LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Vince Carter, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and others share many things in common. More specifically, they were all professional basketball players who participated in the NBA Draft and were granted the opportunity to be drafted to one of the world’s most illustrious leagues.
This year’s NBA Draft is taking place on June 21, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. College and international players are awaiting contracts to one of the thirty teams in the NBA.
To be eligible for the draft, a player must be 19 years old during the same calendar year and at least one season has to have passed since their high school graduation. In addition to this, the player must declare for the draft at least sixty days before the draft.
The NBA Draft order is determined by the draft lottery, which took place May 15. The lottery system, put in place in 1984, was a system “ among the non-playoff teams” to decide the order of the draft the following year.
“The Lottery determines the order of selection for the first three teams only. The remaining non-playoff teams select in inverse order of their regular season records. Therefore, the team with the worst record in the league is assured of picking no worse than fourth, the team with the second-worst record no worse than fifth and so on.”
The first five picks of the 2018 NBA Draft are the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, and Dallas Mavericks.
To showcase eligible players, the league hosts a combine, that allows for the teams to watch players complete drills measuring their agility, strength, shooting, etc. which took place on May 15.
In this year’s draft, the top college and international players are on several team’s radars. Players such as, University of Alabama’s Collin Sexton, University of Oklahoma’s Trae Young, and Duke University’s Grayson Allen, who were participants in this year’s NCAA Tournament are a part of this year’s “draft class.” Real Madrid’s 19-year-old international stand-out Luka Doncic is also a part of this class since playing at a high level in the EuroLeague.
The NBA is the only American league with a lottery that determines the order of the following draft. In doing so, the league is attempting to heighten the quality of games across both conferences.
Introducing the lottery was a decision the league made in hopes of ‘leveling the playing field’ and according to NBA President, League Operations Byron Spruell, has been evident that “these changes were necessary to improve the competitive incentives for our teams.”
To see each team’s picks in real time, you can watch the draft live. Coverage will be on ESPN on June 21 at 7 p.m. EST/ 4 p.m. PST.