The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the
Washington Mutual Theatre at
Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this
draft,
National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur college
basketball players and other first-time
eligible players, including international players from non-North American professional leagues. According to the NBA, 44 players, 39 collegiate players and five international players, filed as early-entry candidates for the 2008 NBA Draft.[1] These numbers do not include players who are
automatically eligible for the draft. The
Chicago Bulls, who had a 1.7 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the
NBA draft lottery on May 22.[2][3] The Bulls' winning of the lottery was the second-largest upset in NBA Draft Lottery history behind the
Orlando Magic, who won it in
1993 with just a 1.5% chance.[4] The
Miami Heat and the
Minnesota Timberwolves obtained the second and third picks respectively.[3]
The 2008 NBA Draft was the final time that the
Seattle SuperSonics made an NBA Draft appearance, as well as the final time that the Sonics appeared in official media publications. In early July, the franchise
relocated to
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was renamed the
Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder made their first NBA Draft appearance in
2009.[9] This draft also marked the first time that an
NBA D-League player was drafted.[10]
^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.
^a: The franchise relocated to become the
Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2008.[9] ^b: Eric Gordon was born in the United States to a Bahamian mother. He had previously represented the United States when playing for Team U.S.A. in the
2010 FIBA World Championship. However, Gordon was permitted by
FIBA on August 7, 2023 to play for
The Bahamas instead, starting with the
2024 Olympics Pre-Qualifying Tournament for the Americas. ^c: Anthony Randolph was born in
West Germany to American parents and was raised in the United States. He became a naturalized citizen of Slovenia in 2017 and he has represented
Slovenia internationally.[11][12] ^d: Roy Hibbert was born in the United States to a
Jamaican father and a
Trinidadian mother. He had represented the United States internationally at youth level in 2007.[13] Since 2010, he has represented
Jamaica internationally.[14] ^e: Kosta Koufos was born and raised in the United States to Greek parents. He has represented
Greece internationally.[15] ^f: Serge Ibaka, who was born in
Congo, became a naturalized citizen of Spain in 2011.[16] He has represented
Spain internationally since 2011.[17] ^g: Donté Greene was born in
West Germany to American parents. He has represented the United States internationally at youth level.[18] ^h: James Gist was born in Turkey to American parents.[19]
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2008 NBA Draft but have played in the NBA.
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
They have no remaining 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 not in the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under the contract.
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates players born on or before December 31, 1986, were automatically eligible for the 2008 draft.
They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.
The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the
playoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery determined the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the
previous season. As it is commonplace in the event of identical win–loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 18, 2008.[25]
The lottery was held on May 20, 2008, in
Secaucus, New Jersey.[25] The
Chicago Bulls, who had the ninth-worst record, won the lottery with just a 1.7% chance to win. The
Miami Heat and
Minnesota Timberwolves, with the worst and third-worst records, respectively, won the second and third picks.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2008 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:[26][27]
d 1234 In a three-team trade, Portland acquired the draft rights to 25th pick
Nicolas Batum from
Houston, Houston acquired the draft rights to 33rd pick
Joey Dorsey from Portland and the draft rights to 28th pick
Donté Greene and a 2009 second-round draft pick from Memphis, and Memphis acquired the draft rights to 27th pick
Darrell Arthur from Portland.[28]
e Portland acquired the draft rights to 27th pick
Darrell Arthur from
New Orleans in exchange for cash considerations.[28]
gMiami acquired the draft rights to 34th pick
Mario Chalmers from Minnesota in exchange for two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations.[28]
h 12 In a three-team trade,
Chicago acquired the draft rights to 36th pick
Ömer Aşık from Portland, the Trail Blazers acquired a second-round draft pick in 2009 from Denver and two future second-round draft picks from Chicago, and Denver acquired the draft rights to 39th pick
Sonny Weems from Chicago.[28]
i 12San Antonio acquired the draft rights to 48th pick
Malik Hairston, a second-round draft pick in 2009, and cash considerations from Phoenix in exchange for the draft rights to 45th pick
Goran Dragić.[28]
j Boston acquired the draft rights to 47th pick
Bill Walker from
Washington in exchange for cash considerations.[28]
k Cleveland acquired the draft rights to 52nd pick
Darnell Jackson from
Miami in exchange for 2009 second-round draft pick.[28]
l The
L.A. Clippers acquired the draft rights to 55th pick
Mike Taylor from Portland in exchange for a 2009 second-round draft pick.[28]
m Cleveland acquired the draft rights to 56th pick
Sasha Kaun from Seattle in exchange for cash considerations.[31]
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.
o On June 25, 2008,
Charlotte acquired the 20th draft pick from
Denver in exchange for a future conditional first-round draft pick.[33] Charlotte used the pick to draft
Alexis Ajinça.
q On July 20, 2007,
Seattle acquired 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks and
Kurt Thomas from Phoenix in exchange for a 2009 second-round draft pick.[35] Seattle used the pick to draft
Serge Ibaka.
t On June 28, 2006, Portland acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick from Memphis in exchange for the draft rights to
Alexander Johnson.[39] Portland used the pick to draft
Joey Dorsey.
w On June 6, 2005,
Utah acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick from
Philadelphia in exchange for the 60th draft pick in the
2005 NBA draft.[42] Utah used the pick to draft
Ante Tomić.
x On June 28, 2007, San Antonio acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick from
Toronto in exchange for the draft rights to
Giorgos Printezis.[43] San Antonio used the pick to draft
Goran Dragić.
z On September 17, 2002, Phoenix acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick from
Cleveland in exchange for
Milt Palacio.[46] Phoenix used the pick to draft
Malik Hairston.
ab On June 7, 2007, Miami acquired 2007 and 2008 second-round draft picks from
Orlando as part of the hiring of
Stan Van Gundy as Orlando's head coach.[48] Miami used the pick to draft
Darnell Jackson.
ac On February 21, 2008, Houston re-acquired their 2008 second-round draft pick along with
Bobby Jackson and
Adam Haluska from New Orleans in a three-team trade.[49] Previously, Houston and New Orleans agreed to exchange second-round draft picks in a trade that sent
Kirk Snyder to Houston on July 14, 2006.[50] Houston used the pick to draft
Maarty Leunen.
ad On June 28, 2006, Portland acquired Indiana's 2007 and Phoenix's 2008 second-round draft picks and the draft rights to
Alexander Johnson from Indiana in exchange for the draft rights to
James White.[51] Previously, Indiana acquired a 2008 second-round draft pick on August 25, 2005, from Phoenix in exchange for
James Jones.[52] Portland used the pick to draft
Mike Taylor.
ae On June 28, 2007, Seattle acquired New Orleans' 2008 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from Houston in exchange for the draft rights to
Carl Landry.[44] Previously, Houston and New Orleans agreed to exchange second-round draft picks in a trade that sent Kirk Snyder to Houston on July 14, 2006.[50] Seattle used the pick to draft
Sasha Kaun.
^Powell, Camille (December 22, 2007).
"Fast Friends, Big Rivals". The Washington Post.
Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
^Lidz, Franz (January 22, 2007).
"Greener Pastures". Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company.
Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
^"Adanalı Fener'e doğru" [Fener to Adana]. Milliyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Demirören-Karacan. April 28, 2011. Archived from
the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
^
ab"2008 Underclassmen". The Draft Review. June 29, 2008.
Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^"2008 NBA Draft Lottery odds". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 20, 2008.
Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
^"Suns Trade Milt Palacio". NBA.com/Suns. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. September 17, 2002.
Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
"NBA.com: Draft 2008". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2010.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)