Why is the NBA Draft happening over 2 days?

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2024 NBA Draft.

From the dazzling ‘fits, to the surprising trades, to commissioner Adam Silver calling players one by one, the NBA Draft is a fixture on the league’s calendar.

On Wednesday night, another edition will commence — but with a twist.

Once the first round concludes with the 30th pick, held by the Boston Celtics, the festivities will end for the night. The second round will begin Thursday afternoon when the Toronto Raptors make the 31st selection.

For the first time, the NBA Draft will take place over two days. Here’s why.

Why is the NBA Draft two days?

The NBA discussed the possibility of expanding the draft to two days during a meeting with general managers last November, as team executives believed they could use more time to make selections.

With the one-night model, teams had five minutes to make picks in the first round and just two minutes in the second, intending to cram 60 picks in between 8 p.m. and midnight ET. The second round became an afterthought with the condensed schedule. Perhaps the most notable example of that was Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić getting drafted during a Taco Bell commercial (he was the 41st pick in 2014).

The first round, at Barclays Center in New York, will continue to feature five minutes between selections, while the second round, broadcast from ESPN’s Seaport District studios, will see four minutes between picks.

“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,” Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, said in a statement in January.

The NBA Draft has always been over one day. It has been limited to two rounds since 1989.

What time is the first round?

The first round of the NBA Draft starts at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday on ESPN.

What time is the second round?

The second round of the NBA Draft begins at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday on ESPN.

How does this compare to other sports?

The NBA Draft now emulates the NHL Draft model. While the NHL Draft is longer (seven rounds), it occurs over two days. Night one is the first round of selections with rounds two through seven taking place the next day. Unlike the NBA, the NHL Draft begins its second round in the morning.

The NFL Draft is similar to the NBA Draft with the first round occurring on the first night. Like the NHL, the NFL Draft has seven rounds. Rounds two and three take place on one night (Friday) and the rest of the draft (rounds four through seven) occur on Saturday afternoon.

The MLB Draft takes place over three days. A 20-round draft, MLB’s first two rounds occur on the first night. Rounds three through 10 take place on day two with 11 through 20 happening on day three.

Other drafts, including the WNBA Draft (three rounds), MLS SuperDraft (three rounds), NWSL Draft (four rounds) and PWHL Draft (seven rounds), occur on one day.

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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)