How Many Rounds Are in the NBA Draft?

The 2024 NBA Draft will take place on June 26 and 27 later this year. This year's class is not anywhere near as hyped as last year's Victor Wembanyama-led class was. In fact, many posit that this crop may be more devoid of high-end talent than any draft since the infamous Anthony Bennett draft. Of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert both came from that draft too, so evaluators don't know everything. As always this draft brings the chance that a franchise-changing player will end up on your favorite team's roster and you'll look back upon it fondly. Or very not fondly. The nature of sports fandom.

Anyway, you are here because you'd like to know how many rounds there will be in this year's event. So let's dive in.

How Many Rounds Are in the NBA Draft?

There are exactly two rounds in the 2024 NBA Draft. It has been this way since 1989. There are 30 picks in the first round and 28 in the second round; normally there would be an equal amount of selections in both round but the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns had their 2024 second-round picks taken away by the NBA for tampering.

How Long is the NBA Draft?

As mentioned above, the draft is two rounds long with 58 total selections. In past years the draft took place on one day and would run late into the evening as the final picks were made, usually ending up around a three-hour broadcast from Pick 1 to Pick 60 (or 58, in the case of the last two drafts). However, this year things are getting switched up. Earlier this year the NBA announced the draft would take place over two days instead of just one, with the reasoning being that no attention is paid to the second round (Nikola Jokic getting selected during a Taco Bell commercial being the most famous example). This way, those who will be picked in the second round get their moment in the spotlight and fans will be enjoy a level of analysis usually reserved for the first round.

In reality the NBA is just trying to emulate the NFL's three-day draft extravaganza as best they can and hoping that extending the draft to two days will result in increased viewership. The numbers in that regard presumably plummeted off a cliff once Round 2 started on draft nights in the past. Regardless of the reasoning, the draft will be two days long starting this year.

How Many Rounds Did There Used to Be in the NBA Draft?

The draft structure as we know it was instituted in 1989. But it changed several different times before that. Back in the first few decades of the NBA's existence, teams would simply continue to select players until the prospect pool was empty. In 1960, the draft went 21 rounds despite there only being eight teams in the league at the time. This was the setup until 1974, when the league instituted a 10-round limit on the draft. Then, in 1985 it became seven rounds. In 1988 the draft was shortened to three rounds and in 1989 it became the two-round format we know and love.

And that's everything you need to know about the number of rounds in the NBA draft.