The

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at

The Theater at Madison Square Garden The Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG). It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 people and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is situated beneath the main ...

in New York City (though Madison Square Garden itself is the home of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, they do not play in the theater). As of

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, it is also the last NBA draft where a college senior was the number-one overall selection. The 2000 draft class is considered the worst in NBA history. Few of its draftees would enjoy extended careers in the league. Just three of them—top pick Kenyon Martin, first-round selection Jamaal Magloire (19th overall) and second-round pick Michael Redd (43rd overall) -- ever played in an NBA All-Star Game. Each of the three made their one and only All-Star appearance in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. The three cumulative All-Star appearances marks the lowest cumulative appearances since the 1952 NBA draft. Redd was the lone player from this draft to ever be chosen for an

All-NBA Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

(his sole appearance was on the third team in

). Only three players in this draft class won a major end-of-season award in their careers: Hedo Türkoğlu was named Most Improved Player in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Mike Miller won the NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards in 2001 and 2006 respectively, and Jamal Crawford was awarded the NBA Sixth Man of the Year three times in 2010, 2014 and 2016. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' named this entire draft class (as opposed to individual players) the sixth biggest bust of the modern era – making it the only draft class among the site's top 20 list. Just before the 2009 draft, '' ESPN.com'' columnist David Schoenfield graded all of the drafts since the institution of the draft lottery in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, and the only draft to which he gave the lowest possible grade of 'F' was the 2000 draft. Using the WARP (wins above replacement player) metric, the 2000 NBA

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 ...

class collectively produced at a rate of 17.3 wins worse than a group of "average replacement players", effectively making this draft class the only one in

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

history to leave the league's talent pool worse than it had been before. Eight of the players selected in this draft never played in an NBA game in their professional basketball careers. Both of the players drafted by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

( Chris Carrawell and Cory Hightower) are among this group.

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 2000 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

Following last year's slight dip of underclassmen, entering the new millennium, this draft saw a total of 55 underclassmen declare for the NBA draft initially. However, for collegiate players, seven of the nineteen total players that ultimately withdrew their names would be collegiate players (with Joshua Cross from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

, Jason Kapono from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, Brian Merriweather from the University of Texas Pan-American, Jeryl Sasser from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

, Kenny Satterfield from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, Karim Shabazz from

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

, and Joe White from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

being the collegiate players that withdrew their names). Overall, including the high schools and international players with the 26 college underclassmen, there were 36 total players that would be considered underclassmen. That being said, 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. * Erick Barkley – G, St. John's (sophomore) * Ernest Brown – C/F, Indian Hills CC (sophomore) * Schea Cotton – G,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(sophomore) * Jamal Crawford – G,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

(freshman) * Kaniel Dickens – F,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

(junior) * Keyon Dooling – G,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

(sophomore) * Khalid El-Amin – G,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

(junior) * Steve Eldridge – C, Henderson State (junior) *

Marcus Fizer Darnell Marcus Lamar Fizer (born August 10, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Fizer played high school basketball at Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Louisiana. As a senior, Fizer was selected to pla ...

– F, Iowa State (junior) * Donnell Harvey – F,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(freshman) * Cory Hightower – G/F, Indian Hills CC (sophomore) * Rashaad Hines – G, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi (junior) * Jimmie Hunter – G,

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

(sophomore) * DerMarr Johnson – F/G,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

(freshman) * Mark Karcher – F,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

(junior) * Andre Mahorn – F, Utah State (junior) * Paul McPherson – G, DePaul (junior) * Chris Mihm – C,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(junior) * Mike Miller – F,

(sophomore) * Jérôme Moïso – F,

(sophomore) * Joel Przybilla – C,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

(sophomore) * Michael Redd – G, Ohio State (junior) * Quentin Richardson – G, DePaul (sophomore) * JaRon Rush – F,

(sophomore) * Stromile Swift – F,

LSU 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 ...

(sophomore) * Derrick Worrell – 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)

High school players

This would be the sixth straight year in a row where players coming directly from high school can declare entry into the NBA draft after previously only allowing it one time back in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Darius Miles – F, East St. Louis Senior High School ( East St. Louis, Illinois) * DeShawn Stevenson – G,

Washington Union High School Washington Union High School is a high school in the rural community of Easton, California, Easton in Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California. Founded in 1892 (and first accredited in 1965), Washington Union is most likely the sec ...

( Easton, California)

International players

In addition to the players below, twelve total international players from all over the world had previously declared entry for this year's draft, but ultimately removed their names from the listing for one reason or another. This year saw the likes of Yugoslavian- Italian Sani Bečirovič of the KK Union Olimpija, the Yugoslavian born Goran Ćakić of the KK Beobanka, the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

born Antonis Fotsis of the Panathinaikos B.C., the Yugoslavian born

Vlado Ilievski Vlado Ilievski (; born 19 January 1980) is a former Macedonian professional basketball. Standing at , he played at the point guard position. Professional career During his career, Ilievski played for Nemetali Ogražden, KK Partizan, Antbirlik An ...

of the KK Partizan Belgrade, the

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i born Yaseen Mahmood of the Al-Rayyan SC, the Turkish born Mehmet Okur of the Tofaş Spor Kulübü, the Greek-

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n born Lazaros Papadopoulos of the Iraklis Thessaloniki, the Turkish born Kaya Peker of the Pınar Karşıyaka, the Finnish born Teemu Rannikko of the Piiloset Turku, the Yugoslavian born

Mladen Šekularac Mladen Šekularac ( sr-cyrl, Младен Шекуларац; born January 29, 1981) is a Montenegrin basketball coach and former professional player. Playing career At one point Šekularac was considered to be one of the biggest European tal ...

of the FMP Železnik, the Greek born Kostas Tsartsaris of the Peristeri B.C., and the Turkish born

Kerem Tunçeri Mehmet Kerem Tunçeri (born 14 April 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player who played at the point guard and shooting guard positions.He is 194 cm (6 ft 4 in) in height and 86 kg (190 lbs.) in weight. Nati ...

of the Efes Pilsen all initially declare their entry into the 2000 NBA draft, only to later withdraw from it for one reason or another. The following international players below, however, did successfully apply for early draft entrance. * Aleksey Savrasenko – C, Olympiacos (

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

) * Dalibor Bagarić – C, Benston Zagreb (

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) * Primož Brezec – C, Olimpija (

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) * David Mushkudiani – F, Lukoil Academic (

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) * Stevan Nađfeji – F, Beobanka (

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

) * Olumide Oyedeji – F, DJK Würzburg (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) * Jake Tsakalidis – C, AEK (

) * Hedo Türkoğlu – F, Efes Pilsen (

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

)

References

External links

*
2000 NBA Draft
at Basketball-reference.com {{NBA on TNT

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 NBA draft NBA draft 2000s in Minneapolis Basketball in Minnesota Events in Minneapolis Sports in Minneapolis