2018 NBA draft

2018 NBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)June 21, 2018
LocationBarclays Center (Brooklyn, New York)
Network(s)
Overview
60 total selections in 2 rounds
LeagueNBA
Teams30
First selectionDeandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns)
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The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally by ESPN. State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the seventh consecutive year.[2] This draft was the last to use the original weighted lottery system that gave teams near the bottom of the NBA draft better odds at the top three picks of the draft while teams higher up had worse odds in the process; the rule was agreed upon by the NBA on September 28, 2017, but would not be implemented until the 2019 draft.[3] It was also considered the final year where undrafted college underclassmen were forced to begin their professional careers early; on August 8, 2018, the NCAA announced that players who declared for the NBA draft and were not selected would have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year.[4] With the last year of what was, at the time, the most recent lottery system (with the NBA draft lottery being held in Chicago instead of in New York), the Phoenix Suns won the first overall pick on May 15, 2018, with the Sacramento Kings at the second overall pick and the Atlanta Hawks at third overall pick.[5] The Suns' selection was their first No. 1 overall selection in franchise history. They used the selection on the Bahamian center Deandre Ayton from the nearby University of Arizona.

This draft was also notable for its lack of draft-day trades involving NBA veterans. An average of more than five veterans per year were traded on the day of the last three drafts, but this draft was the first since 2003 in which no such trades were announced.[6] At the end of the 2018–19 season the top 5 picks from the draft were picked as the All-Rookie 1st Team, the first time this had happened since the 1984 draft.

Later retrospectives generally rank the 2018 NBA draft class as one of the deeper drafts in NBA history.[7][8]

  1. ^ "NBA Draft Live [Video]". Yahoo Sports. June 21, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  2. ^ Lefton, Terry (June 21, 2019). "Verizon, State Farm Among NBA Sponsors Activating Around Draft". sportsbusinessdaily.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "2018 NBA Draft Lottery leaving New York Area heading to Chicago". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 3, 2017. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  4. ^ "Flexibility for going pro and getting a degree". NCAA. September 20, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  5. ^ Hoffman, Benjamin; Mather, Victor (May 15, 2018). "N.B.A. Draft Lottery 2018: Cleveland Cavaliers Get Top Pick". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  6. ^ Pelton, Kevin (June 22, 2018). "How this draft sets up future trades and free agency". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  7. ^ "Jazz G Collin Sexton Says 2018 NBA Draft Class is the Best of All-Time". Utah Jazz On SI. July 18, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ranking every NBA draft class from the 21st century". Yardbarker. June 7, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.