Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

2015 NBA draft

Basketball player selection From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2015 NBA draft
Remove ads

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.

Quick Facts General information, Sport ...
Remove ads

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.

Remove ads

Draft selections

PGPoint guard SGShooting guard SFSmall forward PFPower forward CCenter
* Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team
+ Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
# Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game
~ Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year
Thumb
Karl-Anthony Towns was selected first overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Thumb
D'Angelo Russell was selected second by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Thumb
Kristaps Porziņģis was selected fourth by the New York Knicks.
Thumb
Myles Turner was selected 11th by the Indiana Pacers.
Thumb
Devin Booker was selected 13th by the Phoenix Suns.
Thumb
Bobby Portis was selected 22nd by the Chicago Bulls.
Thumb
Kevon Looney was selected 30th by the Golden State Warriors.
Thumb
Montrezl Harrell was selected 32nd by the Houston Rockets.
Thumb
Norman Powell was selected 46th by the Milwaukee Bucks (traded to the Toronto Raptors).
Thumb
Satnam Singh was selected 52nd by the Dallas Mavericks. Singh became the first Indian-born player to be drafted into the NBA.
More information Rnd., Pick ...
Remove ads

Notable undrafted players

Summarize
Perspective
Further information: List of undrafted NBA players

These players were not selected in the 2015 NBA draft, but have appeared in at least one regular-season or playoff game in the NBA.

More information Player, Pos. ...
Remove ads

Eligibility and entrants

Summarize
Perspective
Main article: Eligibility for the NBA draft

The draft was conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's new 2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players union. The CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes.[57] Since the 2011 CBA, the basic eligibility rules have been:

  • All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players eligible for the 2015 draft must be born on or before December 31, 1996.[58]
  • Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the CBA, must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.[58] The CBA defines "international players" as players who permanently resided outside the United States for three years prior to the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university.[59]

Early entrants

Player who are not automatically eligible must declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft.[60][61] For the 2015 draft, this date fell on April 26. After this date, "early entry" players may attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. Under the CBA, a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which is 10 days before the draft.[62] Under NCAA rules at that time, players only had until April 16 to withdraw from the draft and maintain their college eligibility.[63] In January 2016, the NCAA changed its draft withdrawal date to 10 days after the end of the annual NBA Draft Combine in May, with the 2016 draft the first to be held under the new rule.[64]

A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted.[65] Also, while the CBA allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice,[62] the NCAA then mandated that a player who declared twice lost his college eligibility.[63] The aforementioned 2016 NCAA rule change also allowed players to declare for more than one draft without losing college eligibility.[64]

This year, a total of 48 collegiate players and 43 international players declared as early entry candidates before the April 26 deadline.[66] On June 15, the withdrawal deadline, 34 early entry candidates withdrew from the draft and one early entry candidate is added, leaving 47 collegiate players and 11 international players as the early entry candidates for the draft.[67][68]

International players

Automatically eligible entrants

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:[69]

  • They have completed 4 years of their college eligibility.
  • If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
  • They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside of the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under that contract.

Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

  • They are least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players born on or before December 31, 1993, are automatically eligible for the 2015 draft.[70]
  • They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside of the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.[71]

Based on the eligibility rules, every college seniors who have completed their college eligibility and every "international" players who were born on or before December 31, 1993, are automatically eligible for the draft. However, there are other players who became automatically eligible even though they have not completed their four-year college eligibility.

More information Player, Team ...
Remove ads

Combine

Main article: NBA Draft Combine

The invitation-only NBA Draft Combine was scheduled to occur in Chicago from May 12 to 17. The on-court element of the combine was scheduled for May 14 and 15.[81]

Draft lottery

Summarize
Perspective
Main article: NBA draft lottery

The NBA conducted an annual draft lottery to determine the draft order for the teams that did not make the playoffs in the preceding season. Every NBA team that missed the NBA playoffs had a chance at winning a top three pick, but teams with worse records had a better chance at winning a top three pick. After the lottery selected the teams that receive a top three pick, the other teams received an NBA draft pick based on their winning percentage from the prior season. The table below shows each non-playoff team's chances (based on their record at the end of the NBA season) of receiving picks 1–14.

The 2015 NBA lottery was held on May 19.[82] The Minnesota Timberwolves, who had the worst record in the NBA and the highest chance to win the lottery at 25%, won the lottery. The Los Angeles Lakers moved from the fourth spot to second, while the Philadelphia 76ers got the third pick.[83] The only team that moved down from their original draft position altogether was the New York Knicks, who moved from the projected second pick to the fourth pick.

^ Denotes the actual lottery result
More information Team, 2014–15record ...
Remove ads

Draft ceremony

Summarize
Perspective

In the first round of the NBA draft, each team has up to five minutes to decide which player they would like to select. The team can also propose a trade with another team before making their selection.[84] The NBA commissioner will announce the selection and the player, wearing a basketball cap sporting the team's logo, comes up to the stage to be congratulated and presented to the audience.[85][86] In the second round, each team has up to two minutes to make their picks while the deputy commissioner assumes the commissioner's role.[87][88]

The NBA annually invites around 15–20 players to sit in the "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. When their names are called, the player leaves the room and goes up on stage. Other players who are not invited are allowed to attend the ceremony, sit in the stands with the fans and walk up on stage when (or if) they are drafted.[89] The 19 players who accepted invitations to attend the draft were Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, Sam Dekker, Jerian Grant, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky, Kevon Looney, Trey Lyles, Emmanuel Mudiay, Jahlil Okafor, Kelly Oubre Jr., Cameron Payne, Bobby Portis, Kristaps Porziņģis, D'Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, Myles Turner, and Justise Winslow.[90] International prospect Mario Hezonja did not attend because he was still involved with his then-team FC Barcelona at the time.[91][92] Three other players, R.J. Hunter, Tyus Jones, and Delon Wright all had invitations as well, but they declined their invitations for undisclosed reasons.[90]

Remove ads

Trades involving draft picks

Summarize
Perspective

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.

  1. July 11, 2012: Brooklyn Nets to Atlanta Hawks[5][6]
  2. July 15, 2014: New Orleans Pelicans to Houston Rockets (three-team trade with Washington Wizards)[8][9]
  3. July 13, 2014: Houston Rockets to Los Angeles Lakers[13][14]
    • L.A. Lakers acquired Jeremy Lin, a conditional 2015 first-round pick (protected top 14 in 2014) and a conditional 2015 second-round pick
    • Houston acquired draft rights to Sergei Lishouk
  4. June 25, 2013: Los Angeles Clippers to Boston Celtics[14][15]
    • Boston acquired a 2015 first-round pick as a compensation for allowing L.A. Clippers to hire Doc Rivers as a head coach
  5. July 11, 2012: New York Knicks to Houston Rockets[18]
  6. June 28, 2012: Philadelphia 76ers to Miami Heat[19][20]
    • Miami acquired draft rights to Justin Hamilton and a conditional future first-round pick (protected top 14 in 2013–2015, else 2015 and 2016 second-round picks)
    • Philadelphia acquired draft rights to Arnett Moultrie
    January 15, 2014: Miami Heat to Boston Celtics (three-team trade with Golden State Warriors)[21][22]
  7. June 26, 2014: Orlando Magic to Philadelphia 76ers[23]
    • Philadelphia acquired draft rights to Dario Šarić, a future first-round pick and a 2015 second-round pick
    • Orlando acquired draft rights to Elfrid Payton
  8. September 17, 2014: Sacramento Kings to Houston Rockets[25]
  9. December 19, 2014: Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers three-team trade[26]
    • Houston acquired Corey Brewer from Minnesota
    • Houston acquired Alexey Shved from Philadelphia
    • Minnesota acquired Troy Daniels, Sacramento's 2015 second-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick and cash considerations from Houston
    • Philadelphia acquired draft rights to Sergei Lishouk and a 2015 second-round pick from Houston
    • Philadelphia acquired Ronny Turiaf from Minnesota
  10. February 22, 2011: Denver Nuggets to Minnesota Timberwolves (three-team trade with New York Knicks)[27][28] June 27, 2011: Minnesota Timberwolves to Portland Trail Blazers[29]
    • Minnesota acquired draft rights to Tanguy Ngombo
    • Portland acquired Denver's 2015 second-round pick
    July 10, 2013: Portland Trail Blazers to Houston Rockets[30] February 19, 2015: Houston Rockets to Philadelphia 76ers[31]
  11. December 22, 2011: New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) to Utah Jazz[33]
    • Utah acquired a 2015 second-round pick
    • New Jersey acquired Mehmet Okur
    June 27, 2013: Utah Jazz to Atlanta Hawks[34]
    • Atlanta acquired Brooklyn's 2015 second-round pick
    • Utah acquired draft rights to Raulzinho Neto
    June 26, 2014: Atlanta Hawks to Milwaukee Bucks[35]
    • Milwaukee acquired Brooklyn's 2015 second-round pick
    • Atlanta acquired draft rights to Lamar Patterson
    June 30, 2014: Milwaukee Bucks to Brooklyn Nets[36]
    • Brooklyn re-acquired their 2015 second-round pick and also acquired a 2019 second round pick as a compensation for allowing Milwaukee to hire Jason Kidd as a head coach
  12. December 14, 2011: New Orleans Hornets (now New Orleans Pelicans) to Los Angeles Clippers[39] March 15, 2012: Los Angeles Clippers to Washington Wizards (three-team trade with Denver Nuggets)[40] February 20, 2014: Washington Wizards to Philadelphia 76ers (three-team trade with Denver Nuggets)[41][42]
    • Philadelphia acquired Eric Maynor and New Orleans' 2015 second-round pick from Washington
    • Philadelphia acquired a 2016 second-round pick from Denver
    • Washington acquired a conditional 2014 second-round pick from Philadelphia
    • Washington acquired Andre Miller from Denver
    • Denver acquired Jan Veselý from Washington
  13. June 30, 2014: Toronto Raptors to Atlanta Hawks[43]
  14. July 14, 2014: Chicago Bulls to Orlando Magic[44]
  15. June 27, 2013: Portland Trail Blazers to Cleveland Cavaliers[45]
    • Portland acquired draft rights to Allen Crabbe
    • Cleveland acquired a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick
    January 6, 2014: Cleveland Cavaliers to Chicago Bulls[46]
    • Cleveland acquired Luol Deng
    • Chicago acquired Andrew Bynum, Sacramento's conditional first-round pick, the option to swap 2015 first-round picks, Portland's 2015 second-round pick and Portland's 2016 second-round pick
    June 26, 2014: Chicago Bulls to Denver Nuggets[47] January 7, 2015: Denver Nuggets to Cleveland Cavaliers[48]
    • Cleveland acquired Timofey Mozgov and Portland's 2015 second-round pick
    • Denver acquired two conditional first-round picks
  16. July 22, 2014: Cleveland Cavaliers to Utah Jazz[49]
  17. January 12, 2015: Memphis Grizzlies to New Orleans Pelicans (three-team trade with Boston Celtics)[51]
  18. January 5, 2009: Los Angeles Clippers to Denver Nuggets[53]
    • Denver acquired a future second-round pick
    • L.A. Clippers acquired Cheikh Samb and cash considerations
  19. December 19, 2011: Golden State Warriors to Indiana Pacers[54][55] February 20, 2014: Indiana Pacers to Philadelphia 76ers[56]

Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.[93]

  1. Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks trade[7]
    • Washington acquired draft rights to 15th pick Kelly Oubre Jr.
    • Atlanta acquired draft rights to 19th pick Jerian Grant and two future second-round picks
  2. New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks trade[7][10]
  3. Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers trade[11]
  4. Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers trade[12]
    • Minnesota acquired draft rights to 24th pick Tyus Jones
    • Cleveland acquired draft rights to 31st pick Cedi Osman, draft rights to 36th pick Rakeem Christmas, and a 2019 second-round pick
  5. New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers trade[24]
    • New York acquired draft rights to 35th pick Willy Hernangómez
    • Philadelphia acquired two future second-round picks and cash considerations
  6. Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets trade[32]
    • Brooklyn acquired draft rights to 39th pick Juan Pablo Vaulet
    • Charlotte acquired a 2018 second-round pick, a 2019 second-round pick, and cash considerations
  7. Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns trade[37]
  8. Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks trade[38]
  9. Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz trade[50]
    • Portland acquired draft rights to 54th pick Dani Díez
    • Utah acquired cash considerations
  10. New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Clippers trade[52]
    • L.A. Clippers acquired draft rights to 56th pick Branden Dawson
    • New Orleans acquired cash considerations
Remove ads

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.
  2. [n 2]
    Karl-Anthony Towns was born and raised in the United States to an American father and a Dominican mother.[2] He has represented the Dominican Republic internationally since 2012.[3]
  3. [n 3]
    Okafor was born in the United States to a Nigerian father. He played for the United States at the junior level but has played for the Nigeria national basketball team since 2020.
  4. [n 4]
    Emmanuel Mudiay was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but he was raised in the United States since age 5.[4] He has not represented either country internationally.
  5. [n 5]
    Hollis-Jefferson became a naturalized Jordanian citizen in 2023 and plays for the Jordan national basketball team.
  6. [n 6]
    Cedi Osman was born in Macedonia to a Turkish father and Bosnian mother. He moved to Turkey at age 12 and became a naturalized Turkish citizen.[16] He has represented Turkey internationally since 2011.[17]
  7. [n 7]
    Brussino holds dual Argentinian and Italian citizenship. He plays for the Argentina national basketball team.
  8. [n 8]
    Dukan was born in Croatia and raised in the United States. Holding dual citizenship, he plays for the Croatia national basketball team.
  9. [n 9]
    Pangos was born in Canada and is of Slovenian descent. He holds dual citizenship and plays for the Canada national basketball team.
  10. [N 10]
    Toscano-Anderson was born in the United States and is of Mexican descent. He holds dual citizenship and plays for the Mexico national basketball team.
Remove ads

See also


References

Loading content...

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads