The 1988

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, prior to their inaugural season.

Draft

150px, Craig Neal, the 71st pick

Notable undrafted players

This section is for players who were eligible for the 1988 NBA draft, did not get selected, but still later appeared in at least one NBA regular season or postseason game. Lipofsky-John Starks

Notes

*On June 23, 1988, the Heat received the 1988 NBA Draft first-round draft pick from the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

for not picking centers Bill Wennington and Uwe Blab or guard

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

in the 1988 NBA expansion draft. *On June 23, 1988, the Heat received the 1988 NBA Draft second-round draft pick from the Seattle SuperSonics for not selecting guard Danny Young in the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

For the sixth year in a row and the tenth time in eleven years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, for the third time in a row, there would be at least one player that qualified for the status of "college underclassman" while playing professional basketball overseas. In this case, three players ended up qualifying for this case with

Lloyd Daniels Lloyd "Swee'Pea" Daniels (born September 4, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Daniels grew up in Brooklyn, and was raised by his relatives from the age ...

leaving Mt. San Antonio College to play for the Waitemata Dolphins in

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, the Argentinian born Hernán Montenegro leaving

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

to play for Olimpo de Bahía Blanca in his home land of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and Eddie Pope leaving the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

to play for Saint-Étienne Basket in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. If you include those three players, the number of college underclassmen increases from nine to twelve total players for this year. Regardless, the following

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Marvin Alexander – F, Memphis (junior) * Rex Chapman – G,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(sophomore) *

Sylvester Gray Sylvester Gray (born July 8, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (35th overall) of the 1988 NBA draft. A 6'6" small forward from Memphis State University, Gray playe ...

– F, Memphis (sophomore) * Tito Horford – C, Miami (Florida) (sophomore) * Mike Jones – F, Auburn (junior) *

Jerome Lane Jerome Lane Sr. (born December 4, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lane played college basketball for the University of Pittsburgh, where he was an Al ...

– F,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

(junior) * Dwayne Lewis – G,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

(junior) * Charles Shackleford – F/C, NC State (junior) * Rod Strickland – G, DePaul (junior)

Other eligible players

This would be the third year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. However, it would be the second year in a row where multiple players would qualify for such a feat and the first where none of the underclassmen players would play in Italy after the previous two drafts had a player go to Italy first before being drafted. It was also the second year where a foreign-born player would qualify as an underclassman while also playing for an international team and the first time it happened while said player was playing for what would be considered his home nation.

References

External links

1988 NBA Draft
{{NBA on TBS

Draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

NBA draft

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