The NBA Draft System Explained for Newbies
The NBA Draft is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans. The dreams of 60 young men are turned into a reality in front of our very eyes as the stars of tomorrow are plucked from colleges around the US. The 2021 draft was no different with plenty of exciting prospects starting their journey in the league. The Detroit Pistons got the coveted No. 1 pick and drew very little surprise from fans when they drafted Cade Cunningham from Oklahoma State.
Many pundits ranked Cunningham as the top prospect from this year’s class and some even went as far to say he is one of the most impressive to come along in the last decade. The Houston Rockets then confirmed one of the worst kept secrets of the year when they drafted Jalen Green from the G League. The Rockets had been courting Green for weeks prior to the draft and were over the moon that they could finally welcome him to the team. He comes to Houston touted as the future replacement for James Harden down to his potential as a scorer. The draft always has a huge bearing on the NBA picks, emphasising the importance of its role in keeping the competition fair.
Let’s get down to business
For newbies, the draft can seem a little confusing at first glance. Whilst all the ‘big four’ hold a draft at different points throughout the year, they all differ slightly. It can be difficult to grasp the concept coming from the NFL, NHL or MLB over to the NBA let alone coming in completely new to the sport. But it doesn’t have to be. If you need a little help, look no further. This will be your personal guide through the NBA draft along with a look at the pros/cons, who benefits from the draft and a quick look at how it has changed throughout the years.
Every year, hundreds of players declare themselves for the draft, entering the pool of players who are eligible to be drafted by NBA teams. Every player must be aged 19+, and all of them will play NCAA basketball at college/university, with the best players often completing only one season before declaring for the draft. These are the players taking advantage of the ‘one-and-done’ rule.
After the draft pool has been confirmed prior to the day of the draft itself, every team in the league takes turns choosing players to sign for their team known as ‘picks’. There are two rounds to the draft each made up of 30 picks, enough for two picks overall for each team, although some teams may have more due to trading players to other teams in the previous season, in return of their draft pick.
In order to determine when teams can make their picks, a ‘draft lottery’ takes place a few weeks prior to the draft. The first teams to make picks in the first round are the fourteen who failed to make the playoffs in the previous season. In 1985, the NBA changed the way picks are numbered. Formerly, all 30 picks were decided on the regular season records in the previous season so the team with worst record went first, best went last etc. This was then changed so all fourteen teams entered a lottery to determine the first four picks. The NBA explain that ‘Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a lottery machine.
There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams.’
After that, the remaining 26 teams have their position in the first round arranged by ascending order of their records last season and all 30 teams are then positioned the same way for the second round.
The NBA draft format is integral to keeping the league fair and balanced. With the poorest performing teams benefitting the most, it means that competition is kept fresh and every team has the chance to catch up with the better teams in the league.
There is, however, some criticism of allowing players to declare at such a young age. Record numbers of underclassmen declared for the draft in 2019 and plenty left school for the chance to make it in the league. But with only 60 players from the pool making it to the NBA, hundreds of young men miss out after putting their studies on hold. Even for those who do make it, the average NBA career lasts just 4.5 years and after dropping out of the league many find it hard to find another career path without completing a college degree.
