The2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place 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 onESPN.State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the eighth consecutive year.[1] This draft was the first to feature a new weightedlottery system in which the three worst teams each had a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery;[2] these teams were theNew York Knicks,Cleveland Cavaliers, andPhoenix Suns. The lottery took place on May 14, during theNBA playoffs. Three of the four teams who held the top four picks of the draft this year rose up from at least six spots in the lottery, including theNew Orleans Pelicans, who won the first pick with 6 percent odds.[3] The Pelicans used that pick onDuke forwardZion Williamson.After Williamson, his college teammates R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish were drafted in the top 10 as part of a talented Duke roster.[4] This draft included the first Japanese player to be selected in the first round, as well as the first Angolan player to be selected.
Atlanta acquiredRichard Jefferson,Kay Felder,the least favorable 2019 second-round pick between Minnesota and LA Lakers, a protected 2020 second-round pick, and cash considerations
Memphis acquiredP. J. Hairston,Chris Andersen, Charlotte's 2018 second-round pick,Charlotte's 2019 second-round pick, and two second-round picks from Miami
Charlotte acquiredCourtney Lee and cash considerations
The following trades were reportedly agreed prior to and on the day of the draft and were completed at a later date. Due to salary cap reasons, most of these trades were officially announced on July 6, after the NBA moratorium period ended.
New Orleans acquiredBrandon Ingram,Lonzo Ball,Josh Hart, a2019 first-round pick, a 2021 protected first-round pick, the right to swap 2023 first-round picks, a 2024 first-round pick, and cash considerations.
Atlanta acquired a2019 first-round pick (No. 4 - De'Andre Hunter), a2019 second-round pick (No. 57 - Jordan Bone),Solomon Hill, and a conditional 2023 second-round pick
New Orleans acquired two2019 first-round picks (No. 8 - Jaxson Hayes and No. 17 - Nickeil Alexander-Walker), a2019 second-round pick (No. 35 - Didi Louzada), and a protected 2020 first-round pick
The invitation-onlyNBA Draft Combine was held in Chicago from May 15 to 19. The on-court element of the combine took place on May 17 and 18. This year, 66 players were originally invited to the combine, including top prospectsZion Williamson andJa Morant.[93] The pool of participants also included CroatianLuka Šamanić, postgraduateJalen Lecque, andDarius Bazley, who took a route similar toMitchell Robinson with not playing in college or another league for a year before entering the draft. A couple of prospects also returned to the event after entering the previous year's combine, include an injury recoveringJontay Porter andBrian Bowen, a player who entered last year as a collegiate participant last year before heading off to play professionally inAustralia this year. In addition, this year also introduced theNBA G League Elite Camp, which gave a certain number of draft hopefuls a chance to transfer into the NBA Draft Combine afterward.[94] This year, eleven participants from that event joined the combine, increasing the number of total invites up to 77.[95] One of the additional invites wasTacko Fall, who broke combine records for height (reaching 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) with shoes on), wingspan, and standing reach.[96]
The NBA draft lottery took place during the Playoffs on May 14, 2019. This was the first year in which the new NBA draft lottery system is applied, where the draft lottery was expanded to the top four picks (rather than the top three); and where the three teams with the worst records had equal odds. Teams with better records had an increased chance for a top-four pick when compared to the previous system, which was what happened for theNew Orleans Pelicans,Memphis Grizzlies, andLos Angeles Lakers this year.[91]
^1: Since the Memphis Grizzlies drew the second pick, it was not conveyed to theBoston Celtics. ^2: Since the Dallas Mavericks drew outside the top 5, their pick was conveyed to theAtlanta Hawks. ^3: Since the Sacramento Kings drew the 14th pick, it was conveyed to theBoston Celtics (if the Kings had drawn the 1st pick, it would have been conveyed to thePhiladelphia 76ers, who would have in turn conveyed their 24th overall pick to the Celtics).
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 2019 draft must be born on or before December 31, 2000.
Since the 2016 draft, the following rules, as implemented by theNCAA Division I council for that division, are:[97]
Declaration for the draft no longer results in an 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.
Starting this year, any undrafted underclassmen in the college system will have the opportunity to return to their college or university for at least one more season, provided they terminate their prior agreements with the agent they signed up with.[98]
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).[99]
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 2019 draft, the date fell on April 21. After that date, "early entry" players are able to 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 29 (10 days after the draft combine) to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility.[100]
A player who has hired an agent forfeits his remaining college eligibility when he is drafted. He can be represented beginning after any basketball season, following a request for an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. From this draft on, players who declare for the NBA draft and are not selected have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year, only after terminating all agreements with their agents.[98]
This year, 233 underclassed draft prospects (i.e., players with remaining college eligibility) had declared by the April 21 deadline, with 175 of these players being from college (including one American who went to aCanadian college) or were high schoolpostgraduates.[101] The names left over mean they have hired an agent, or have announced that they plan to do so before the night of the draft. At the end of the deadline, 86 players declared their intentions to enter the draft with an agent while 89 announced their return to college for at least one more season.[102] By the end of the international underclassmen deadline, bothSacha Killeya-Jones andKouat Noi removed their names from this year's draft while removing their collegiate eligibility as well, which left 84 total college underclassmen entering the draft.[103]
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 10. By the April 23 deadline, a record-high 58 international prospects, including an internationalCanadian university player, expressed interest in the 2019 NBA draft.[101] By the end of the international deadline on June 10, 46 of these players pulled their names out of the draft, leaving only 12 fully foreign players entering the NBA draft this year.[103] For this year's draft, the total underclassmen left were 96 players.
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:[104]
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:[104]
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, 1997, are automatically eligible for the 2019 draft.
They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBAwithin the United States, and have played under that contract.
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 his name is 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 the stage when or if they are drafted. On June 8, the NBA announced only 9 invited players to the event (all of whom played collegiately this year).[106] Four days later, the NBA invited seven more players to the event, bringing the number of invites up to 16. Two more players were invited the next day, bumping the number up to 18. On June 14, two more players were invited to this year's event, bringing up the total invites to 20.[107] Five days later, three more players received last minute invitations for this year's NBA draft, bringing the total number of invites up to 23.[108] On the night of the event,Matisse Thybulle was revealed as a last-minute invite, bumping up the final invite list to 24.[109] The following players (listed alphabetically) were confirmed as invites for the event:
^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.
^Thybulle was born in the United States and spent part of his childhood in Australia where he gained dual citizenship. He plays for theAustralia national basketball team.
^Clarke was born in Canada and raised in the United States; he holds dual citizenship of both countries but has not appeared in an international match.
^Okpala was born in the United States to Nigerian parents. He holds dual citizenship and plays for theNigeria national basketball team.
^Schofield was born in the United Kingdom to American parents; his father was stationed there while he served in the United States Navy. Schofield was raised in the United States and holds American citizenship.
^Bol was born in Sudan and raised in the United States; he holds dual South Sudanese-American citizenship but has not appeared in an international match.
^Brazdeikis was born in Lithuania and raised in Canada where he gained citizenship. He played for Canada in youth tournaments. Brazdeikis had his Lithuanian citizenship restored in 2021 and he plays for theLithuania national basketball team.
^Shayok was born in Canada to Sudanese parents and played for Canada at youth tournaments. He was eligible for theSouth Sudan national basketball team and joined them in 2023.
^Oni was born in the United States to Nigerian parents; he also holds British citizenship. He plays for theNigeria national basketball team.
^"Warriors Select Jordan Poole and Eric Paschall in 2019 NBA Draft".NBA.com. June 21, 2019.Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. RetrievedJune 21, 2019.The Warriors selected Yale University's Miye Oni with the 58th overall pick in the second round before completing a trade with Utah to send Oni's draft rights to the Jazz in exchange for cash considerations.
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2019 NBA Draft Lottery Drawing,NBA's official YouTube channel. May 14, 2019.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker – G,Virginia Tech (sophomore)
Tyus Battle – G,Syracuse (junior)
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Marques Bolden – C,Duke (junior)
Nic Claxton – F,Georgia (sophomore)
Bruno Fernando – F,Maryland (sophomore)
Rui Hachimura – F,Gonzaga (junior)
Jaylen Hoard – F,Wake Forest (freshman)
Sagaba Konate – F,West Virginia (junior)
Martin Krampelj – F,Creighton (junior)
Samir Šehić – F,Tulane (junior)
Tremont Waters – G,LSU (sophomore)
Goga Bitadze – C,Mega Bemax (Serbia)
Yago dos Santos – G,Paulistano Corpore (Brazil)
Matas Jogėla – G,Dzūkija Alytus (Lithuania)
William McDowell-White – G,Brose Bamberg (Germany)
Joshua Obiesie – G,s.Oliver Würzburg (Germany)
David Okeke – F,Fiat Torino (Italy)
Luka Šamanić – F,Petrol Olimpija (Slovenia)
Yovel Zoosman – G,Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Elijah Clarance
Alen Smailagić
Matej Svoboda
Sekou Doumbouya,Limoges CSP (France) (not on the original list, later invited)
