Why is the 2025 NBA Draft divided in 2 days? How many players are selected each day?
The Draft this year sees a few tweaks, with one of them being that the event will take place over two days.
After an agreement was struck last year between the NBA and NBPA, starting in 2024 the NBA draft will be a two-day broadcast.
This change sent some fans into a stir: when will the Draft take place? Has the format changed? Why have they got rid of my four-hour-long popcorn session?
The answer, as tough as it may seem to have one of the biggest nights in the sport switched up, does exist. Let’s take a look...
1996 Mock NBA Draft pic.twitter.com/mgmIdxF0UH
— Big East Rewind & Hoops 24/7 (@bigeastrewind) June 24, 2024
When and where is the 2025 NBA Draft?
The Draft will take place on Wednesday, June 25 and the second round on Thursday, June 26. The action will start at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on both days.
The first round will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., home of the Brooklyn Nets. The second round will take place at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.
Why is the Draft taking place over 2 days?
When asked why the format has changed, Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations said that “based on feedback about the NBA Draft format from basketball executives around the league and my own experience in draft rooms, we believe that teams will benefit from being able to regroup between rounds and having additional time to make decisions during the second round”.
“Two nights of primetime coverage will also enhance the viewing experience for our fans and further showcase the draftees”, he concluded.
The following has been released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/5uHzIVhVQK
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 31, 2024
How many players get selected on each night of the Draft?
As for the format of the Draft now it is taking place over two nights, it remains essentially the same: The first round will continue to have five minutes between draft picks while the second round will increase from two minutes to four minutes.
Each NBA team gets one selection in the first round and one selection in the second round.
When Nikola Jokic was drafted 9 years ago, his pick was so inconsequential that a Taco Bell spot ran over his pick.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 13, 2023
It was so inconsequential to him that he was angry at his brother for waking him up in Serbia.
Now becoming one of the best to ever playpic.twitter.com/lRsrxjjWFa
While it may seem like the Draft being split over two days is just, ahem, a way to make more broadcasting money, there is actually a rather valid argument for the case. Even though the ‘old’ format allowed a total of 60 picks to be made over a four-hour-long show, it did take away the sense of drama from the second round.
NBA fans will remember - or rather not - the time when now NBA legend Nikola Jokić was drafted back in 2014... during a Taco Bell commercial break. Let’s hope we don’t get any more hilarious slip-ups like that this year when the 58 teams (not 60) take their pick of the bunch.
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