by: Karim Benelmouffok
On June 28th, 2007 the NBA draft will be held in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
A new eligibility rule has been put in place preventing anyone from entering the NBA draft until they are one year out of High School. Because of this rule many players have gone and are going on to college for one year before they enter the NBA draft the following year.
The NBA draft consists of two rounds with thirty selections per round. The order of the selection is based on many rules. The first fourteen picks of the draft belong to the teams that didn’t enter the playoffs. These fourteen teams participate in the NBA draft lottery to determine the first three picks of the Draft. After these three teams have been determined, the remaining team’s spot is determined by their regular season record with the worst record getting the highest pick remaining. Therefore the team with the best record selects last.
The lottery is usually held during the fourth week of May. This year it will be held on May 22nd, 2007. Fourteen ping-pong balls are numbered and put into a standard lottery machine.
Although this year Memphis had the worst record they only have a 25% chance of retaining the first pick. Boston had the second to worst record and they will have a 19.9% chance of retaining the first pick. ESPN will have full coverage on both events. You can catch the NBA Draft Lottery on ESPN at 8:30. You can also catch the 2007 NBA draft on ESPN at 7:00 P.M.
For more information check out the NBA’s Web site at:
