The 2007 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2007, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was broadcast on television in 115 countries. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
Freshman Greg Oden from Ohio State University was drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, who won the draft lottery. However, he missed the 2007–08 season due to microfracture surgery on his right knee during the pre-season. Another freshman, Kevin Durant, was drafted second overall from the University of Texas by the Seattle SuperSonics, and went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award for the 2007–08 season. Oden and Durant became the first freshmen to be selected with the top two picks in the draft. Al Horford, the son of former NBA player Tito Horford, was drafted third by the Atlanta Hawks. Of the three top picks, Durant has been a League MVP, a two-time finals MVP and perennial All-Star while Horford has enjoyed a solid All-Star career. Oden, however, was beset by numerous microfracture surgeries on both knees that limited him to only 82 games from to .
On the night after the draft, the Seattle Supersonics traded seven-time All-Star Ray Allen along with the draft rights of the 35th pick Glen Davis to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and the draft rights to the 5th pick, Jeff Green. The Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks were also involved in a multi-player trade that sent Zach Randolph to the Knicks and Steve Francis to the Blazers. Apart from those two trades, nine further draft-day trades were announced.
The 2007 draft marked the first time three players drafted in the top 10 came from the same school: the University of Florida. Florida, the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball champion, tied the record set by the University of Connecticut in 2006 with five players selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft. Florida joined nine other schools, including Connecticut, that had five players selected in an NBA draft, second only to UNLV, which had six players selected in the eight-round 1977 draft. Five players who competed in the 2007 NCAA Basketball National Championship Final were selected in the top 10; three players came from Florida, and two players came from the runner-up, Ohio State University. This draft also set the record number of freshmen drafted in the first round when eight freshmen were selected. Of the 60 players drafted, eight were freshmen, five were sophomores, 14 were juniors, 20 were seniors, and 13 were international players without U.S. college basketball experience. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors all did not have a draft pick this year, although Indiana and Toronto each acquired a drafted player's rights after the draft. As of 2025, the only remaining active NBA players from this draft are Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley, and Jeff Green.
Draft selections
PGPoint guard SGShooting guard SFSmall forward PFPower forward CCenter
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team 1 1 C Portland Trail Blazers Ohio State (Fr.)12*~ SF Seattle SuperSonics Texas (Fr.) 1 3* C Atlanta Hawks Florida (Jr.) 1 4 + PG Memphis Grizzlies Ohio State (Fr.) 1 5 SF Boston Celtics (traded to Seattle SuperSonics) Georgetown (Jr.) 1 6 PF Milwaukee Bucks Guangdong Southern Tigers (China) 1 7 SF Minnesota Timberwolves Florida (Jr.) 1 8 PF Charlotte Bobcats (traded to Golden State) North Carolina (Fr.) 1 9* C Chicago Bulls (from New York) Florida (Jr.) 1 10 C Sacramento Kings Washington (Fr.) 1 11 PG Atlanta Hawks (from Indiana) Texas A&M (Sr.) 1 12 PF Philadelphia 76ers Georgia Tech (Fr.) 1 13 SF New Orleans Hornets Kansas (So.) 1 14 SF Los Angeles Clippers Florida State (Sr.) 1 15 SG Detroit Pistons (from Orlando) Eastern Washington (So.) 1 16 SG Washington Wizards USC (Jr.) 1 17 PF New Jersey Nets ege (Jr.) 1 18 SG Golden State Warriors Fortitudo Bologna (Italy) 1 19 PG Los Angeles Lakers Georgia Tech (Fr.) 1 20 PF Miami Heat (traded to Philadelphia) Colorado State (Jr.) 1 21 SG Philadelphia 76ers (from Denver, traded to Miami) Ohio State (Fr.) 1 22 SF Charlotte Bobcats (from Toronto via Cleveland) Boston College (Sr.) 1 23 SF New York Knicks (from Chicago) DePaul (So.) 1 24 SG Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland via Boston, traded to Portland) Joventut Badalona (Spain) 1 25 SG Utah Jazz Rice (Sr.) 1 26 PG Houston Rockets Oregon (Sr.) 1 27 SG Detroit Pistons UCLA (Jr.) 1 28 C San Antonio Spurs TAU Cerámica (Spain) 1 29 SF Phoenix Suns Wisconsin (Sr.) 1 30 # SG Philadelphia 76ers (from Dallas via Golden State and Denver, traded to Portland) Tapiolan Honka (Finland) 2 31 PF Seattle SuperSonics (from Memphis, traded to Houston) Purdue (Sr.) 2 32 PG Boston Celtics USC (Jr.) 2 33 SF San Antonio Spurs (from Milwaukee) Arizona (So.) 2 34 PF Dallas Mavericks (from Atlanta) Nevada (Sr.) 2 35 PF Seattle SuperSonics (traded to Boston) LSU (Jr.) 2 36 PF Golden State Warriors (from Minnesota, traded to Charlotte) Alabama (Sr.) 2 37 PF Portland Trail Blazers Duke (So.) 2 38 C Philadelphia 76ers (from New York via Chicago, traded to Utah) SK Cherkassy (Ukraine)) 2 39# C Miami Heat (from Sacramento via Utah and Orlando, traded to Indiana) Široki Brijeg (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 2 40 SF Los Angeles Lakers (from Charlotte) Beijing Olympians (ABA) 2 41 PF Minnesota Timberwolves (from Philadelphia) Florida (Sr.) 2 42 SG Portland Trail Blazers (from Indiana, traded to Philadelphia) Vanderbilt (Sr.) 2 43 # SG New Orleans Hornets Iowa (Sr.) 2 44 # SF Orlando Magic (traded to Dallas) North Carolina (Sr.) 2 45# PG Los Angeles Clippers Marist (Sr.) 2 46 PF Golden State Warriors (from New Jersey) Massachusetts (Sr.) 2 47 SF Washington Wizards Fresno State (Jr.) 2 48* C Los Angeles Lakers Akasvayu Girona (Spain) 2 49 C Chicago Bulls (from Golden State via Phoenix, Boston and Denver) Pittsburgh (Sr.) 2 50 # SG Dallas Mavericks (from Miami via L.A. Lakers) Maroussi (Greece) 2 51 PG Chicago Bulls (from Denver) Oklahoma State (Jr.) 2 52 PG Portland Trail Blazers (from Toronto) Florida (Jr.) 2 53 SF Portland Trail Blazers (from Chicago, traded to New York) Syracuse (Sr.) 2 54 # SF Houston Rockets (from Cleveland via Orlando) Townsville Crocodiles (Australia) 2 55# PF Utah Jazz (traded to Philadelphia) Providence (Sr.) 2 56 PG Milwaukee Bucks (from Houston) Nevada (Jr.) 2 57 # SG Detroit Pistons DePaul (Sr.) 2 58 # PF San Antonio Spurs (traded to Toronto) Olympia Larissa (Greece) 2 59 PG Phoenix Suns Maryland (Sr.) 2 60 http://www.nba.com/historical/search/index.jsp?kw=Milovan%20Rakovic#results # C Dallas Mavericks (traded to Orlando) Mega Ishrana (Serbia)
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2007 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. Player Position Nationality School/club teamPGMissouri State (Sr.)CUNLV (Sr.)C/PFBaloncesto Fuenlabrada (Spain)PGCal State Fullerton (Sr.)PF/CMidwestern State (Sr.)PGVirginia Tech (Sr.)SGAmerican (Sr.)PFCal State San Bernardino (Sr.)SGJackson State (Sr.)SGBoise State (Sr.)PG/SGHouston (Sr.)SF/SGKansas State (Sr.)SGTowson (Sr.)PGArizona (Sr.)CMichigan (Sr.)PFSaski Baskonia (Spain)PFCreighton (Sr.)CSyracuse (Sr.) G Georgia Tech (Sr.)
Draft lottery
The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the playoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery would determine the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. On April 20, 2007, the NBA performed a tie-breaker to determine the order of the picks for teams with identical win–loss record.
The lottery was held on May 22, 2007, in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Portland Trail Blazers, who had the seventh-worst record in the previous season, won the lottery with just a 5.3% chance to win. This was the fourth time that the Blazers had the first overall draft pick and the first time that the Blazers won the draft lottery since it was introduced in 1985. The Seattle Supersonics, who had the fifth-worst record, and the Atlanta Hawks, who had the fourth-worst record, obtained the second and third pick, respectively.
Three teams who had the worst records—the Memphis Grizzlies, the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks—obtained the fourth, fifth and sixth pick, respectively. These were the lowest possible picks they could have obtained through the lottery. The most recent draft in which the three worst teams did not receive the top three picks was in 1993.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2007 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places: ^Denotes the actual lottery results Team2006–07recordLotterychancesPick1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14thMemphis Grizzlies22–60250.250.215.178.357^——————————Boston Celtics24–58199.199.188.171.319.123^—————————Milwaukee Bucks28–54156.156.157.156.226.265.041^————————Atlanta Hawks30–52119.119.126.133^.099.350.161.013———————Seattle SuperSonics31–5188.088.097^.107—.261.359.084.004——————Minnesota Timberwolves32–5053.053.060.070——.439.331^.046.001—————Portland Trail Blazers32–5053.053^.060.070———.572.226.018.000————Charlotte Bobcats33–4919.019.022.027————.725^.196.011.000———New York Knicks33–4919.019.022.027—————.784^.143.005.000——Sacramento Kings33–4918.018.021.025——————.846^.087.002.000—Indiana Pacers35–478.008.009.012———————.907^.063.001.000Philadelphia 76ers35–477.007.008.010————————.935^.039.000New Orleans Hornets39–436.006.007.009—————————.960^.018Los Angeles Clippers40–425.005.006.007——————————.982^
Eligibility
The basic requirements for draft eligibility are: All drafted players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1988). Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.
The CBA defines "international players" as players who permanently resided outside the U.S. for three years before the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university.
The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility. Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players" are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1985).
A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft. On June 19, 2007, NBA announced that 32 college players and 6 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the 2007 Draft, while 46 players who had previously declared as early entry candidates had withdrawn from the draft.
Early entrants College underclassmen The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
Arron Afflalo – G, UCLA (junior) Shagari Alleyne – C, Manhattan (junior) Corey Brewer – F, Florida (junior) Dwight Brewington – G, Liberty (junior) Wilson Chandler – F, DePaul (sophomore) Mike Conley Jr. – G, Ohio State (freshman) Daequan Cook – G, Ohio State (freshman) Javaris Crittenton – G, Georgia Tech (freshman) JamesOn Curry – G, Oklahoma State (junior) Glen Davis – F, LSU (junior) Kevin Durant – F, Texas (freshman) Jeff Green – F, Georgetown (junior) Taurean Green – G, Florida (junior)