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NBA Draft and Trades: Facts

NBA draft and trade stories: surprise picks, lottery miracles and the deals that changed the league.

2 St. Louis took Bill Russell with the second pick in 1956. Red Auerbach immediately traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan to get him.

1971 In 1971 Spencer Haywood won the right at the US Supreme Court to play in the NBA before four years had passed since high school. It led to the 'hardship' exception.

$3M To pay their way into the NBA, the New York Nets sold Julius Erving to Philadelphia in 1976 for 3 million dollars. Without him they won just 22 games.

1977 In 1977 the New Orleans Jazz drafted Lusia Harris in the seventh round, the only woman ever officially drafted by an NBA team. She never went to camp.

1979 In 1979 the Lakers won a coin flip with the Chicago Bulls for the first pick in the draft and used it on Magic Johnson.

1980 Cleveland owner Ted Stepien traded away so many first-round picks in 1980-83 that the NBA banned trading first-rounders in consecutive years. It is still called the Stepien Rule.

#3 Michael Jordan went third in the 1984 draft. Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon first and Portland picked Sam Bowie second.

208 In 1984 the Chicago Bulls drafted sprinter Carl Lewis in the 10th round, 208th overall. That summer he won four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics.

1/66 In 1993 Orlando won the draft lottery with a 1-in-66 chance. They took Chris Webber and traded him that night for Anfernee Hardaway and three future first-round picks.

20 In 1995 Kevin Garnett went fifth overall straight out of high school. No NBA team had drafted a high-schooler in the previous 20 years.

1996 Ben Wallace went undrafted in 1996, yet won Defensive Player of the Year four times and the 2004 title with Detroit.

57 Manu Ginóbili was the 57th pick in 1999, one of the last names called. He went on to win four NBA titles and play in two All-Star Games.

2005 In 2005 Andrew Bogut became the first Australian taken first overall in the NBA draft, by the Milwaukee Bucks.

2 In 2013 and 2014 Cleveland used the first pick on a Canadian two years running: Anthony Bennett, then Andrew Wiggins.

41 Nikola Jokić was only the 41st pick in 2014. TV did not even show his selection, because it was airing a commercial at the time.

2025 In February 2025 Dallas shocked the league by trading 25-year-old Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal built around Anthony Davis.

1.8% In 2025 the Dallas Mavericks won the draft lottery with just a 1.8% chance and took Cooper Flagg first overall.

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