BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The 79th edition of the NBA Draft tips off this week as basketball fans turn their attention to Brooklyn, where top college and international prospects await their NBA futures. All three of Texas's NBA teams have picks in the Top 10, with the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs holding the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks.
The two-night draft will be held on June 25 and 26, with coverage beginning each night at 7 p.m. This marks the second year in a row the NBA is using a two-night format to allow more in-depth coverage and analysis across both rounds.
Fans can watch the draft on ABC and ESPN, with ABC broadcasting only the first round, while ESPN will air both rounds in full. For those streaming, the ESPN App and platforms such as YouTube TV, Sling TV, and Hulu + Live TV offer live access. Viewers without cable can tune in to the first round for free using a digital antenna to pick up their local ABC affiliate. Select streaming services also offer free trials, providing another option for fans looking to watch without a subscription.
The draft will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, a familiar venue for NBA Draft night. Prior to this week’s event, the NBA Draft Combine took place from May 11 to 18 in Chicago, which also hosted the Draft Lottery on May 11. The Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, and Philadelphia 76ers hold the top three picks, with Dallas winning the No. 1 overall selection.
The draft order is determined in two parts. The top four picks are assigned through a lottery system that uses 14 numbered ping-pong balls to generate one of 1,001 possible four-number combinations. The team that draws the winning combo receives the first overall pick. The process is then repeated for picks 2 through 4. After those are determined, the remaining picks are assigned in reverse order of regular season win percentage. Since 1989, the NBA Draft has consisted of two rounds, though in earlier decades it ran as long as 21 rounds. Today, undrafted players can still try out and sign with any NBA team as free agents.
Several standout prospects are generating buzz ahead of the first round. Among them are Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, and Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe. Other highly regarded names include Tre Johnson (Texas), Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma), Kon Knueppel (Duke), Egor Demin (BYU), Khaman Maluach (Duke), and Cedric Coward (Washington State). Many of these players are expected to go early in the draft and could have immediate impacts at the next level.
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