NBA
What is the NBA Draft Green Room and who has been invited this year 2024?
The 2024 NBA Draft has arrived. Over the next 48 hours, franchises will select the most promising stars of the future - 24 of them will watch it unfold from the Green Room.
The 2024 NBA Draft is here with the first round getting underway at 8 p.m. EDT / 5 p.m. PDT this evening. All 30 NBA teams will choose the most skilled and promising young players to feature in the best league in the world at the event, which will be held at at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York - the venue to staged the event since 2013.
This year, the league has invited 25 prospects to follow the draft live from the Green Room, the staging area in front of the NBA draft podium where the future stars and their families will be waiting for their names to be called out.
Zach Edey declines Green Room invite
One player, Purdue graduate Zach Edey, turned down the chance to watch his destiny unfold from the luxury of the Green Room. The 7 foot 4 center from Toronto said he would feel more comfortable watching the draft in private alongside family and friends at home in West Lafayette.
Edey, one of the big names to look out for in this year’s draft, was listed in last year’s but withdrew at the last minute to continue for a fourth season of college basketball. He is projected to be selected around the No. 15 spot.
Who gets invited to the Green Room?
To establish who will be invited to the Green Room, presidents or general managers of teams picking in the first round are asked to vote on the top 25 players they expect to be drafted in the opening round.
The number is limited to 25 for practical reasons. The NBA Draft can be a long and intense night and it’s not much fun for young players to be sat anxiously waiting in front of a national television audience for hours on end.
2024 NBA Draft Green Room invitees
- Alex Sarr (France)
- Zaccharie Risacher (France)
- Donovan Clingan (UCONN)
- Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)
- Matas Buzelis (G League Ignite)
- Stephon Castle (UCONN
- Dalton Knecht (Tennessee)
- Tidjane Salaun (France)
- Ron Holland (G League Ignite)
- Cody Williams (Colorado)
- Devin Carter (Providence)
- Ja'Kobe Walters (Baylor)
- Rob Dillingham (Kentucky)
- Nikola Topic (Serbia)
- Jared McCain (Duke)
- Johnny Furphy (Kansas)
- Kyshawn George (Miami)
- Isaiah Collier (USC)
- Yves Missi (Baylor)
- Tristan da Silva (Colorado)
- Kel'el Ware (Indiana)
- Carlton Carrington (Pittsburgh)
- DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
- Kyle Filipowski (Duke)
Who are the Green Room invitees this year?
Generally, being invited to the Green Room typically translates into a good Draft night, as they have big chances of being selected in the first 30 picks.
However, it’s not always the case. In the 2022-23 Draft, 24 players were invited to the Green Room, with one player, Jaden Hardy (No. 37), not selected in the first round.
The first round of invites to sit in the Green Room are usually sent out two-to-three weeks before the draft. Players will be allowed to invite six people to sit alongside them at their individual tables - last year, a maximum of 10 guests were allowed.