The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City.
This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players and the basketball Hall of Fame, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Other notable selections include Kevin Johnson, Kenny Smith, Horace Grant, Reggie Lewis, Muggsy Bogues, Mark Jackson, and Šarūnas Marčiulionis. Also in this draft was former Florida Gators men's basketball head coach Billy Donovan (drafted 68th by the Utah Jazz), who led that program to NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships in 2006 and in 2007.
David Robinson did not join the NBA until the 1989–90 season due to his service commitment with the United States Navy. This was the last NBA draft to go over three rounds, as it was reduced to three the next year and later to two since 1989.
Draft selections PG Point guard SG Shooting guard SF Small forward PF Power forward C Center
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team 1 1 ^~ C San Antonio Spurs Navy 1 2 PF Phoenix Suns UNLV 1 3 SF New Jersey Nets Ohio State 1 4 SF Los Angeles Clippers Georgetown 1 5 ^ SF Seattle SuperSonics Central Arkansas 1 6 Kenny Smith PG Sacramento Kings North Carolina 1 7 Kevin Johnson* PG Cleveland Cavaliers California 1 8 C Chicago Bulls Hamby Rimini 1 9 SF/PF Seattle SuperSonics Alabama 1 10 Horace Grant+ PF/C Chicago Bulls Clemson 1 11 Reggie Miller^ SG Indiana Pacers UCLA 1 12 PG Washington Bullets Wake Forest 1 13 C Los Angeles Clippers North Carolina 1 14 PF Golden State Warriors Western Kentucky 1 15 PF Utah Jazz Oregon State 1 16 C Philadelphia 76ers Washington 1 17 SG Portland Trail Blazers Jacksonville 1 18 +~ PG New York Knicks St. John's 1 19 SF Los Angeles Clippers Illinois 1 20 SG Dallas Mavericks Alabama 1 21 C Atlanta Hawks DePaul 1 22 + SG Boston Celtics Northeastern 1 23 PF San Antonio Spurs Houston 2 24 # SG Detroit Pistons UNLV 2 25 C New York Knicks West Virginia State 2 26 SG Dallas Mavericks Indiana 2 27 PG San Antonio Spurs Temple 2 28 SF Chicago Bulls Houston 2 29 # C Portland Trail Blazers Jackson State 2 30 SF Portland Trail Blazers LSU 2 31 PF Denver Nuggets Loyola (IL) 2 32 SFMilwaukee BucksMorehead State 2 33 PG Chicago Bulls Tennessee 2 34 PF Indiana Pacers UNC Wilmington 2 35 SG Houston Rockets Purdue 2 36 SG Washington Bullets Middle Tennessee 2 37 # SF Washington Bullets USC 2 38 SF Los Angeles Clippers Kansas State 2 39 SG/SF Philadelphia 76ers Memphis State 2 40 PG Milwaukee Bucks Southwest Missouri State 2 41 SF Cleveland Cavaliers Western Kentucky 2 42 # SG Atlanta Hawks Wagner 2 43 # F Philadelphia 76ers Virginia 2 44 # PG Atlanta Hawks Alabama 2 45 PF/C Boston Celtics Iowa 2 46 # G Phoenix Suns Georgia Tech 3 47 # G Los Angeles Clippers Oklahoma 3 48 SG New Jersey Nets Virginia Union 3 49 # F New York Knicks McNeese State 3 50 C San Antonio Spurs Washington 3 51 # C Sacramento Kings Oregon 3 52 SF Cleveland Cavaliers Notre Dame 3 53 SF Phoenix Suns Texas A&M 3 54 # F Denver Nuggets Iowa State 3 55 # G Seattle SuperSonics Duke 3 56 # F Chicago Bulls Millersville 3 57 # F Philadelphia 76ers Alaska Anchorage 3 58 PG Golden State Warriors Michigan State 3 59 # F Washington Bullets Jacksonville 3 60 # F Indiana Pacers Columbia 3 61 # C Utah Jazz Western Kentucky 3 62 # F Philadelphia 76ers Rutgers 3 63 SG Portland Trail Blazers Iowa 3 64 # F Milwaukee Bucks Wisconsin 3 65 PF Detroit Pistons Pepperdine 3 66 # C Dallas Mavericks UTEP 3 67 # F Atlanta Hawks Shandong () 3 68 PG Utah Jazz Providence 3 69 # F Los Angeles Lakers St. John's 4 70 # C Boston Celtics Virginia 4 71 # C New York Knicks Drake 4 72 # G New Jersey Nets Florida 4 73 # F San Antonio Spurs Pikeville 4 74 SF Sacramento Kings Niagara 4 75 C Cleveland Cavaliers Yale 4 76 # G Phoenix Suns Arizona State 4 77 # F Denver Nuggets Marquette 4 78 # F Seattle SuperSonics Tampa 4 79 C Chicago Bulls UCLA 4 80 # G Cleveland Cavaliers TCU 4 81 # C Washington Bullets San Diego 4 82 # F Houston Rockets Lewis 4 83 # F Golden State Warriors NC State 4 84 # C Utah Jazz Alabama State 4 85 # F Philadelphia 76ers Tulsa 4 86 # G Portland Trail Blazers Florida State 4 87 # C Milwaukee Bucks Austin Peay 4 88 PF Detroit Pistons North Carolina 4 89 # F Dallas Mavericks Oklahoma 4 90 # C Atlanta Hawks Panionios 4 91 # F Boston Celtics Oklahoma 4 92 # G Los Angeles Lakers Norfolk State 5 93 # F Los Angeles Clippers Georgia 4 94 # G New Jersey Nets Kentucky 5 95 # F New York Knicks Vanderbilt 5 96 # G San Antonio Spurs Georgia 5 97 # G Sacramento Kings Michigan State 5 98 # G Cleveland Cavaliers TCU 5 99 # C Phoenix Suns Pacific 5 100 SF Denver Nuggets New Orleans 5 101 # G Seattle SuperSonics Clemson 5 102 # G Chicago Bulls LSU 5 103 # F Indiana Pacers Charlotte 5 104 # G Houston Rockets Northeastern 5 105 # C Golden State Warriors SMU 5 106 # G Washington Bullets Texas 5 107 SG Utah Jazz Nebraska–Kearney 5 108 # G Philadelphia 76ers American 5 109 # F Portland Trail Blazers Tulsa 5 110 # F Milwaukee Bucks UC Santa Barbara 5 111 # C Detroit Pistons Iowa 5 112 # C Dallas Mavericks Iowa State 5 113 # G Atlanta Hawks Joventut Badalona 5 114 # F Boston Celtics California 6 115 # G Los Angeles Lakers New Mexico State 6 116 C Los Angeles Clippers Duke 6 117 # G New York Knicks Syracuse 6 118 # G New Jersey Nets Penn 6 119 # F San Antonio Spurs Pensacola Tornados 6 120 # F Sacramento Kings Indiana 6 121 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Villanova 6 122 # F Phoenix Suns Akron 6 123 # G Denver Nuggets New Mexico 6 124 # C Seattle SuperSonics BYU 6 125 # G Chicago Bulls Illinois 6 126 # G Indiana Pacers UNLV 6 127 ^ SG Golden State Warriors Statyba Vilnius 6 128 # C Washington Bullets Washington State 6 129 # G Houston Rockets Tennessee 6 130 # G Utah Jazz Bloomfield 6 131 # G Philadelphia 76ers UAB 6 132 # G Portland Trail Blazers Loyola Chicago 6 133 # F Milwaukee Bucks VMI 6 134 # F Detroit Pistons Michigan 6 135 # F Dallas Mavericks UTEP 6 136 # F Atlanta Hawks Berloni Torino 6 137 # F Boston Celtics Wisconsin–Stevens Point 6 138 # G Los Angeles Lakers Auburn 7 139 # C Los Angeles Clippers Wichita State 7 140 # G New Jersey Nets Bowling Green 7 141 # G New York Knicks Saint Joseph's 7 142 # F San Antonio Spurs Texas 7 143 # G Sacramento Kings Upsala 7 144 # G Cleveland Cavaliers South Carolina 7 145 # G Phoenix Suns Grand Canyon 7 146 # F Denver Nuggets Hampton 7 147 # F Seattle SuperSonics NC State 7 148 # G Chicago Bulls Central Michigan 7 149 # G Indiana Pacers UCLA 7 150 # G Washington Bullets TCU 7 151 # F Houston Rockets Campbell 7 152 # G Golden State Warriors West Virginia State 7 153 # G Utah Jazz Harvard 7 154 # F Philadelphia 76ers West Virginia 7 155 # F Portland Trail Blazers George Fox 7 156 # F Denver Nuggets North Carolina 7 157 # G Detroit Pistons Alabama 7 158 # G Dallas Mavericks Auburn 7 159 # C Atlanta Hawks Cibona 7 160 # C Boston Celtics Northeastern 7 161 # F Los Angeles Lakers Central Washington
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the draft but still appeared in at least one regular or postseason NBA game. Player Position Nationality School/club team F Florida State SG CSKA Moscow PG UC Irvine PF Gonzaga C Marquette C Union Olimpija F Melbourne Tigers PG Kansas PG UNLV F Nevada PG Fairfield
Early entrants College underclassmen For the fifth year in a row and the ninth time in ten years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. However, it would be the second year in a row that a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, as the Haitian born Olden Polynice (who had previously played for the University of Virginia for a year before travelling to Italy to play for the Hamby Rimini) would qualify as an official entry there. Not only that, but it would also be the first time in NBA history (second time if you include the 1973 entry of David Brent from the Carolina Cougars in the rivaling ABA after previously playing for Jacksonville University) that an underclassman would declare entry by playing in another American basketball league (in this case, Ricky Brown previously going from the University of South Alabama to the Pensacola Tornados of the Continental Basketball Association minor league) first before entering an NBA draft. If those two players get included into the list properly, the number of "college underclassmen" that would qualify for this year's draft would increase from seven to nine total players. Regardless, these following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
Vincent Askew – F, Memphis (junior) Norris Coleman – F, Kansas State (sophomore) Kenny Drummond – G, High Point (junior) Derrick McKey – F, Alabama (junior) Russell Pierre – F, Virginia Tech (junior) Reinhard Schmuck – F, Baruch (junior) Kevin Smith – F, Minnesota (junior)
Other eligible players This would be the second year in a row that a player that previously played in college would enter the NBA draft as an underclassman (coincidentally also playing for an Italian basketball team while doing so). Not only that, but this would also be the second year in NBA history (third if you include David Brent's 1973 NBA draft entry while he was a part of the Carolina Cougars in the rivaling American Basketball Association) that an underclassman would enter the NBA draft by playing in another American basketball league (in this case, the Continental Basketball Association minor league) first; the first case happened in 1971 with Joe Hammond from the Allentown Jets in what was formerly called the Eastern Basketball Association. It was also the first year where a foreign-born player would qualify as an underclassman while also playing for an international team. Player Note Ref. Ricky Brown Pensacola Tornados (CBA) Left South Alabama in 1986; playing professionally since the 1986–87 season Olden Polynice Hamby Ramini (Italy) Left Virginia in 1986; playing professionally since the 1986–87 season
Invited attendees The 1987 NBA draft is considered to be the tenth NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned in the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum for the sixth year in a row), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner.
From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the 1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands with David Stern, the NBA's commissioner at the time. The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 16 prospects at the time.