The 79th Draft in NBA history will take place this week. For the first time, it will be held over two days. But to be able to fully immerse yourself in it, you still need to know what this famous “Draft” is. If the world of the NBA is new to your life or you’re tired of explaining to your parents why ping pong balls are important in a basketball league, bookmark this article and pass it along in your Whatsapp groups between two photos of your seven-month-old nephew sent by your sister.
Last year, we contacted Sebastiano Drafto to explain the concept of the Draft to you. But we needed another point of view, newer and wiser at the same time. No interviews, no zoom, just a story told in one go by an animal with round glasses. Sit down in your most comfortable beanbags, Pépère Castor will tell you a story.
Grandpa Beaver: Hmm hmm, sorry my voice is a little hoarse this morning, I was at karaoke last night and I had the good idea to try Celine Dion, anyway, let’s move on. The Draft is above all the story of a dream, a dream shared by thousands of young basketball players around the world.
Every year many young talents come to the event to try to join the NBA. 60 are rewarded by being selected by NBA franchises. There are two rounds, of thirty players each, and it is even better for a young player to be taken in the first since the first 30 choices automatically have a guaranteed contract in the Big League. Which doesn’t prevent others from getting one too if they perform well in their teams. Nikola Jokic and Draymond Green were selected second for example.
Often, it’s the worst teams that have the chance to get the talent with the best odds. The NBA is a closed league and the objective for managers is always to rebalance the debates. Each year, the 14 teams with the worst record during the regular season participate in a lottery. The worse the team has been, the greater its chances of regaining the first pick, but sometimes chance gets involved like this year where the Atlanta Hawks, eleventh worst record, left with the First Pick even though they did not had only a 3% chance of doing so. Being bad therefore helps, of course, but there is also an element of luck, with this lottery which is essential in order to avoid as much as possible the bad teams losing on purpose to be better placed in the Draft, which we calls tanking.
Once the order is defined and the young players are registered, a game of chess begins. Each franchise has its favorites, but apart from the first (Atlanta), all depend on the choice of others. Team bosses must adapt and sometimes arrange transfers to obtain the player of their choice. For example, last year, the Washington Wizards traded their choice with the Indiana Pacers to be sure of being able to select Bilal Coulibaly. Teams often select players who have the most potential in their eyes, but also those who have a profile that can easily integrate with the rest of their squad.
There are also transfers before the Draft. If there weren’t, each team would have one pick in the first round and one in the second, but that’s never the case. Draft picks have value and are major pieces of trades in the NBA. Often, to get a talented player, you have to get rid of a few. This is why this year for example, the San Antonio Spurs have 4th and 8th.
Often franchise managers have a list of players they would prefer to recruit and cross out the names based on those who have been chosen before. This year, there is a lot of talk that the Washington Wizards would like to draft Alexandre Sarr with their second pick, but if the Frenchman is selected by Atlanta, it is likely that they will quickly know how to bounce back by turning to their “second favorite”.
The sixty selections are made in a row, each time with a little time left for a team to think. This year and for the first time, the first and second rounds will not take place on the same day. The first will take place at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets in New York, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday and the second in the ESPN studios the next day.
When a player is selected, he goes on stage with a cap of the team that chose him and shakes the hand of Adam Silver or Mark Tatum, the boss of the NBA and his deputy. It is a symbol that characterizes the beginnings of this talent in the Great League. They are all between 18 and 22 years old and have played either in American college or on a professional team abroad before showing up. If you want to be chosen in a few years, this is the way to go.
If there are things you don’t understand, don’t hesitate to ask me questions or go see Sebastiano Drafto’s testimony, it is absolutely brilliant. And see you soon, for a new story of Pépère Castor.
