F	Puerto Rico	New York Knicks (from Denver via New Jersey and Toronto)[q]	South Carolina (Jr.)
1	21	Rondo, RajonRajon Rondo*	G	United States	Phoenix Suns (from L.A. Lakers via Boston and Atlanta, traded to Boston)[r][e]	Kentucky (So.)
1	22	Williams, MarcusMarcus Williams	G	United States	New Jersey Nets (from L.A. Clippers via Orlando and Denver)[s]	Connecticut (Jr.)
1	23	Boone, JoshJosh Boone	F	United States	New Jersey Nets	Connecticut (Jr.)
1	24	Lowry, KyleKyle Lowry	G	United States	Memphis Grizzlies	Villanova (So.)
1	25	Brown, ShannonShannon Brown	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Michigan State (Jr.)
1	26	Farmar, JordanJordan Farmar	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (from Miami)[t]	UCLA (So.)
1	27	Rodríguez, SergioSergio Rodríguez	G	Spain	Phoenix Suns (traded to Portland)[f]	Adecco Estudiantes (Spain) 1986
1	28	Ager, MauriceMaurice Ager	G	United States	Dallas Mavericks	Michigan State (Sr.)
1	29	Collins, MardyMardy Collins	G	United States	New York Knicks (from San Antonio)[u]	Temple (Sr.)
1	30	Freeland, JoelJoel Freeland	F	United Kingdom	Portland Trail Blazers (from Detroit via Utah)[v]	Gran Canaria (Spain) 1987

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
2	31	White, JamesJames White	G	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (traded to Indiana)[g]	Cincinnati (Sr.)
2	32	Novak, SteveSteve Novak	F	United States	Houston Rockets (from New York)[w]	Marquette (Sr.)
2	33	Jones, SolomonSolomon Jones	F	United States	Atlanta Hawks	South Florida (Sr.)
2	34	Davis, PaulPaul Davis	C	United States	Los Angeles Clippers (from Charlotte)[x]	Michigan State (Sr.)
2	35	Tucker, P. J.P. J. Tucker	F	United States	Toronto Raptors	Texas (Jr.)
2	36	Smith, CraigCraig Smith	F	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves (from Boston)[y]	Boston College (Sr.)
2	37	Jones, BobbyBobby Jones	F	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Philadelphia)[h]	Washington (Sr.)
2	38	Perović, KostaKosta Perović	F	Serbia	Golden State Warriors	Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) 1985
2	39	Noel, DavidDavid Noel	F	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (from Houston)[z]	North Carolina (Sr.)
2	40	Brown, DenhamDenham Brown	G	Canada	Seattle SuperSonics	Connecticut (Sr.)
2	41	Augustine, JamesJames Augustine	F	United States	Orlando Magic	Illinois (Sr.)
2	42	Gibson, DanielDaniel Gibson	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers (from Philadelphia)[aa]	Texas (So.)
2	43	Vinicius, MarcusMarcus Vinicius	F	Brazil	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets	Objetivo São Carlos (Brazil) 1984
2	44	Eliyahu, LiorLior Eliyahu	F	Israel	Orlando Magic (from Milwaukee via Cleveland, traded to Houston)[ab][i]	Hapoel Galil Elyon (Israel) 1985
2	45	Johnson, AlexanderAlexander Johnson	F	United States	Indiana Pacers (traded to Memphis via Portland)[g]	Florida State (Jr.)
2	46	Brown, DeeDee Brown	G	United States	Utah Jazz (from Chicago via Houston)[ac]	Illinois (Sr.)
2	47	Millsap, PaulPaul Millsap	F	United States	Utah Jazz	Louisiana Tech (Jr.)
2	48	Veremeenko, VladimirVladimir Veremeenko	F	Belarus	Washington Wizards	Dynamo St. Petersburg (Russia) 1984
2	49	Powe, LeonLeon Powe	F	United States	Denver Nuggets (traded to Boston)[j]	California (Jr.)
2	50	Hollins, RyanRyan Hollins	C	United States	Charlotte Bobcats (from Sacramento)[ad]	UCLA (Sr.)
2	51	Samb, CheikhCheikh Samb	C	Senegal	Los Angeles Lakers (traded to Detroit)[k]	WTC Cornellà (Spain) 1984
2	52	Diaz, GuillermoGuillermo Diaz	G	Puerto Rico	Los Angeles Clippers	Miami (FL) (Jr.)
2	53	Halperin, YotamYotam Halperin	G	Israel	Seattle SuperSonics (from Memphis)[ae]	Union Olimpija (Slovenia) 1984
2	54	Adams, HassanHassan Adams	G	United States	New Jersey Nets	Arizona (Sr.)
2	55	Ugboaja, EjikeEjike Ugboaja	F	Nigeria	Cleveland Cavaliers	Union Bank Lagos (Nigeria) 1985
2	56	Bavčić, EdinEdin Bavčić	F	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Toronto Raptors (from Miami via Boston and New Orleans/Oklahoma City, traded to Philadelphia)[af][l]	ASA BH Telecom (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 1984
2	57	Mavrokefalidis, LoukasLoukas Mavrokefalidis	C	Greece	Minnesota Timberwolves (from Phoenix)[ag]	PAOK (Greece) 1984
2	58	Pinnock, J. R.J. R. Pinnock	G	United States	Dallas Mavericks (traded to L.A. Lakers)[m]	George Washington (Jr.)
2	59	Markota, DamirDamir Markota	F	Croatia	San Antonio Spurs (traded to Milwaukee)[n]	Cibona Zagreb (Croatia) 1985
2	60	Blalock, WillWill Blalock	G	United States	Detroit Pistons	Iowa State (Jr.)

Trades involving draft picks[link]

Draft-day trades[link]

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.

• ^{a 1 2} Portland acquired the draft rights to 2nd pick LaMarcus Aldridge a 2007 second-round draft pick from Chicago in exchange for the draft rights to 4th pick Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa.^[4]

• ^{b 1 2} Portland acquired the draft rights to 6th pick Brandon Roy from Minnesota in exchange for the draft rights to 7th pick Randy Foye. Previously, Portland acquired the draft rights to 7th pick Randy Foye, Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau from Boston in exchange for Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round draft pick.^[4]

• ^c Memphis acquired the draft rights to 8th pick Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift from Houston in exchange for Shane Battier.^[21] The trade was finalized on July 12, 2006.^[4]

• ^{d 1 2} Chicago acquired the draft rights to 13th pick Thabo Sefolosha from Philadelphia in exchange for the draft rights to 16th pick Rodney Carney, a 2007 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.^[22]

• ^e Boston acquired the draft rights to 21st pick Rajon Rondo, Brian Grant and cash considerations from Phoenix in exchange for a 2007 first-round draft pick.^[23]

• ^f Portland acquired the draft rights to 27th pick Sergio Rodríguez from Phoenix in exchange for cash considerations.^[4]

• ^{g 1 2} Memphis acquired the draft rights to 45th pick Alexander Johnson from Portland in exchange for a 2008 second-round draft pick. Previously, Portland acquired the draft rights to 45th pick Alexander Johnson, 2007 and 2008 second-round draft picks from Indiana in exchange for the draft rights to 31st pick James White.^[4]

• ^h Philadelphia acquired the draft rights to 37th pick Bobby Jones from Minnesota in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.^[22]

• ⁱ Houston acquired the draft rights to 44th pick Lior Eliyahu from Orlando in exchange for cash considerations.^[24]

• ^j Boston acquired the draft rights to 49th pick Leon Powe from Denver in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft pick.^[25]

• ^k Detroit acquired the draft rights to 51st pick Cheikh Samb from the L.A. Lakers in exchange for Maurice Evans.^[26]

• ^l Philadelphia acquired the draft rights to 56th pick Edin Bavčić from Toronto in exchange for cash considerations.^[22]

• ^m The L.A. Lakers acquired the draft rights to 58th pick J. R. Pinnock from Dallas in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft pick.^[27]

• ⁿ Milwaukee acquired the draft rights to 59th pick Damir Markota from San Antonio in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft pick.^[28]

Pre-draft trades[link]

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.

• ^{o 1 2} On October 4, 2005, Chicago acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, an option to exchange 2007 first-round draft picks, 2007 and 2009 second-round draft picks, Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney and Jermaine Jackson from New York in exchange for Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis.^[29] Chicago used the 2nd pick to draft LaMarcus Aldridge.

• ^p On October 26, 2005, New Orleans/Oklahoma City acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, Desmond Mason and cash considerations from Milwaukee in exchange for Jamaal Magloire.^[30] New Orleans/Oklahoma City used the 15th pick to draft Cedric Simmons.

• ^q On February 3, 2006, New York acquired Denver's 2006 first-round draft pick and Jalen Rose from Toronto in exchange for Antonio Davis.^[31] Previously, Toronto acquired Philadelphia's 2005 and Denver's 2006 first-round draft picks, Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams on December 17, 2004 from New Jersey in exchange for Vince Carter.^[32] Previously, New Jersey acquired Philadelphia's 2005, Denver's 2006 and L.A. Clippers' 2006 first-round draft picks on July 15, 2004 from Denver in exchange for Kenyon Martin.^[33] New York used the 20th pick to draft Renaldo Balkman.

• ^r On August 19, 2005, Phoenix acquired L.A. Lakers' 2006 and Atlanta's 2007 first-round draft picks and Boris Diaw from Atlanta in exchange for Joe Johnson.^[34] Previously, Atlanta acquired L.A. Lakers' 2006 first-round draft pick, Gary Payton, Tom Gugliotta and Michael Stewart on February 24, 2005 from Boston in exchange for Antoine Walker.^[35] Previously, Boston acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, Gary Payton, Rick Fox and cash considerations on August 13, 2004 from the L.A. Lakers in exchange for Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins and Jumaine Jones.^[36][37] Phoenix used the 21st pick to draft Rajon Rondo.

• ^s On July 15, 2005, New Jersey acquired Philadelphia's 2005, Denver's 2006 and L.A. Clippers' 2006 first-round draft picks from Denver in exchange for Kenyon Martin.^[33] Previously, Denver acquired L.A. Clippers' 2006 first-round draft pick and Don Reid on August 1, 2002 from Orlando in exchange for a 2004 second-round draft pick.^[38] Previously, Orlando acquired a first-round draft pick on June 28, 2006 from the L.A. Clippers in exchange for Corey Maggette, Derek Strong, the draft rights to Keyon Dooling, a 2000 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.^[38] New Jersey used the 22nd pick to draft Marcus Williams.

• ^t On July 14, 2004, the L.A. Lakers acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant from Miami in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal.^[39] The L.A. Lakers used the 26th pick to draft Jordan Farmar.

• ^u On February 25, 2005, New York acquired Phoenix's 2005 and San Antonio's 2006 first-round draft picks and Malik Rose from San Antonio in exchange for Nazr Mohammed and Jamison Brewer.^[40] New York used the 29th pick to draft Mardy Collins.

• ^v On June 28, 2005, Portland acquired Detroit's 2006 first-round draft pick, the 6th and 27th pick in 2005 from Utah in exchange for the 3rd pick in 2005.^[41] Previously, Utah acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick and Elden Campbell on January 21, 2005 from Detroit in exchange for Carlos Arroyo.^[42] Portland used the 30th pick to draft Joel Freeland.

• ^w On February 24, 2005, Houston acquired a 2006 second-round draft pick, Moochie Norris and Vin Baker from New York Knicks in exchange for Maurice Taylor.^[43] New York used the 32nd pick to draft Steve Novak.

• ^x On July 14, 2005, the L.A. Clippers acquired 2005 and 2006 second-round draft picks from Charlotte in exchange for Eddie House and Melvin Ely.^[44] The L.A. Clippers used the 34th pick to draft Paul Davis.

• ^y On January 26, 2006, Minnesota acquired 2006 and 2008 second-round draft picks, Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed and Mark Blount from Boston in exchange for Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and a future first-round draft pick.^[45] Minnesota used the 36th pick to draft Craig Smith.

• ^z On February 24, 2005, Milwaukee acquired 2006 and 2007 second-round draft picks and Reece Gaines from Houston in exchange for Mike James and Zendon Hamilton.^[46] Milwaukee used the 39th pick to draft David Noel.

• ^aa On February 23, 2006, Cleveland acquired a 2006 second-round draft pick and Lee Nailon from Philadelphia in exchange for a conditional 2006 second-round draft pick.^[47] The conditional 2006 second-round draft pick was not exercised by Philadelphia. Cleveland used the 42nd pick to draft Daniel Gibson.

• ^ab On June 28, 2005, Orlando acquired Milwaukee's 2006 second-round draft pick from Cleveland in exchange for the draft rights to Martynas Andriuškevičius.^[48] Previously, Cleveland acquired a 2006 second-round draft pick from Milwaukee in exchange for Jiri Welsch.^[49] Orlando used the 44th pick to draft Lior Eliyahu.

• ^ac On September 30, 2003, Utah acquired Houston's 2004 first-round draft pick, Chicago's 2005 and 2006 second-round draft picks, Glen Rice and cash considerations from Houston in exchange for John Amaechi and Sacramento's 2004 second-round draft pick.^[50] Previously, Houston acquired 2005 and 2006 second-round draft picks on September 28, 2000 from Chicago in exchange for Bryce Drew. Utah used the 46th pick to draft Dee Brown.

• ^ad On August 2, 2005, Charlotte acquired a 2006 second-round draft pick from Sacramento in exchange for Jason Hart.^[51] Charlotte used the 50th pick to draft Ryan Hollins.

• ^ae On June 28, 2005, Seattle acquired 2006 and 2007 second-round draft picks from Memphis in exchange for the draft rights to Lawrence Roberts.^[52] Seattle used the 53rd pick to draft Yotam Halperin.

• ^af On January 31, 2006, Toronto acquired Miami's 2006 second-round draft pick and New Orleans's 2009 second-round draft pick from New Orleans/Oklahoma City in exchange for Aaron Williams.^[53] Previously, New Orleans/Oklahoma City acquired Miami's 2006 second-round draft pick on September 30, 2005 from Boston in exchange for Dan Dickau.^[54] Previously, Boston acquired 2006 and 2008 second-round draft picks, Qyntel Woods and the draft rights to Albert Miralles on August 8, 2005 from Miami in a five-team trade with Miami, Memphis, New Orleans/Oklahoma City and Utah.^[55] Toronto used the 56th pick to draft Edin Bavčić.

• ^ag On January 26, 2006, Minnesota acquired a 2006 second-round draft pick from Phoenix in exchange for Nikoloz Tskitishvili.^[56] Minnesota used the 57th pick to draft Loukas Mavrokefalidis.

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

• NBA.com: Draft 2006
• NBA.com: NBA Draft Lottery 2006
• ESPN.com - 2006 Draft
• 2006 NBA Draft - Basketball-Reference.com

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

The NBA Draft is an annual event in which the thirty teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. These players are usually amateur U.S. college basketball players, but international players are also eligible to be drafted. College players who have finished their four-year college eligibility are automatically eligible for selection, while the underclassmen have to declare their eligibility and give up their remaining college eligibility. International players who are at least 22 years old are automatically eligible for selection, while the players younger than 22 have to declare their eligibility. Players who are not automatically eligible but have declared their eligibility are often called "early-entrants" or "early-entry candidates". The Draft usually takes place at the end of June, during the NBA off-season. The Draft consists of two rounds with a total of sixty players to be selected.

In the past, high school players were also eligible to be selected. However, starting in the 2006 Draft, high school players were not eligible to enter the draft directly after graduating high school. The rules now state that high school players will gain eligibility for draft selection one year after their high school graduation and they must also be at least 19 years old as of the end of the calendar year of the draft. Contrary to popular belief, they do not necessarily have to have at least one year of college basketball (as some players have chosen to use that year to play professionally in Europe for example).

NBA Draft Lottery[link]

The NBA Draft Lottery is an annual event held by the NBA to determine the draft order. The teams who missed the playoffs in the previous season participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order. The lottery winner would get the first selection in the draft. In the current rules, 14 non-playoff teams participate in the Draft Lottery. The lottery is weighted so that the team with the worst record has the best chance of obtaining higher draft picks. The lottery process determines the first three picks of the draft. The rest of the first-round order of picks is in reverse order of the teams' win-loss record. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the second round of the draft. The term "lottery pick" denotes a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while the non-playoff teams involved in the process are often called "lottery teams". The Draft Lottery system was first used in the 1985 Draft.

Draft selection process[link]

All players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft, and a player who completed basketball eligibility at an American high school must also be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class. Restrictions exist on players signing with sports agents and on declaring for, then withdrawing, from drafts—although most of them are enforced by the NCAA rather than the NBA.

In the early years of the draft, teams would select players until they ran out of prospects. The 1960 draft went 21 rounds. By 1974, it had stabilized to 10 rounds, which held up until 1985, when the draft was shortened to seven rounds. By agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, the drafts from 1989 onward have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team.^[1]

Globalization of the draft[link]

The NBA draft has been dominated by collegiate players since the draft was put in place in 1950. In more recent years high school seniors have also had a large impact on the draft. These include players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Amar'e Stoudemire. However, because of the new age requirement put in place in 2005, high school seniors are no longer eligible for the draft. During the same stretch that high school players were making a large impact on the draft, another group of players started to make their presence felt in the draft.

Selecting foreign players[link]

Foreign players have made a large impact on how teams are now drafting. When the draft began, foreign players were not selected. As the years progressed, things began to change and a few international players were selected. The first foreign player, in the sense of being a national of a country other than the U.S., to be chosen first overall in the draft was Bahamian Mychal Thompson in 1978. However, Thompson's selection was not a true harbinger of the game's globalization, as he had spent much of his childhood in Florida, and had played college basketball at Minnesota. One of the first foreign players selected in the draft to play in the NBA was Manute Bol out of the Sudan in 1983 in the 5th round by the San Diego Clippers. Bol's selection was later deemed ineligible by the NBA. Two years later Bol was drafted again by the NBA this time out of Division II University of Bridgeport in 1985 as the 31st pick overall in the second round. Although Bol did not have a stellar career, he is known for being one of the tallest players ever to play the game at 7 feet and 7 inches. He holds the record for being the tallest player ever to hit a 3 point field goal. The following two years saw two players born outside the U.S. selected first overall—Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 and Jamaica-born American Patrick Ewing in 1985. However, like Thompson before them, both had played U.S. college basketball—Olajuwon at Houston and Ewing at Georgetown—and Ewing had also played high school basketball in the U.S.

By the 1997 Draft, the number of foreign players being drafted dramatically increased. The top pick in that draft, Tim Duncan, became the third international player picked number 1 overall—although his designation as "international" is a matter of semantics, as he is a native of the United States Virgin Islands and, like all USVI natives, is a U.S. citizen by birth. He also had played U.S. college basketball at Wake Forest. Including Duncan, 12 international players were selected in the two rounds of the draft—although half of them, including Duncan and the next two such players picked, had played college basketball. The 1998 draft saw another foreign player picked first overall, Nigerian Michael Olowokandi, but like Duncan he had played college basketball, in his case at Pacific. In 2001 the highest drafted foreign player, Pau Gasol, was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks. That would all change the following season when Yao Ming became the first foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall. Not only was the first overall pick an international player, but five more picks in the first round alone were also from overseas. In total, the 2002 draft produced 17 international players, with only three of them (all second-round picks) having U.S. college experience.

International players selected number 1 overall[link]

As noted earlier, four international players had gone first overall before 2002, although all had played college basketball in the U.S., and one of them was in fact a U.S. citizen by birth. It was not until 2002 that an international player without college experience went first overall—Yao Ming. His selection was not only a watershed moment for the NBA, it also had a large impact in Yao's homeland of China. Hannah Beech (2003) writes "Yao has single-handedly transformed his countrymen from nameless, faceless millions into mighty men who can jam with the very best." ^[2] Yao has helped the NBA grow into a worldwide product. Beech (2003) goes on to write "Ratings for NBA games broadcast on Chinese TV have never been higher than this year as the nation keeps track of its new favorite team, Yao's Houston Rockets." ^[2] For his career Yao is averaging a solid 19.0 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, 1.89 blocks per game, and is shooting 82.6 percent from the free throw line.

2001 Draft[link]

From the 2001 draft to the 2006 Draft there were a total of 6 foreign players selected. This trend shows how NBA teams are expanding the way they are selecting players in the draft. Players like Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Tony Parker, Nenê and Luol Deng are changing the landscape of the NBA to include a wide array of players from all over the globe.

2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts[link]

The 2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts saw international players picked first overall. In 2002 the Houston Rockets selected Yao Ming from China first in the draft. Also in 2005, the Milwaukee Bucks picked Andrew Bogut, from Australia by way of the University of Utah, #1. The next year, the Toronto Raptors made Andrea Bargnani the second foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall.

Other notable past NBA drafts[link]

Some of the most noted NBA draft years are 1984, 1996, and 2003. Each of those is often referred to as one of, if not the, best NBA Draft ever, though the 2003 Draft was too recent to accurately compare. The 2000 NBA Draft has been regarded as the worst in history, with Sports Illustrated calling its first round "a horrible group of players."^[3] The 1986 Draft was notable for the number of solid and even outstanding players selected in later rounds, partly because of drug problems that claimed the life of second overall pick Len Bias and affected the careers of several other first-round picks.^[4][5]

See also[link]

• Draft bust
• Expansion draft
• Haywood v. National Basketball Association
• Mock draft
• NBA Draft Lottery
• NBA first overall draft pick
• NBA territorial pick
• WNBA Draft

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

• NBA.com: NBA Draft History
• Basketball-Reference.com: NBA Draft Index.
• TheDraftReview.com: NBA Draft Index