Helena Frye
The NBA draft is an annual event dating back to 1947, where teams in the league select players who have declared for the draft and are eligible to join their organisation. The draft consists of two rounds, with each team getting one pick in each round. The order of selection is determined by the NBA Draft Lottery, where 14 ping-pong balls, each numbered to represent a different team, are placed in a machine. The team that has been assigned the combination of the four balls drawn from the machine will receive the No. 1 pick. The process is then repeated for the second, third, and fourth picks. The NBA draft has seen many changes over the years, from the number of rounds to the inclusion of international players.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the 2025 NBA Draft | June 25-26 |
| Location of the 2025 NBA Draft | Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York |
| Number of rounds | 2 |
| Number of picks | 59 |
| Number of ping-pong balls | 14 |
| Number of teams | 30 |
| Number of teams with the worst record | 3 |
| Chance of winning the lottery for the team with the worst record | 14% |
| Chance of winning the lottery for the second seed | 19.9% |
| Chance of winning the lottery for the third seed | 15.6% |
| Chance of winning the lottery for the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets | 14% |
| Chance of winning the lottery for the New Orleans Pelicans | 12.5% |
| Minimum age of players | 19 years |
| Minimum age of international players | 22 years |
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Player eligibility
College players who have finished their four-year college eligibility are automatically eligible for selection, while 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 players younger than 22 have to declare their eligibility.
Some 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 their high school class. Players who are not automatically eligible but wish to be drafted must declare their eligibility no later than 60 days before the draft. After this date, early entry players may attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to showcase their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions.
Players who have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside the NBA within the United States and have played under that contract are also eligible for the draft. However, they must be released from their contract before leaving college to join the NBA.
In the past, some players have exploited a loophole to enter the draft as high school postgraduates, technically making them one year removed from graduation.
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Draft lottery process
The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where the teams that did not make the playoffs in the past year participate in a state-lottery-style process to determine the order of the first few picks in the NBA draft. The NBA introduced the lottery process in 1985 to counter accusations of teams purposefully losing games to gain a chance to participate in the annual coin-flip system, where the worst team in each division would flip a coin to determine who would receive the first pick in the upcoming draft.
The pool of contestants in the lottery consists of the teams that failed to qualify for that season's postseason. The contestants are seeded in order from worst to best, with each team's seed determining the odds of winning one of the top four draft picks.
The drawing process involves the use of 14 ping-pong balls, numbered 1 through 14, and a lottery machine. The ping-pong balls are placed in the machine and mixed for 20 seconds, after which the first ball is drawn. The remaining balls are then mixed for another 10 seconds, and the second ball is drawn. This process is repeated until all four balls are drawn. The team that has been assigned the combination of the four balls drawn will receive the No. 1 pick in the draft. The process is then repeated for the second through fourth picks. If the same team comes up more than once, or if the one unassigned combination is drawn, the result is discarded and another four-ball combination is drawn.
After the drawing, a representative from the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP stuffs and seals envelopes for each of the first 14 picks in the lottery with the applicable team's logo. The representative then brings the envelopes from the drawing room to the studio for the broadcast, escorted by a member of NBA Security. The NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, Mark Tatum, announces the lottery results by opening the envelopes in reverse order, i.e., from the 14th pick to the first pick.
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Draft order
The NBA Draft is an annual event dating back to 1947, where teams in the league can select players who have declared for the draft and are eligible to join their organisation. The current NBA consists of 30 teams, and all thirty teams have at least one draft pick throughout the two draft rounds.
The order of selection for the NBA Draft is determined by the NBA Draft Lottery. The NBA Draft Lottery will determine the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the NBA Draft. Drawings are conducted to determine the first four picks in the NBA Draft. The No. 1 pick in the draft is awarded to the team that draws the winning four-number combination from the lottery machine. There are 14 ping-pong balls numbered one through 14, with each number representing a different lottery team. The ping-pong balls are placed in a machine and mixed for 10 seconds, then the first ball is drawn. This process is repeated three more times. The team that has been assigned the combination of the four balls drawn from the machine will receive the No. 1 pick. If the same team is drawn more than once, the result is discarded and another four-ball combination is drawn.
After the first four picks are determined, the other lottery teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record. The remaining teams will select in positions five through 14 in inverse order of their regular-season records. The draft selections for the remainder of the first round (No. 15-30) and the entire second round (No. 31-60) are determined by the reverse order of the regular-season record. Each NBA team gets one selection in the first round and one selection in the second round.
The NBA Board of Governors approved changes to the lottery system in 2017. Under the revamped format, the NBA Draft Lottery ensures that the team with the worst record will receive no worse than the fifth pick. Under the pre-2019 system, the team with the worst record would pick no lower than fourth. The new system levels the odds at the top of the NBA Draft Lottery so that the teams with the three worst regular-season records will each have a 14% chance of winning the lottery.
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Player selection
The NBA draft is an annual event dating back to 1947, where teams in the league can draft players who declare for the draft and are eligible to join their organisation. All 30 teams in the NBA get at least one draft pick throughout the two draft rounds.
Players who have completed their four-year college eligibility are automatically eligible for selection, while underclassmen must declare their eligibility and give up their remaining college eligibility. International players who are at least 22 years old are automatically eligible, while players younger than 22 must declare their eligibility. Some players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft, and players who completed basketball eligibility at an American high school must be at least one year removed from graduation.
In the early years of the draft, teams would select players until they ran out of prospects. The drafts from 1989 onwards have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team.
The order for the first 14 picks of the draft is determined at the NBA Draft Lottery. This involves an actual lottery, with a representative from an accounting firm overseeing the process. The results are then sealed in an envelope for the NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer to reveal in descending order to a panel of 14 team representatives. The No. 1 pick in the draft is awarded to the team that draws the winning four-number combination from the lottery machine. There are 14 ping-pong balls numbered one through 14, with each number representing a lottery team. The drawings are conducted for the first four picks, and the remaining lottery teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.
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Draft history
The NBA draft is an annual event that dates back to 1947. The first foreign player chosen as the first overall pick in the draft was Bahamian Mychal Thompson in 1978. However, Thompson had spent much of his childhood in Florida and had played college basketball in the US. One of the first foreign players selected to play in the NBA was Manute Bol from Sudan in 1983. By the late 1990s, the number of foreign-born players being drafted had increased dramatically.
The 1960 and 1968 drafts went on for as many as 21 rounds. By 1974, this had stabilised to 10 rounds, except in 1977 when there were eight rounds following the addition of four former ABA teams to the NBA. In 1985, the draft was shortened to seven rounds. Since 1989, drafts have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team.
The 2003 Draft class is widely considered one of the greatest in NBA history. Some notable No. 1 picks include LeBron James (2003), Kwame Brown (2001), Kenyon Martin (2000), Tim Duncan (1997), Allen Iverson (1996), and Shaquille O'Neal (1992). The most recent No. 1 picks as of 2024 include Zaccharie Risacher (2024), Victor Wembanyama (2023), Paolo Banchero (2022), and Cade Cunningham (2021).
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Frequently asked questions
The NBA draft is an annual event where 30 teams select players from American colleges and international professional leagues to join their rosters.
The NBA draft consists of two rounds, with each team having one pick per round, meaning 60 players are drafted each year. The order in which teams pick players is based on their performance during the previous season, with the worst-performing teams picking first.
Players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and must have graduated from high school. International players must have permanently resided outside of the US for at least three years before the draft and must not have enrolled in an American college.
Yes, draft picks can be traded among teams before and during the draft. These trades can include a combination of players and picks. However, there are restrictions in place, such as the Stepien Rule, which prevents teams from trading their first-round draft pick in consecutive years.
The NBA draft usually takes place in the third week of June, around a month after the lottery and one to two weeks after the finals end.
