Draft

The Draft is the process by which NBA franchises select new young players for their teams. One of its purposes is to ensure some level of equality between the different teams. Thus, traditionally the team with the worst record got to choose first from the pool of young talents. To avoid the unpleasant occurrence of intentional losing towards the end of each season, the NBA installed a lottery system in 1985 that – with some changes – is still in place today.

In essence, all teams that miss the playoffs receive a number of lottery tickets anti-proportional to their record; i.e. the worst team has a much higher chance to get the top pick than one that just barely missed the postseason. However, the Orlando Magic won the lottery for two consecutive years (1992 and 1993), although the second time they held less than one percent of all tickets.

Being drafted in a high position is very prestigious but also has financial implications as the Rookie Salary Scale is based on a player’s draft position. Moreover, only players chosen in the first round of the draft (top-30 picks) receive a guaranteed contract. Conversely, a high draft pick is highly coveted by many struggling teams. The Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies, among others, were accused of tanking games at the end of the 2006-07 season in order to have a better chance of landing one of the exceptional talents Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Created by: Ole