2008 NBA draft

2008 NBA Draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)June 26, 2008
LocationMadison Square Garden (New York City, New York)
Network(s)ESPN
Overview
60 total selections in 2 rounds
LeagueNBA
First selectionDerrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
← 2007
2009 →

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. 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. 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. The Miami Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves obtained the second and third picks respectively.

For the first time in draft history the first three draft picks were all freshmen. The Chicago Bulls used the first overall pick to draft Chicago native Derrick Rose from the University of Memphis, who later went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, making him the first player to be drafted first overall and to win Rookie of the Year since LeBron James in 2003, and also became the youngest player to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 at age 22. The Miami Heat used the second pick to draft Michael Beasley from Kansas State University, and the Minnesota Timberwolves used the third pick to draft O. J. Mayo from The University of Southern California. The Seattle SuperSonics used their 4th overall pick to draft Russell Westbrook from The University of California, Los Angeles, who would go on to win the 2017 NBA MVP award and is widely considered the best player in this draft. With five players taken in the draft, the University of Kansas tied University of Connecticut (2006) and University of Florida (2007) for the record with the most players selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft until the University of Kentucky (2012) broke the record with six players drafted. Another record was set when twelve freshmen were drafted, ten of whom were drafted in the first round. Of the players drafted, 29 are forwards, 19 are guards, and 12 are centers.

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. This draft also marked the first time that an NBA D-League player was drafted.

Draft selections

PG Point guard SG Shooting guard SF Small forward PF Power forward C Center
* 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
Derrick Rose was selected 1st overall by the Chicago Bulls.
Russell Westbrook was selected 4th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics.
Kevin Love was selected 5th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies (traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves).
Eric Gordon was selected 7th by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Brook Lopez was selected 10th by the New Jersey Nets.
Roy Hibbert was selected 17th overall by the Toronto Raptors (traded to the Indiana Pacers).
JaVale McGee was selected 18th overall by the Washington Wizards.
Serge Ibaka was selected 24th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics.
DeAndre Jordan was selected 35th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Goran Dragić was selected 45th overall by the San Antonio Spurs (traded to the Phoenix Suns).
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team
1 1 Derrick Rose*~ PG  United States Chicago Bulls Memphis (Fr.)
1 2 Michael Beasley PF  United States Miami Heat Kansas State (Fr.)
1 3 O. J. Mayo SG  United States Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Memphis) USC (Fr.)
1 4 Russell Westbrook* PG  United States Seattle SuperSonics[a] UCLA (So.)
1 5 Kevin Love* PF  United States Memphis Grizzlies (traded to Minnesota) UCLA (Fr.)
1 6 Danilo Gallinari PF  Italy New York Knicks Olimpia Milano (Italy)
1 7 Eric Gordon SG  United States
 Bahamas[b]
Los Angeles Clippers Indiana (Fr.)
1 8 Joe Alexander SF  United States Milwaukee Bucks West Virginia (Jr.)
1 9 D. J. Augustin PG  United States Charlotte Bobcats Texas (So.)
1 10 Brook Lopez+ C  United States New Jersey Nets Stanford (So.)
1 11 Jerryd Bayless PG  United States Indiana Pacers (traded to Portland) Arizona (Fr.)
1 12 Jason Thompson PF  United States Sacramento Kings Rider (Sr.)
1 13 Brandon Rush SG  United States Portland Trail Blazers (traded to Indiana) Kansas (Jr.)
1 14 Anthony Randolph PF  United States
 Slovenia[c]
Golden State Warriors LSU (Fr.)
1 15 Robin Lopez C  United States Phoenix Suns (from Atlanta) Stanford (So.)
1 16 Marreese Speights PF  United States Philadelphia 76ers Florida (So.)
1 17 Roy Hibbert+ C  United States
 Jamaica[d]
Toronto Raptors (traded to Indiana) Georgetown (Sr.)
1 18 JaVale McGee C  United States Washington Wizards Nevada (So.)
1 19 JJ Hickson PF  United States Cleveland Cavaliers NC State (Fr.)
1 20 Alexis Ajinça C  France Charlotte Bobcats (from Denver) Hyères-Toulon (France)
1 21 Ryan Anderson PF  United States New Jersey Nets (from Dallas) California (So.)
1 22 Courtney Lee SG  United States Orlando Magic Western Kentucky (Sr.)
1 23 Kosta Koufos C  Greece
 United States[e]
Utah Jazz Ohio State (Fr.)
1 24 Serge Ibaka PF/C  Republic of the Congo
 Spain[f]
Seattle SuperSonics[a] (from Phoenix) L'Hospitalet (Spain)
1 25 Nicolas Batum SF  France Houston Rockets (traded to Portland) Le Mans (France)
1 26 George Hill PG  United States San Antonio Spurs IUPUI (Jr.)
1 27 Darrell Arthur PF  United States New Orleans Hornets (traded to Memphis via Portland) Kansas (So.)
1 28 Donté Greene SF  United States[g] Memphis Grizzlies (from LA Lakers, traded to Houston) Syracuse (Fr.)
1 29 D. J. White PF  United States Detroit Pistons (traded to Seattle)[a] Indiana (Sr.)
1 30 J. R. Giddens SG  United States Boston Celtics New Mexico (Sr.)
2 31 Nikola Peković C  Montenegro Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami via Boston) Partizan (Serbia)
2 32 Walter Sharpe PF  United States Seattle SuperSonics[a] (traded to Detroit) UAB (Jr.)
2 33 Joey Dorsey PF  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from Memphis, traded to Houston) Memphis (Sr.)
2 34 Mario Chalmers PG  United States Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Miami) Kansas (Jr.)
2 35 DeAndre Jordan* C  United States Los Angeles Clippers Texas A&M (Fr.)
2 36 Ömer Aşık C  Turkey Portland Trail Blazers (from New York, traded to Chicago) Fenerbahçe Ülker (Turkey)
2 37 Luc Mbah a Moute SF  Cameroon Milwaukee Bucks UCLA (Jr.)
2 38 Kyle Weaver SG  United States Charlotte Bobcats Washington State (Sr.)
2 39 Sonny Weems SG  United States Chicago Bulls (traded to Denver) Arkansas (Sr.)
2 40 Chris Douglas-Roberts SG  United States New Jersey Nets Memphis (Jr.)
2 41 Nathan Jawai PF  Australia Indiana Pacers (traded to Toronto) Cairns Taipans (Australia)
2 42 Sean Singletary PG  United States Sacramento Kings (from Atlanta) Virginia (Sr.)
2 43 Patrick Ewing Jr. SF  Jamaica Sacramento Kings Georgetown (Sr.)
2 44 Ante Tomić# C  Croatia Utah Jazz (from Philadelphia) KK Zagreb (Croatia)
2 45 Goran Dragić* PG  Slovenia San Antonio Spurs (from Toronto, traded to Phoenix) Union Olimpija (Slovenia)
2 46 Trent Plaisted# PF  United States Seattle SuperSonics[a] (from Portland via Boston, traded to Detroit) BYU (Jr.)
2 47 Bill Walker SG  United States Washington Wizards (traded to Boston) Kansas State (Fr.)
2 48 Malik Hairston SG  United States Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland, traded to San Antonio) Oregon (Sr.)
2 49 Richard Hendrix# PF  United States Golden State Warriors Alabama (Jr.)
2 50 DeVon Hardin# C  United States Seattle SuperSonics[a] (from Denver) California (Sr.)
2 51 Shan Foster# SG  United States Dallas Mavericks Vanderbilt (Sr.)
2 52 Darnell Jackson PF  United States Miami Heat (from Orlando, traded to Cleveland) Kansas (Sr.)
2 53 Tadija Dragićević# PF  Serbia Utah Jazz Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
2 54 Maarty Leunen# PF  United States Houston Rockets Oregon (Sr.)
2 55 Mike Taylor PG  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from Phoenix via Indiana, traded to LA Clippers) Idaho Stampede (D-League)
2 56 Sasha Kaun C  Russia Seattle SuperSonics[a] (from New Orleans via Houston, traded to Cleveland) Kansas (Sr.)
2 57 James Gist# PF  United States[h] San Antonio Spurs Maryland (Sr.)
2 58 Joe Crawford SG  United States Los Angeles Lakers Kentucky (Sr.)
2 59 Deron Washington# SF  United States Detroit Pistons Virginia Tech (Sr.)
2 60 Semih Erden C  Turkey Boston Celtics Fenerbahçe Ülker (Turkey)
  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.

^ a: The franchise relocated to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2008.
^ 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.
^ 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. Since 2010, he has represented Jamaica internationally.
^ e: Kosta Koufos was born and raised in the United States to Greek parents. He has represented Greece internationally.
^ f: Serge Ibaka, who was born in Congo, became a naturalized citizen of Spain in 2011. He has represented Spain internationally since 2011.
^ g: Donté Greene was born in West Germany to American parents. He has represented the United States internationally at youth level.
^ h: James Gist was born in Turkey to American parents.

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 2008 NBA Draft but have played in the NBA.

Player Position Nationality School/club team
Gary Forbes SF  Panama UMass (Sr.)
Sundiata Gaines PG  United States Georgia (Sr.)
Trey Gilder SF  United States Northwestern State (Sr.)
Mickell Gladness C  United States Alabama A&M (Sr.)
Steven Hill PF  United States Arkansas (Sr.)
Othello Hunter F  United States Ohio State (Sr.)
Othyus Jeffers SG  United States Robert Morris (IL) (Sr.)
Rob Kurz SF  United States Notre Dame (Sr.)
Salah Mejri C  Tunisia Étoile Sportive du Sahel (Tunisia)
Gal Mekel PG  Israel Wichita State (So.)
Anthony Morrow SG  United States Georgia Tech (Sr.)
Timofey Mozgov C  Russia Khimki Moscow (Russia)
DeMarcus Nelson PG  United States Duke (Sr.)
Brian Roberts PG  United States Dayton (Sr.)
Damjan Rudež F  Croatia KK Split (Croatia)
Greg Stiemsma C  United States Wisconsin (Sr.)
Reggie Williams SF  United States VMI (Sr.)

Eligibility

Early entrants

College underclassmen

The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.

International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.

Automatically eligible entrants

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.
Other automatically eligible players
Player Team Note Ref.
Australia Ryan Kersten New Zealand Breakers (Australia) Left New Mexico in 2007; playing professionally since the 2007–08 season
Netherlands Robert Krabbendam ABC Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Left Virginia Tech in 2007; playing professionally since the 2007–08 season
Australia Damian Martin West Sydney Razorbacks (Australia) Left Loyola Marymount in 2007; playing professionally since the 2007–08 season
United States Mike Taylor Idaho Stampede (NBA Development League) Left Iowa State in 2007; playing professionally since the 2007–08 season

Draft Lottery

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.

The lottery was held on May 20, 2008, in Secaucus, New Jersey. 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:

^ Denotes the actual lottery results
Team 2007–08
record
Lottery
chances
Pick
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th
Miami Heat 15–67 250 .250 .215^ .177 .358
Seattle SuperSonics 20–62 199 .199 .188 .171 .319^ .124
Minnesota Timberwolves 22–60 138 .138 .142 .145^ .238 .290 .045
Memphis Grizzlies 22–60 137 .137 .142 .145 .085 .323^ .156 .013
New York Knicks 23–59 76 .076 .084 .095 .262 .385^ .093 .004
Los Angeles Clippers 23–59 75 .075 .083 .094 .414 .294^ .039 .001
Milwaukee Bucks 26–56 43 .043 .049 .058 .600 .232^ .018 .000
Charlotte Bobcats 32–50 28 .028 .033 .039 .725 .168^ .006 .000
Chicago Bulls 33–49 17 .017^ .020 .024 .813 .122 .004 .000
New Jersey Nets 34–48 11 .011 .013 .016 .870^ .089 .002 .000
Indiana Pacers 36–46 8 .008 .009 .012 .908^ .063 .001 .000
Sacramento Kings 38–44 7 .007 .008 .010 .935^ .039 .000
Portland Trail Blazers 41–41 6 .006 .007 .009 .960^ .018
Golden State Warriors 48–34 5 .005 .006 .007 .982^

Trades involving draft picks

Draft-day trades

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

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.

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-11 12:58 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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