NBA
NBA discusses possibility of extending the draft
Mat Issa is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Yes, he spells his name with one "t." He's obsessed with NBA history, so much so that he's dedicated nearly two years of research to his two mini-series', "Blazing the Trail" and "The Quest for the Best." Right now, Mat goes to law school and writes about the NBA for The Analyst, Forbes, and of course, Basketball Insiders. His work has also been featured in ESPN, SB Nation, FanSided, Basketball News, ONE37pm, and Raptors Republic. Also, he's a lifelong Spartans fan. Go Green!
All posts by Mat IssaUpdated09 Nov 2023
On Wednesday, the NBA met with league executives to discuss a multitude of topics related to the league. One of those subjects was, of course, everyone’s favorite thing to talk about: the NBA Draft.
Making the NBA Draft Two Days
Don’t worry, folks. They weren’t discussing canceling the draft! No, no, the league is currently exploring the possibility of making the draft two days long – akin to how the NFL Draft is three days long.
If this were to happen, the NBA wouldn’t add any more rounds to the draft. Instead, they would dedicate one day to the first round and one day to the second round. The rationale behind this is that it grants team executives more time to make each individual selection. And given the high-stakes nature of these picks (you never know when you are passing on the next Giannis Antetokounmpo), the more time team decision-makers have to deliberate their selections, the better.
Doing this will also put more national spotlight on the second-round picks, which will help the league avoid having the next face of their company (Nikola Jokic) be drafted while they are playing a Taco Bell commercial.
Jokić was really drafted 41st during a Taco Bell commercial 🤯
He’s now a 2x MVP and headed to the Finals after winning WCF MVP pic.twitter.com/QM7qeQAShc
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 23, 2023
Has The NBA Draft Always Been Done In One Day?
Believe it or not, if the league switched over to the two-day format they discussed on Wednesday, it would not be the first time they have done it like that. In fact, there have been seven times in league history where the draft was carried out in two days. Those years were 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, and 1973.
In all of those instances, the drafts were ten rounds plus. So, there was more of a reason to stretch the event out to a second day. Although, back then, drafts were much more of a monotonous assembly line process. They weren’t nearly the grand production we have come to love today.
For those wondering, the league didn’t adopt its current two-round format until 1989.
