NBA discussing move to 2-day draft format as soon as 2024, per sources: Why it’s needed

The NBA explored the idea of extending its draft format to span two days in a recent meeting with team general managers, league sources revealed. Here are the key details:

• The potential two-day draft may be put into place as early as 2024.
• Team executives have been increasingly discussing this concept, believing they need more time to make selections in both the first and second rounds.
• The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery is set for May 12, with the draft itself scheduled for June 27.

Why it’s necessary

The current NBA Draft allows only five minutes between picks in the first round and a mere two minutes in the second round. This rush is an attempt to squeeze 60 picks into one evening between 8 p.m. and midnight (ET). As a result, the second round often gets overlooked: NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokić was famously drafted during a Taco Bell commercial.

This issue extends beyond just marketing; it also poses a time challenge for the teams involved. In the second round, completing trades involving picks within the two-minute window can be difficult. This has been evident in recent drafts where the same pick has changed hands multiple times in rapid succession. Teams looking to trade up sometimes struggle to identify the current owner of a pick before proposing a deal to acquire it. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer

Further reading

(Photo: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)