The Ins and Outs of the NBA Draft

Perhaps you are a new fan of the NBA, or maybe you are the guy who has been throwing parties for the championship game on your home basketball court for years. Either way you might be a little confused as to how the NBA draft works. However, if you want to understand the world of professional basketball, you have to understand the draft and how it influences the chance each team has to improve. 

What is the best way to make sure that teams that are struggling have the best chance of improving? Well, make sure they have the best chance to obtain the new talent with the best skill. The three worst performing teams each season are entered into a lottery that gives them the most opportunities for a first pick. After that the teams simply choose new players in order of the team with the worst previous season record to best previous season record. 

When it comes to actually choosing the players, there is a lot more research than simply watching and observing college basketball. The NBA actually organizes a camp for players who have declared for the draft to showcase their skills before coaches, scouts and other NBA influencers. This gives team decision makers the opportunity to scrutinize each player to determine his current skill and if he would be a good fit for their team. Without a doubt those players who spend more time on practice, be it official or on a home basketball court, will likely be given more notice than others.

One of the more recent changes to the draft came in 2006 when high school players could no longer be eligible for the draft immediately following graduation. The new rules require that players be a minimum of 19 years old and if they are from the United States, they also need to have graduated at least one year before they are drafted. That means if players are look to head to the draft after graduation, it’s probably a good idea to spend a lot of time on the home basketball court and in other practice to make sure they are ready

When it comes to teams choosing players, the only consistent strategy is to do what is your teams best interest. Sometimes it even seems like they are choosing teams for a pick-up game with their buddies on a home basketball court instead of a creating the best professional team possible. For example, one team has simply chosen a player to prevent its rival from getting him.  Other teams go to the draft with the specific goal of finding a player for a position that they have vacant. 

Ryan Muir is an athletics writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Sport Court. Follow on Twitter.