NBA Draft
The NBA Draft is an annual North American event in which the National Basketball Association's (NBA) thirty teams (29 in the United States and one in Toronto, Canada) can select 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. As of the 2006 NBA Draft high school players gain eligibility for draft selection one year after their graduating class has finished high school, but only if they also are at least 19 years of age as of the end of the calendar year of the draft.[1]
Structure
The order of the NBA Draft depends upon the previous season's record but a lottery is also used to determine the order that the teams choose their draft picks. However, unlike the NFL Draft, the top pick is selected by a team with one of the worst records. See main article NBA Draft Lottery for more information.
Selection process
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, the eligibility rules have changed:
- All players, regardless of nationality, must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft.
- A player who completed basketball eligibility at a U.S. high school, regardless of nationality, must also be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.
This age limit for draftees is part of the new
The NBA has established two draft declaration dates. All players who wish to be drafted, and are not automatically eligible, must declare their eligibility no later than 60 days before the draft. After this date, prospective draftees may attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. A player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which is 10 days before the draft. A player who declares for the draft will lose his college eligibility, even if he is not drafted, if any of the following is true:
- The player signs with an agent.
- The player has declared for and withdrawn from a previous draft. Although the NBA collective bargaining agreement allows a player to withdraw twice,[1] the NCAA only allows one withdrawal.
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. Teams own the rights to players selected in the second round for three years, but the teams are not required to sign them.
List of first overall picks
- Main article: NBA first overall draft pick
Past NBA drafts
Similar Topics
Notes and references
- ^ For example, under current NBA Draft rules, late 1980s and early 1990s star Brad Daugherty would not have been eligible until two years after his high school graduation, because he graduated from high school while still 16. On the other hand, highly-touted USC freshman O.J. Mayo turned 19 six months before graduating from high school, but will not be eligible until the 2008 draft.
External links
- TheDraftReview.com Draft Historian Matthew Maurer chronicles every pick ever made in the NBA Draft from 1950 - present day
- NBADraftRumors.com A collection of user submitted mock drafts and rumors about who's going where.
- DraftExpress.com, Mock Drafts, In-depth scouting reports, and coverage of everything NBA Draft related.
- Draft Coverage @ Fantapedia.net
- NBA Draft World
- Basketball-Reference.com's draft page, with selections organized by year and college.
- Complete list of every NBA draft pick, from 1951 to present day
- NBA Draft Blog, mock drafts, historical analysis
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