| 2015 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 25, 2015 |
| Location | Barclays Center (Brooklyn, New York) |
| Network(s) | ESPN |
| Overview | |
| 60 total selections in 2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) |
The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place on May 19, 2015.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won the draft lottery to earn the first overall pick in the draft. It marked the first time in Timberwolves history that they would receive the first overall pick through the lottery. The player selected would also be the third consecutive number one pick on the Timberwolves roster, joining Andrew Wiggins (2014) and Anthony Bennett (2013) - who were traded to Minnesota for forward Kevin Love. This draft also gave the Los Angeles Lakers the second overall pick after jumping over the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks within the draft lottery.
Highlights from the draft include the first Dominican to be the first overall pick (Karl-Anthony Towns), the highest number of Kentucky Wildcats selected in the draft lottery (four with Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, and Devin Booker), which tied the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2005 for most players selected in the lottery by one school; the tied record for most Kentucky players selected in the draft (six with Towns, Cauley-Stein, Lyles, Booker, Andrew Harrison, and Dakari Johnson), the second Latvian to have been drafted in the first round (Kristaps Porziņģis), the first former high school player to have skipped college to play in China that was selected in the draft (Emmanuel Mudiay), and the first Indian-born player to have been selected in the NBA (Satnam Singh),[1] who was also the first player since 2005 to have been drafted directly from high school (albeit as a postgraduate).
Other noteworthy announcements that came out of the draft included the official announcement of the passing of the last pioneer of the original NBA, Harvey Pollack, around the third pick and the resignation of the league's president of basketball operations Rod Thorn that became official in August after the end of the first round.
- ^ Bengali, Shashank (June 26, 2015). "Mavericks draft Satnam Singh, the NBA's first Indian-born player". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.