The 2007 draft marked the first time three players drafted in the top 10 came from the same school: theUniversity of Florida.[11] Florida, the2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball champion, tied the record set by theUniversity of Connecticut in2006 with five players selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft.[12] Florida joined nine other schools, including Connecticut, that had five players selected in an NBA draft, second only toUNLV, which had six players selected in the eight-round1977 draft.[12][13] Five players who competed in the2007 NCAA Basketball National Championship Final were selected in the top 10; three players came from Florida, and two players came from the runner-up, Ohio State University.[14] This draft also set the record number of freshmen drafted in the first round when eight freshmen were selected.[15] Of the 60 players drafted, eight were freshmen, five weresophomores, 14 werejuniors, 20 wereseniors, and 13 were international players without U.S. college basketball experience. TheCleveland Cavaliers,Denver Nuggets,Indiana Pacers andToronto Raptors all did not have a draft pick this year, although Indiana and Toronto each acquired a drafted player's rights after the draft.[10] As of 2025, the only remaining active NBA players from this draft areKevin Durant,Al Horford,Mike Conley, andJeff Green.
^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: Yi Jianlian's year of birth has been widely disputed, with several sources claiming that Chinese basketball authorities falsified his year of birth from 1984 to 1987 to allow him a longer period of competition in international junior tournaments.A dedicated section of Yi's Wikipedia article discusses this issue and includes sources. ^b: Joakim Noah, who was born in the United States toa French father anda Swedish mother, has dual U.S. and French citizenship.[36] He has representedFrance internationally since 2011.[37] ^c: Taurean Green, who was born in the United States, became a naturalized citizen ofGeorgia in 2010. He has representedGeorgia internationally since 2010.[38]
All drafted players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1988).[39]
Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in theCollective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.[39]
The CBA defines "international players" as players who permanently resided outside the U.S. for three years before the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university.[40]
The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility.[41] Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players" are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1985).[42]
A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft.[43][44] An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft.[45] On June 19, 2007, NBA announced that 32 college players and 6 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the 2007 Draft, while 46 players who had previously declared as early entry candidates had withdrawn from the draft.[16]
The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed theplayoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery would determine 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. On April 20, 2007, the NBA performed a tie-breaker to determine the order of the picks for teams with identical win–loss record.[47]
The lottery was held on May 22, 2007, inSecaucus, New Jersey. The Portland Trail Blazers, who had the seventh-worst record in the previous season, won the lottery with just a 5.3% chance to win.[48] This was the fourth time that the Blazers hadthe first overall draft pick and the first time that the Blazers won the draft lottery since it was introduced in1985.[49] The Seattle Supersonics, who had the fifth-worst record, and the Atlanta Hawks, who had the fourth-worst record, obtained the second and third pick, respectively.[48]
Three teams who had the worst records—the Memphis Grizzlies, the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks—obtained the fourth, fifth and sixth pick, respectively. These were the lowest possible picks they could have obtained through the lottery.[50] The most recent draft in which the three worst teams did not receive the top three picks was in1993.[51]
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2007 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:[52][53][54]
^1: Atlanta Hawks' pick would be conveyed to thePhoenix Suns if it was not in the top three.[r] ^2: New York Knicks' pick was conveyed to theChicago Bulls.[l] ^3: Indiana Pacers' pick was conveyed to theAtlanta Hawks because it was not in the top ten.[m]
c 12 Philadelphia acquired the draft rights to 20th pickJason Smith from Miami in exchange for the draft rights to 21st pickDaequan Cook, a 2009 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.[58]
d Portland acquiredJames Jones and the draft rights to 24th pickRudy Fernández from Phoenix in exchange for cash considerations. The trade was finalized on July 11, 2007.[59]
e 12 Portland acquired the draft rights to 30th pickPetteri Koponen from Philadelphia in exchange for the draft rights to 42nd pickDerrick Byars and cash considerations.[58]
f Houston acquired the draft rights to 31st pickCarl Landry from Seattle in exchange for a 2008 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.[56]
g 12 Utah acquired the draft rights to 38th pickKyrylo Fesenko from Philadelphia in exchange for the draft rights to 55th pickHerbert Hill and future draft considerations.[58]
h Indiana acquired the draft rights to 39th pickStanko Barać from Miami in exchange for a 2009 second-round draft pick.[60]
Before the draft, the followingtrades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.
l 123 On October 4, 2005, Chicago acquired an option to swap 2007 first-round draft picks, a 2006 first-round draft pick, 2007 and 2009 second-round draft picks,Tim Thomas,Michael Sweetney andJermaine Jackson from New York in exchange forEddy Curry andAntonio Davis.[64] The options to swap 2007 first-round draft picks were exercised, hence Chicago acquired New York's first-round draft pick and New York acquired Chicago's first-round draft pick. Chicago used the 9th pick to draftJoakim Noah and New York used the 23rd pick to draftWilson Chandler.
m 12 On August 22, 2006, Atlanta acquired a 2007 first-round draft pick and cash considerations from Indiana in exchange forAl Harrington andJohn Edwards.[65] Atlanta used the 11th pick to draftAcie Law.
p On June 23, 2004, Charlotte acquired Toronto's 2007 first-round draft pick from Cleveland in exchange forSasha Pavlović.[70] Previously, Cleveland acquired a 2007 first-round draft pick andMichael Stewart on September 25, 2002, from Toronto in exchange forLamond Murray and a 2004 second round draft pick.[71] Charlotte used the 22nd pick to draftJared Dudley.
q On June 28, 2006, Phoenix acquired Cleveland's 2007 first-round draft pick from Boston in exchange forBrian Grant, the draft rights toRajon Rondo and cash considerations.[72] Previously, Boston acquired a 2007 first-round draft pick on February 24, 2005, from Cleveland in exchange forJiří Welsch.[73] Phoenix used the 24th pick to draftRudy Fernández.
r On August 19, 2005, Phoenix acquired 2006 and future first-round draft picks andBoris Diaw from Atlanta in exchange forJoe Johnson.[74] Atlanta's 2007 first-round draft pick was top-three protected and hence the pick was not conveyed to Phoenix. Instead, Atlanta would convey their 2008 first-round draft pick to Phoenix.
s On June 28, 2005, Seattle acquired 2006 and 2007 second-round draft picks from Memphis in exchange for the draft rights toLawrence Roberts.[75] Seattle used the 31st pick to draftCarl Landry.
t On June 28, 2006, San Antonio acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick from Milwaukee in exchange for the draft rights toDamir Markota.[76] San Antonio used the 33rd pick to draftMarcus Williams.
u On February 22, 2007, Dallas acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick from Atlanta in exchange forAnthony Johnson.[77] Dallas used the 34th pick to draftNick Fazekas.
v On February 21, 2002, Golden State acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick andDean Garrett from Minnesota in exchange forMarc Jackson.[78] Golden State used the 36th pick to draftJermareo Davidson.
w On June 28, 2006, Philadelphia acquired New York's 2007 second-round draft pick, the draft rights toRodney Carney and cash considerations from Chicago in exchange for the draft rights toThabo Sefolosha.[79] Previously, Chicago acquired an option to swap 2007 first-round draft picks, a 2006 first-round draft pick, 2007 and 2009 second-round draft picks,Tim Thomas,Michael Sweetney andJermaine Jackson on October 4, 2005, from New York in exchange forEddy Curry andAntonio Davis.[64] Philadelphia used the 38th pick to draftKyrylo Fesenko.
x On June 7, 2007, Miami acquired Sacramento's 2007 and Miami's 2008 second-round draft picks from Orlando as part of the hiring ofStan Van Gundy as Orlando's head coach.[80] Previously, Orlando acquired Sacramento's second-round draft pick andDeShawn Stevenson on February 19, 2004, from Utah in exchange forGordan Giriček.[81] Earlier, Utah acquired 2004 and 2007 second-round draft picks andKeon Clark on August 3, 2003, from Sacramento in exchange for a 2004 second-round draft pick.[82] Miami used the 39th pick to draftStanko Barać.
y On October 26, 2005, the L.A. Lakers acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick from Charlotte in exchange forJumaine Jones.[83] The L.A. Lakers used the 40th pick to draftSun Yue.
z On June 28, 2006, Minnesota acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from Philadelphia in exchange for the draft rights toBobby Jones.[79] Minnesota used the 41st pick to draftChris Richard.
aa On June 28, 2006, Portland acquired 2007 and 2008 second-round draft picks and the draft rights toAlexander Johnson from Indiana in exchange for the draft rights toJames White.[84] Portland used the 42nd pick to draftDerrick Byars
ab On February 14, 2005, Golden State acquired 2005 and 2007 second-round draft picks from New Jersey in exchange forClifford Robinson.[85] Golden State used the 46th pick to draftStéphane Lasme.
ac 12 On July 20, 2006, Chicago acquired Denver's and Golden State's 2007 second-round draft picks andHoward Eisley from Denver in exchange forJ. R. Smith.[86] Previously, Denver acquired Golden State's 2007 second-round draft pick on June 28, 2006, from Boston in exchange for the draft rights toLeon Powe.[87] Beforehand, Boston acquired Golden State's 2007 second-round draft pick on February 8, 2005, from Phoenix in exchange forWalter McCarty and cash considerations.[88] Earlier, Phoenix acquired 2007 and 2009 second-round draft picks on January 3, 2005, from Golden State in exchange forŽarko Čabarkapa.[89] Chicago used the 49th and 51st picks to draftAaron Gray andJamesOn Curry.
ad On June 28, 2006, Dallas acquired Miami's 2007 second-round draft pick from the L.A. Lakers in exchange for the draft rights toJ. R. Pinnock.[90] Previously, the L.A. Lakers acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, a 2007 second-round draft pick,Lamar Odom,Caron Butler andBrian Grant on July 14, 2004, from Miami in exchange forShaquille O'Neal.[91] Dallas used the 50th pick to draftRenaldas Seibutis.
ae On October 10, 1997, Portland acquired a 2007 second-round draft pick from Toronto in a three-team trade with Toronto and New York.[92] Portland used the 52nd pick to draftTaurean Green.
ag Hours before the start of the draft, Houston acquired the 54th pick from Orlando in exchange for cash considerations.[55] Previously, Orlando acquired 2005 and 2007 second-round draft picks andTony Battie on July 23, 2004, from Cleveland in exchange forDrew Gooden,Steven Hunter andAnderson Varejão.[93] Houston used the 54th pick to draftBrad Newley.
^"NBA Draft Superlatives".CBS College Sports. CSTV Networks, Inc. June 29, 2007. Archived fromthe original on June 26, 2008. RetrievedAugust 6, 2009.
^"Portland Selects Oden With Top Pick".Channel3000.com. Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. June 29, 2007. RetrievedAugust 7, 2009.{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
"NBA.com: Draft 2007".NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved2010-06-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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United States
Canada
Mexico
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Al Horford – F,Florida (junior)
Ralfi Silva Ansaloni – C, Praia Club (Brazil)
Marco Belinelli – G,Fortitudo Bologna (Italy)
Kyrylo Fesenko – F/C,SK Cherkassy (Ukraine)
Yi Jianlian – F,Guangdong Southern Tigers (China)
Petteri Koponen – G,Tapiolan Honka (Finland)
