The2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at theWashington Mutual Theatre atMadison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In thisdraft,National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur collegebasketball players and other first-timeeligible players, including international players from non-North American professional leagues. According to the NBA, 44 players, 39 collegiate players and five international players, filed as early-entry candidates for the 2008 NBA Draft.[1] These numbers do not include players who areautomatically eligible for the draft. TheChicago Bulls, who had a 1.7 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won theNBA draft lottery on May 22.[2][3] The Bulls' winning of the lottery was the second-largest upset in NBA Draft Lottery history behind theOrlando Magic, who won it in1993 with just a 1.5% chance.[4] TheMiami Heat and theMinnesota Timberwolves obtained the second and third picks respectively.[3]
^Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according toFIBA rules.
^a: The franchise relocated to become theOklahoma City Thunder in July 2008.[9] ^b: Eric Gordon was born in the United States to a Bahamian mother. He represented the United States when playing for Team U.S.A. in the2010 FIBA World Championship. However, Gordon was permitted byFIBA on August 7, 2023 to play forThe Bahamas instead, starting with the2024 Olympics Pre-Qualifying Tournament for the Americas. ^c: Anthony Randolph was born inWest Germany to American parents and was raised in the United States. He became a naturalized citizen of Slovenia in 2017 and he has representedSlovenia internationally.[11][12] ^d: Roy Hibbert was born in the United States to aJamaican father and aTrinidadian mother. He had represented the United States internationally at youth level in 2007.[13] Since 2010, he has representedJamaica internationally.[14] ^e: Kosta Koufos was born and raised in the United States to Greek parents. He has representedGreece internationally.[15] ^f: Serge Ibaka, who was born inCongo, became a naturalized citizen of Spain in 2011.[16] He has representedSpain internationally since 2011.[17] ^g: Donté Greene was born inWest Germany to American parents. He has represented the United States internationally at youth level.[18] ^h: James Gist was born in Turkey to American parents.[19]
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
They have no remaining college eligibility.
If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under the contract.
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates players born on or before December 31, 1986, were automatically eligible for the 2008 draft.
They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBAwithin the United States, and have played under that contract.
This year marked the first time a player that came from theNBA Development League (since rebranded as theNBA G League) would enter into the NBA draft while in that minor league.
The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed theplayoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery determined the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in theprevious season. As it is commonplace in the event of identical win–loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 18, 2008.[25]
The lottery was held on May 20, 2008, inSecaucus, New Jersey.[25] TheChicago Bulls, who had the ninth-worst record, won the lottery with just a 1.7% chance to win. TheMiami Heat andMinnesota Timberwolves, with the worst and third-worst records, respectively, won the second and third picks.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2008 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:[26][27]
d 1234 In a three-team trade, Portland acquired the draft rights to 25th pickNicolas Batum fromHouston, Houston acquired the draft rights to 33rd pickJoey Dorsey from Portland and the draft rights to 28th pickDonté Greene and a 2009 second-round draft pick from Memphis, and Memphis acquired the draft rights to 27th pickDarrell Arthur from Portland.[28]
e Portland acquired the draft rights to 27th pickDarrell Arthur fromNew Orleans in exchange for cash considerations.[28]
gMiami acquired the draft rights to 34th pickMario Chalmers from Minnesota in exchange for two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations.[28]
h 12 In a three-team trade,Chicago acquired the draft rights to 36th pickÖmer Aşık from Portland, the Trail Blazers acquired a second-round draft pick in 2009 from Denver and two future second-round draft picks from Chicago, and Denver acquired the draft rights to 39th pickSonny Weems from Chicago.[28]
i 12San Antonio acquired the draft rights to 48th pickMalik Hairston, a second-round draft pick in 2009, and cash considerations from Phoenix in exchange for the draft rights to 45th pickGoran Dragić.[28]
j Boston acquired the draft rights to 47th pickBill Walker fromWashington in exchange for cash considerations.[28]
k Cleveland acquired the draft rights to 52nd pickDarnell Jackson fromMiami in exchange for 2009 second-round draft pick.[28]
l TheL.A. Clippers acquired the draft rights to 55th pickMike Taylor from Portland in exchange for a 2009 second-round draft pick.[28]
m Cleveland acquired the draft rights to 56th pickSasha Kaun from Seattle in exchange for cash considerations.[31]
o On June 25, 2008,Charlotte acquired the 20th draft pick fromDenver in exchange for a future conditional first-round draft pick.[33] Charlotte used the pick to draftAlexis Ajinça.
q On July 20, 2007,Seattle acquired 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks andKurt Thomas from Phoenix in exchange for a 2009 second-round draft pick.[35] Seattle used the pick to draftSerge Ibaka.
t On June 28, 2006, Portland acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick from Memphis in exchange for the draft rights toAlexander Johnson.[39] Portland used the pick to draftJoey Dorsey.
w On June 6, 2005,Utah acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick fromPhiladelphia in exchange for the 60th draft pick in the2005 NBA draft.[42] Utah used the pick to draftAnte Tomić.
x On June 28, 2007, San Antonio acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick fromToronto in exchange for the draft rights toGiorgos Printezis.[43] San Antonio used the pick to draftGoran Dragić.
z On September 17, 2002, Phoenix acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick fromCleveland in exchange forMilt Palacio.[46] Phoenix used the pick to draftMalik Hairston.
ab On June 7, 2007, Miami acquired 2007 and 2008 second-round draft picks fromOrlando as part of the hiring ofStan Van Gundy as Orlando's head coach.[48] Miami used the pick to draftDarnell Jackson.
ac On February 21, 2008, Houston re-acquired their 2008 second-round draft pick along withBobby Jackson andAdam Haluska from New Orleans in a three-team trade.[49] Previously, Houston and New Orleans agreed to exchange second-round draft picks in a trade that sentKirk Snyder to Houston on July 14, 2006.[50] Houston used the pick to draftMaarty Leunen.
ad On June 28, 2006, Portland acquired Indiana's 2007 and Phoenix's 2008 second-round draft picks and the draft rights toAlexander Johnson from Indiana in exchange for the draft rights toJames White.[51] Previously, Indiana acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick on August 25, 2005, from Phoenix in exchange forJames Jones.[52] Portland used the pick to draftMike Taylor.
ae On June 28, 2007, Seattle acquired New Orleans' 2008 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from Houston in exchange for the draft rights toCarl Landry.[44] Previously, Houston and New Orleans agreed to exchange second-round draft picks in a trade that sent Kirk Snyder to Houston on July 14, 2006.[50] Seattle used the pick to draftSasha Kaun.
^Powell, Camille (December 22, 2007)."Fast Friends, Big Rivals".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. RetrievedAugust 15, 2011.
^Lidz, Franz (January 22, 2007)."Greener Pastures".Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Archived fromthe original on February 1, 2010. RetrievedOctober 17, 2010.
^"Adanalı Fener'e doğru" [Fener to Adana].Milliyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Demirören-Karacan. April 28, 2011. Archived fromthe original on July 28, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2011.
^ab"2008 Underclassmen".The Draft Review. June 29, 2008.Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2023.
^Krabbendam, Robert (April 11, 2007)."Letter: Krabbendam speaks".Collegiate Times.Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. RetrievedDecember 13, 2023.
^"Martin Going Pro".Loyola Marymount Lions. July 6, 2007.Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. RetrievedDecember 13, 2023.
^"2008 NBA Draft Lottery odds".NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 20, 2008.Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. RetrievedApril 18, 2011.
^"Suns Trade Milt Palacio".NBA.com/Suns. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. September 17, 2002.Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. RetrievedMarch 29, 2009.
"NBA.com: Draft 2008".NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. RetrievedJune 23, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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Panama
United States
Tunisia
Israel
Russia
Croatia
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Luc Mbah a Moute – F,UCLA (junior)
Alexis Ajinça – C,Hyères-Toulon (France)
Danilo Gallinari – F,Olimpia Milano (Italy)
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Serge Ibaka – F,L'Hospitalet (Spain)
Ryan Kersten
Robert Krabbendam
