The NBA draft is a player’s best opportunity to be drafted into the league. Since 1947, the NBA has drafted eligible players, typically from college to the league. Below, we are going to review the history of the number 26 draft pick in the NBA.
What is the NBA Draft?
The NBA draft is an annual ceremony, in which NBA teams, through a lottery system, select eligible players from college and the international stage to join their teams. College players who have completed all four years of their education are automatically eligible for the draft.
However, college players who have not completed all four years of their education, but are one-year removed from high school, must declare their eligibility for the draft. In declaring their eligibility, these underclassmen will effectively give up their remaining college eligibility.
For international players, any player older than 22 years old are automatically eligible for the draft. However, any international player younger than 22 years old must declare their eligibility.
How Does the Lottery System Work?
The NBA draft lottery system was revamped for the 2018 season. Looking at these new rules, the 14 NBA teams which did not make the playoffs will be eligible for the first 14 picks in the draft. Under the new system, the NBA Draft Lottery will ensure that the team with the worst overall record in the league will receive no worse than the fifth overall pick.
Similarly, in the new system, the three NBA teams with the worst regular-season records will each have a 14% chance of winning the lottery and the first overall pick. Once the first four teams with the worst records have been selected, the remaining ten teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.
How Does the NBA Draft Work?
Going a bit deeper, and speaking only of the new system, the NBA draft will be televised on ESPN, who will air the results live. Drawings will be conducted to determine the first four picks, with the remaining ten picks being doled out in inverse order of an NBA teams regular-season record.
The actual lottery procedure, however, takes place in a separate room before ESPN announces the results. In this room, a member of the media, an NBA official, and a representative of the accounting firm Ernst & Young are present to ensure no foul play or tampering with the machine.
In this separate room, fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in the lottery machine. The lottery machine used by the NBA is manufactured by Smart Play Company. This company also weighs, measures, and certifies the ping-pong balls before the drawing.
There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating NBA teams.
Once all 14 balls have been placed into the machine, they will be mixed for 20-seconds before the first ball is removed. Similarly, the balls will be mixed for another 10-seconds before the second ball is drawn. Again, the machine will be mixed for another 10-seconds for both the third and fourth picks.
Full History of all 26th Overall NBA Draft Picks
| PLAYER | TEAM | AFFILIATION | YEAR | ||
| Nah’Shon Hyland | Denver Nuggets | Virginia Commonwealth | 2021 | ||
| Payton Pritchard | Boston Celtics | Oregon | 2020 | ||
| Dylan Windler | Cleveland Cavaliers | Belmont | 2019 | ||
| Landry Shamet | Philadelphia 76ers | Wichita State | 2018 | ||
| Caleb Swanigan | Portland Trail Blazers | Purdue | 2017 | ||
| Furkan Korkmaz | Philadelphia 76ers | Anadolu Efes S.K. (Turkey) | 2016 | ||
| Nikola Milutinov | San Antonio Spurs | KK Partizan (Serbia) | 2015 | ||
| PJ Hairston | Miami Heat | Texas Legends (D-League) | 2014 | ||
| Andre Roberson | Minnesota Timberwolves | Colorado | 2013 | ||
| Miles Plumlee | Indiana Pacers | Duke | 2012 | ||
| Jordan Hamilton | Dallas Mavericks | Texas | 2011 | ||
| Quincy Pondexter | Oklahoma City Thunder | Washington | 2010 | ||
| Taj Gibson | Chicago Bulls | Southern California | 2009 | ||
| George Hill | San Antonio Spurs | IUPUI | 2008 | ||
| Aaron Brooks | Houston Rockets | Oregon | 2007 | ||
| Jordan Farmar | Los Angeles Lakers | California-Los Angeles | 2006 | ||
| Jason Maxiell | Detroit Pistons | Cincinnati | 2005 | ||
| Kevin Martin | Sacramento Kings | Western Carolina | 2004 | ||
| Ndudi Ebi | Minnesota Timberwolves | Westbury Christian School | 2003 | ||
| John Salmons | San Antonio Spurs | Miami (FL) | 2002 | ||
| Samuel Dalembert | Philadelphia 76ers | Seton Hall | 2001 | ||
| Mamadou N’diaye | Denver Nuggets | Auburn | 2000 | ||
| Vonteego Cummings | Indiana Pacers | Pittsburgh | 1999 | ||
| Sam Jacobson | Los Angeles Lakers | Minnesota | 1998 | ||
| Charles Smith | Miami Heat | New Mexico | 1997 | ||
| Jerome Williams | Detroit Pistons | Georgetown | 1996 | ||
| Sherell Ford | Seattle SuperSonics | Illinois-Chicago | 1995 | ||
| Charlie Ward | New York Knicks | Florida State | 1994 | ||
| Geert Hammink | Orlando Magic | Louisiana State | 1993 | ||
| Dave Johnson | Portland Trail Blazers | Syracuse | 1992 | ||
| Mark Randall | Chicago Bulls | Kansas | 1991 | ||
| Lance Blanks | Detroit Pistons | Texas | 1990 | ||
| Vlade Divac | Los Angeles Lakers | KK Partizan (Serbia) | 1989 | ||
| Rolando Ferreira | Portland Trail Blazers | Houston | 1988 | ||
| Steve Alford | Dallas Mavericks | Indiana | 1987 | ||
| Greg Dreiling | Indiana Pacers | Kansas | 1986 | ||
| Bill Martin | Indiana Pacers | Georgetown | 1985 | ||
| Victor Fleming | Portland Trail Blazers | Xavier | 1984 | ||
| Leroy Combs | Indiana Pacers | Oklahoma State | 1983 | ||
| Ricky Frazier | Chicago Bulls | Missouri | 1982 | ||
| Brian Jackson | Portland Trail Blazers | Utah State | 1981 | ||
| Sam Worthen | Chicago Bulls | Marquette | 1980 | ||
| Bruce Flowers | Cleveland Cavaliers | Notre Dame | 1979 | ||
| Ron Carter | Los Angeles Lakers | Virginia Military Institute | 1978 | ||
| Glen Gondrezick | New York Knicks | Nevada-Las Vegas | 1977 | ||
| Jacky Dorsey | New Orleans Jazz | Georgia | 1976 | ||
| Luther Burden | New York Knicks | Utah | 1975 | ||
| Leonard Gray | Seattle SuperSonics | Long Beach State | 1974 | ||
| Allan Hornyak | Cleveland Cavaliers | Ohio State | 1973 | ||
| Dave Twardzik | Portland Trail Blazers | Old Dominion | 1972 | ||
| Amos Thomas | Buffalo Braves | Southwestern Oklahoma | 1971 | ||
| Dave Sorenson | Cleveland Cavaliers | Ohio State | 1970 | ||
| Bill Bunting | New York Knicks | North Carolina | 1969 | ||
| Ron Nelson | Baltimore Bullets | New Mexico | 1968 | ||
| Gary Gray | Cincinnati Royals | Oklahoma City | 1967 | ||
| Jim Ware | Cincinnati Royals | Oklahoma City | 1966 | ||
| Toby Kimball | Boston Celtics | Connecticut | 1965 | ||
| Freddie Crawford | New York Knicks | St. Bonaventure | 1964 | ||
| Chuck Kriston | Boston Celtics | Valparaiso | 1963 | ||
| Charles Vaughn | St. Louis Hawks | Southern Illinois | 1962 | ||
| Doug Kistler | Detroit Pistons | Duke | 1961 | ||
| Wally Frank | Los Angeles Lakers | Kansas State | 1960 | ||
| Wilson Eison | Minneapolis Lakers | Purdue | 1959 | ||
| Ralph Croswaite | Detroit Pistons | Western Kentucky | 1958 | ||
| Kurt Englebert | Detroit Pistons | Saint Joseph’s | 1957 | ||
| Bart Leach | Boston Celtics | Pennsylvania | 1955 | ||
| Don Anielak | New York Knicks | Missouri State | 1954 | ||
| John Furlong | Boston Celtics | Pepperdine | 1951 |