The2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, atBarclays Center inBrooklyn, New York.National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United Statescollege basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally by ESPN.State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the seventh consecutive year.[2] This draft was the last to use the original weighted lottery system that gave teams near the bottom of the NBA draft better odds at the top three picks of the draft while teams higher up had worse odds in the process; the rule was agreed upon by the NBA on September 28, 2017, but would not be implemented until the 2019 draft.[3] It was also considered the final year where undrafted college underclassmen were forced to begin their professional careers early; on August 8, 2018, the NCAA announced that players who declared for the NBA draft and were not selected would have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year.[4] With the last year of what was, at the time, the most recent lottery system (with the NBA draft lottery being held inChicago instead of in New York), thePhoenix Suns won the first overall pick on May 15, 2018, with theSacramento Kings at the second overall pick and theAtlanta Hawks at third overall pick.[5] The Suns' selection was their first No. 1 overall selection in franchise history. They used the selection on theBahamian centerDeandre Ayton from the nearbyUniversity of Arizona.
This draft was also notable for its lack of draft-day trades involving NBA veterans. An average of more than five veterans per year were traded on the day of the last three drafts, but this draft was the first since2003 in which no such trades were announced.[6] At the end of the 2018–19 season the top 5 picks from the draft were picked as the All-Rookie 1st Team, the first time this had happened since the1984 draft.
Later retrospectives generally rank the 2018 NBA draft class as one of the deeper drafts in NBA history.[7][8]
These players were not selected in the 2018 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.
Kendrick Nunn had one of the most successful undrafted NBA rookie campaigns, being named to the All-Rookie First Team and becoming the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in the 2019–20 NBA season.
The invitation-onlyNBA Draft Combine was held in Chicago from May 16 to 20. The on-court element of the combine took place on May 18 and 19. A total of 69 players were invited to the NBA Draft this year, with two top talents inDeandre Ayton andLuka Dončić declining invitations for the event that year, with the latter player being involved with the2018 EuroLeague Final Four at the time.[61] Both mystery manMitchell Robinson andChandler Hutchison would remove themselves from the event at the last minute, although two other players would enter the event instead of them, leaving the proper number of official participants at 69.[62] At the end of the draft deadline for international players, 12 players that entered the NBA Draft Combine that year ultimately withdrew from the NBA Draft, with 11 players returning to college andBrian Bowen planning on playing professionally before trying another NBA draft instead.
The NBA draft lottery took place during the playoffs on May 15, 2018. This year will be the last time it uses what was originally the updated system for the NBA draft lottery to upgrade draft odds for teams in the lower regions of the NBA. Starting in 2019 onward, the newer updated draft lottery will give the bottom 3 teams equal odds for the No. 1 pick, while some of the teams higher up the NBA draft would get an increased chance for a top-four pick instead of a top-three pick like in this year, thus hoping to discourage teams from potentially losing games on purpose for higher draft picks (and potentially better talent in the process). There were also two tiebreakers involved for lottery odds this season; the first involved theDallas Mavericks having one more result favoring them having the No. 1 pick over theAtlanta Hawks after splitting the odds together, while the second tiebreaker had theChicago Bulls splitting odds with theSacramento Kings, resulting in the Bulls having slightly better odds on their end in the process. Funnily enough, both of the teams mentioned that lost the tiebreakers would wind up being in the Top 3 at the end of the NBA draft lottery. Furthermore, the Hawks would trade their Top 3 selection to Dallas for their selection in the draft instead.
^1: The Brooklyn Nets pick was automatically conveyed to theCleveland Cavaliers this year.[A] ^2: The Los Angeles Lakers' pick was conveyed to thePhiladelphia 76ers since the pick turned unprotected for them this year and wasn't in the Nos. 2-5 range.[B] ^3: The Detroit Pistons' pick was conveyed to theLos Angeles Clippers since it was outside the top 4.[C]
The draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players' union. The previous CBA that ended the2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes.
All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players who are eligible for the 2018 draft must be born on or before December 31, 1999.
Since the 2016 draft, the following rules, as implemented by theNCAA Division I council for that division, are:[63]
Declaration for the draft no longer results in automatic loss of college eligibility. As long as a player does not sign a contract with a professional team outside the NBA, or sign with an agent, he will retain college eligibility as long as he makes a timely withdrawal from the draft.
NCAA players have until 10 days after the end of theNBA Draft Combine to withdraw from the draft. Since the combine is held in mid-May, the current deadline is about five weeks after the previous mid-April deadline.
NCAA players may participate in the draft combine and are allowed to attend one tryout per year with each NBA team without losing college eligibility.
NCAA players may enter and withdraw from the draft up to two times without loss of eligibility. Previously, the NCAA treated the second declaration of draft eligibility as a permanent loss of college eligibility.
The NBA has since expanded the draft combine to include players with remaining college eligibility (who, like players without college eligibility, can only attend by invitation).[64]
Players who are not automatically eligible have to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2018 draft, the date fell on April 22. After that date, "early entry" players can attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which is 10 days before the draft. Under current NCAA rules, players had until May 30 (10 days after the draft combine) to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility.
A player who has hired an agent forfeits his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted.
A record-high 236 underclassed draft prospects (i.e., players with remaining college eligibility) had declared by the April 22 deadline, with 181 of these players being from college.[65] The names listed here mean that they hired an agent, or had announced that they planned to do so before the night of the draft. At the end of the deadline, 77 players declared their intentions to enter the draft with an agent (with one player announcing his entry after the deadline) while 100 players announced their return to college for at least one more season.[66] Meanwhile,Matur Maker,Brian Bowen,Micah Seaborn andTavarius Shine did not enter the draft after letting their deadlines to retain college eligibility expire. These players instead decided to enter in 2019 via either theNBA G League or another professional league.[67]
International players that had declared this year and did not previously declare in another prior year can drop out of the draft about 10 days before the draft begins on June 11. Initially, there were 55 players who originally expressed interest in entering the 2018 draft, one of which was a player who came directly out of high school from Canada. However, by the end of the deadline, 43 of those players (including the aforementioned Canadian high schooler) would ultimately pull their names out of the draft, leaving only 11 true international players entering the NBA Draft this year (the NBA link mentionsLiAngelo Ball as an international player in the loosest sense of the word, but notBilly Preston there).[68] Combining both the number of players listed previously and bothLiAngelo Ball andBilly Preston as automatically eligible underclassmen under unique situations, the total number of underclassmen rounds out to 90 overall players.
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:[69]
They have completed four years of their 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 that contract.
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:[69]
They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players born on or before December 31, 1996, are automatically eligible for the 2018 draft.
They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBAwithin the United States, and have played under that contract.
Phoenix acquiredJohn Salmons from New Orleans,Danny Granger, atop-7 protected 2018 first-round pick, a 2021 unprotected first-round pick, and a traded player exception from Miami
Utah acquired a 2017 second-round pick from Detroit,Kendrick Perkins,Grant Jerrett, the player rights toTibor Pleiß, anda lottery protected 2018 first-round pick from Oklahoma City
Philadelphia acquiredAndrei Kirilenko,Jorge Gutiérrez,the right to swap 2018 second-round picks between Cleveland and Brooklyn, a 2020 second-round pick, and cash considerations
Orlando acquiredArron Afflalo,Al Harrington, a 2013 second-round pick, and the worse of Denver's and New York's 2014 first-round picks from Denver;Nikola Vučević,Maurice Harkless, and a 2015 conditional first-round pick that was conveyed in 2017 for theSacramento Kings from Philadelphia;Josh McRoberts,Christian Eyenga, a 2015 protected second-round pick, and the Lakers' 2017 protected first-round pick (converted to the Lakers' 2017 second-round pick and2018 second-round pick) from the L.A. Lakers
Toronto acquiredthe worse 2018 second-round pick between Orlando and the L.A. Lakers;
Orlando acquired the contractual release of Toronto general managerJeff Weltman, whom the Magic immediately signed as their new president of basketball operations
Memphis acquiredP. J. Hairston,a 2018 second-round pick, and Brooklyn's 2019 second-round pick from Charlotte;Chris Andersen,a 2018 second-round pick, and a top-55 protected 2019 second-round pick from Miami
Charlotte acquiredCourtney Lee and cash considerations from Memphis
Utah acquireda 2018 second-round pick from Denver,Andris Biedriņš,Richard Jefferson,Brandon Rush, a 2014 first-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick, a 2017 first-round pick, a 2017 second-round pick, and cash considerations from Golden State;
Denver acquiredRandy Foye from Utah anda 2018 second-round pick from Golden State;
Golden State acquired Andre Iguodala from Denver via sign-and-trade andKevin Murphy from Utah
The NBA annually invites around 15–20 players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. When their names are called, the player leaves the room and goes up on stage. Other players who are not invited are allowed to attend the ceremony. They sit in the stands with the fans and walk up on stage when (or if) they are drafted.[71] On June 15, 2018, 19 total players were announced as invites for the NBA Draft that year (all of whom coming out of college this year), while potential top 3 pickLuka Dončić was initially not invited to the event due to theLiga ACB Finals potentially extending through the draft. On June 19, ESPN reported that Dončić would attend the draft, after all, following Real Madrid's championship victory the previous night, extending the list to 20 players.[72] The following players (listed alphabetically) were confirmed as invites for the event this year:
^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.
^Bamba was born in the United States to Ivorian parents. A dual citizen, he played for the United States at the youth level. Bamba is eligible for theIvory Coast national basketball team but has not appeared in a game.
^Mitchell Robinson tried to attendWestern Kentucky University earlier the previous year, but left before attending a single practice there in order to train by himself until draft night. The last place he played for was atChalmette High School as a proper high school senior.
^While his official team was for theBrose Baskets in Germany, throughout the season, Kulboka was mainly loaned to theOrlandina Basket in Italy instead.
^Antetokounmpo was born in Greece to Nigerian parents. He holds dual citizenship and plays for theGreece national basketball team.
^Adel was born in Sudan and raised in Australia. He holds dual South Sudanese-Australian citizenship and has played for theAustralia national basketball team.
^Gabriel was born in Sudan and raised in the United States. He holds dual South Sudanese-American citizenship and plays for theSouth Sudan national basketball team.
^Reath was born in Sudan and raised in Australia. He holds dual South Sudanese-Australian citizenship and plays for theAustralia national basketball team.
^Vincent was born in the United States to a Nigerian father. He holds dual citizenship and plays for theNigeria national basketball team.
^Sapp, Demetris (December 11, 2014)."Nets Acquire Brandon Davies".NBA.com (Press release). Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. RetrievedMay 25, 2018.
^Moorhead, Couper (July 10, 2016)."Heat acquire Luke Babbitt".NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. RetrievedMay 25, 2018.
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2018 NBA Draft Lottery Drawing,NBA's official YouTube channel. May 15, 2018.
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Deng Adel – F,Louisville (junior)
Rawle Alkins – G,Arizona (sophomore)
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Kostas Antetokounmpo – F,Dayton (freshman)
Deandre Ayton – C,Arizona (freshman)
Tyler Davis – C,Texas A&M (junior)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – G,Kentucky (freshman)
Ajdin Penava – F,Marshall (junior)
/
Yankuba Sima – F,Oklahoma State (junior)
Moritz Wagner – F,Michigan (junior)
Luka Dončić – G/F,Real Madrid (Spain)
Tryggvi Hlinason – C,Valencia Basket (Spain)
Michał Kolenda – F,Trefl Sopot (Poland)
Arnoldas Kulboka – F,Betaland Capo d'Orlando (Italy)
Rodions Kurucs – F,FC Barcelona Lassa (Spain)
Williams Narace –SLUC Nancy Basket (France)
Élie Okobo – G,Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez (France)
Issuf Sanon – G,Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Filip Zagrajski – G,Vrijednosnice Osijek (Croatia)
