The1988NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds.^[2][3] This was also the first draft for theCharlotte Hornets andMiami Heat, prior to their inaugural season.

This section is for players who were eligible for the 1988 NBA draft, did not get selected, but still later appeared in at least one NBA regular season or postseason game.

• ^a On June 23, 1988, the Heat received the 1988 NBA Draft first-round draft pick from theDallas Mavericks for not picking centersBill Wennington andUwe Blab or guardSteve Alford in the1988 NBA Expansion Draft.^[4]

• ^c On June 23, 1988, the Heat received the 1988 NBA Draft second-round draft pick from the Seattle SuperSonics for not selecting guardDanny Young in the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft.^[4]

For the sixth year in a row and the tenth time in eleven years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, for the third time in a row, there would be at least one player that qualified for the status of "college underclassman" while playing professional basketball overseas. In this case, three players ended up qualifying for this case withLloyd Daniels leavingMt. San Antonio College to play for theWaitemata Dolphins inNew Zealand, theArgentinian bornHernán Montenegro leavingLouisiana State University to play forOlimpo de Bahía Blanca in his home land ofArgentina, and Eddie Pope leaving theUniversity of Southern Mississippi to play forSaint-Étienne Basket inFrance. If you include those three players, the number of college underclassmen increases from nine to twelve total players for this year. Regardless, the followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.^[5]

This would be the third year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. However, it would be the second year in a row where multiple players would qualify for such a feat and the first where none of the underclassmen players would play in Italy after the previous two drafts had a player go to Italy first before being drafted. It was also the second year where a foreign-born player would qualify as an underclassman while also playing for an international team and the first time it happened while said player was playing for what would be considered his home nation.

• List of first overall NBA draft picks
• NBA records

• 1988 NBA Draft