The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in NBA history,NBA Best Draft classes CNN with four players who would go on to be Hall of Famers being drafted in the first sixteen picks and five overall. It included first pick Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. This draft would be the last NBA draft to be aired nationally on the USA Network; starting with the 1985 NBA draft year, the NBA would have increased national coverage by first airing the event on TBS and then on TNT before airing the event on ESPN as of 2003.
In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The Houston Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers, who obtained the Indiana Pacers' first-round pick in a trade, were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded an extra first-round draft pick as compensation for the draft picks traded away by their previous owner, Ted Stepien.
A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was automatically eligible for selection. Before the draft, five college underclassmen announced that they would leave college early and would be eligible for selection. Prior to the draft, the San Diego Clippers relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Clippers. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 228 players. This draft was the last to be held before the creation of the draft lottery in 1985. It was the first NBA draft to be overseen by David Stern, who continued as the commissioner of the league for the following 30 years.
This is the most recent draft to feature two rookies to play in the All-Star Game, with Jordan and Olajuwon both selected in the 1985 game.
Draft selections
G Guard F Forward C Center
Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/club team11 ^ C Houston Rockets Houston 12 C Portland Trail Blazers Kentucky 13 ^~ G/F Chicago Bulls North Carolina 14 F/C Dallas Mavericks North Carolina 15 ^ F Philadelphia 76ers Auburn 16 C Washington Bullets Kentucky 17 * G San Antonio Spurs Arkansas 18 G Los Angeles Clippers Louisville 19 + F/C Kansas City Kings Providence 110 G Philadelphia 76ers Cal State Fullerton 111 * F/C Atlanta Hawks Michigan State 112 C Cleveland Cavaliers Michigan 113 G Phoenix Suns Colorado 114 F/C Los Angeles Clippers San Diego State 115 G Dallas Mavericks Temple 116 ^ G Utah Jazz Gonzaga 117 F/C New Jersey Nets Vanderbilt 118 G Indiana Pacers Georgia 119 G/F Portland Trail Blazers Fresno State 120 G/F Detroit Pistons Ohio State 121 G/F Milwaukee Bucks UCLA 122 G Philadelphia 76ers Lamar 123 C Los Angeles Lakers UDC 124 G/F Boston Celtics Houston 225 F Indiana Pacers Brigham Young 226 # G Portland Trail Blazers Xavier 227 G/F Cleveland Cavaliers Fresno State 228 F Seattle SuperSonics Wisconsin 229 F/C Indiana Pacers UCLA 230 G Golden State Warriors Iona 231 F Golden State Warriors Boston College 232 # G Detroit Pistons Michigan 233 G Portland Trail Blazers New Mexico State 234 # C Washington Bullets Saint Joseph's 235 G Golden State Warriors Virginia 236 F Phoenix Suns Louisville 237 F Chicago Bulls Maryland 238 F Dallas Mavericks Oregon State 239 G Seattle SuperSonics Wake Forest 240 # F Dallas Mavericks Wake Forest 241 G Dallas Mavericks Notre Dame 242 G Denver Nuggets Chattanooga 243 # C Chicago Bulls Victoria (Canada) 244 # F Washington Bullets UTEP 245 F/C Golden State Warriors Boston University 246 F Portland Trail Blazers Longwood 247 # F Boston Celtics Florida 348 # F Philadelphia 76ers Georgia 349 # F Chicago Bulls Northern Illinois 350 F Cleveland Cavaliers UC Irvine 351 F/C Houston Rockets Minnesota 352 # G Seattle SuperSonics Alabama 353 # F Washington Bullets Tulsa 354 # G Kansas City Kings Dayton 355 # G Golden State Warriors Alabama State 356 # F Kansas City Kings St. John's 357 F San Antonio Spurs North Carolina A&T 358 # F Atlanta Hawks Memphis 359 # C Phoenix Suns Clemson 360 # F Cleveland Cavaliers LSU 361 F Dallas Mavericks Maine 362 F Utah Jazz Norfolk State 363 # F New Jersey Nets Sam Houston 364 # G New York Knicks Southern Miss 365 # C Portland Trail Blazers West Virginia 366 # F Detroit Pistons Saint Joseph's 367 # F Milwaukee Bucks Florida 368 G Philadelphia 76ers Yale 369 # F Los Angeles Lakers Furman 370 G Boston Celtics Virginia 471 G Indiana Pacers UCLA 472 # F Chicago Bulls Charlotte 473 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Northwestern 474 # F Houston Rockets Centenary 475 # G Los Angeles Clippers Montana 476 F Washington Bullets South Florida 477 # F Chicago Bulls Northeastern 478 # C San Antonio Spurs Ohio 479 # G Denver Nuggets Calgary 480 G Kansas City Kings Kansas 481 # G Atlanta Hawks Kentucky 482 # G Phoenix Suns UNLV 483 # F Seattle SuperSonics Xavier 484 # C Dallas Mavericks North Texas 485 # F New Jersey Nets Illinois State 486 F Utah Jazz Purdue 487 F/C New York Knicks UC Irvine 488 # F Portland Trail Blazers BYU 489 # G Detroit Pistons New Mexico 490 F/C San Antonio Spurs Cal State Fullerton 491 # F Philadelphia 76ers Morehead State 492 # F Los Angeles Lakers Stanford 493 # F Boston Celtics Princeton 594 # G Indiana Pacers Georgetown 595 # G Chicago Bulls Lamar 596 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Boise State 597 # G Houston Rockets New Hampshire 598 # F Los Angeles Clippers Southwestern Louisiana 599 # F Washington Bullets Bowling Green 5100 # G San Antonio Spurs Alabama 5101 # F Golden State Warriors Doane 5102 # F Kansas City Kings South Carolina 5103 # G Denver Nuggets Missouri 5104 # F Atlanta Hawks Louisiana–Monroe 5105 # C Phoenix Suns Richmond 5106 # G Seattle SuperSonics Victoria 5107 # C Dallas Mavericks UIC 5108 # G Utah Jazz Fairleigh Dickinson 5109 # G New Jersey Nets South Alabama 5110 # F Golden State Warriors Pepperdine 5111 # F Portland Trail Blazers San Diego 5112 # F Detroit Pistons UTSA 5113 # C Milwaukee Bucks Holy Cross 5114 # C Philadelphia 76ers Tennessee 5115 # C Los Angeles Lakers North Dakota State 5116 # F Boston Celtics Bentley 6117 # F Indiana Pacers Pittsburgh 6118 # C Chicago Bulls Morehead State 6119 # F Cleveland Cavaliers North Carolina 6120 G Milwaukee Bucks UAB 6121 # F Los Angeles Clippers Memphis 6122 # G Washington Bullets Illinois Wesleyan 6123 # G Golden State Warriors Wyoming 6124 # F San Antonio Spurs Southwestern Louisiana 6125 # F Denver Nuggets Tennessee 6126 # C Kansas City Kings Tulsa 6127 # G Atlanta Hawks Kentucky 6128 # F Phoenix Suns Maryland 6129 # F Seattle SuperSonics Southwestern Louisiana 6130 # G Dallas Mavericks Marshall 6131 ^# G/F New Jersey Nets S.E. Palmeiras 6132 # F Utah Jazz West Virginia Wesleyan 6133 F/C New York Knicks Gardner–Webb 6134 # C Portland Trail Blazers Western Oregon 6135 # G Detroit Pistons Louisiana Tech 6136 # F Milwaukee Bucks Stetson 6137 # F Philadelphia 76ers Iona 6138 # G Los Angeles Lakers Stanford 6139 # G Boston Celtics Iowa 7140 F Indiana Pacers Virginia 7141 # G Chicago Bulls California 7142 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Akron 7143 # G Houston Rockets Long Beach State 7144 # F Los Angeles Clippers Oregon 7145 # F Washington Bullets New Mexico 7146 # C San Antonio Spurs California 7147 # F Golden State Warriors Cal State Northridge 7148 # G Kansas City Kings Robert Morris 7149 # F Denver Nuggets Catawba 7150 # F Atlanta Hawks Florida State 7151 # F Phoenix Suns Oklahoma State 7152 # G Seattle SuperSonics Oregon 7153 # G Dallas Mavericks UC Irvine 7154 # C Utah Jazz Southern Utah 7155 # F New Jersey Nets Syracuse 7156 F/C New York Knicks St. Augustine's 7157 # F Portland Trail Blazers Pepperdine 7158 # G Detroit Pistons Bloomsburg 7159 # G Milwaukee Bucks Florida State 7160 # F Philadelphia 76ers Drexel 7161 # F Los Angeles Lakers Chaminade 7162 # F Boston Celtics Framingham State 8163 # F Indiana Pacers Kentucky 8164 # F Chicago Bulls US International 8165 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Oberlin 8166 # F Houston Rockets Angelo State 8167 # G Los Angeles Clippers Temple 8168 # G Washington Bullets West Virginia Wesleyan 8169 # C Golden State Warriors UNLV 8170 # G San Antonio Spurs UNLV 8171 # F Denver Nuggets Texas 8172 # F Kansas City Kings Fort Hays State 8173 # G Atlanta Hawks LIU Brooklyn 8174 # F Phoenix Suns Maryland 8175 # G Seattle SuperSonics DePaul 8176 # F Dallas Mavericks Arkansas 8177 # C New Jersey Nets Utah 8178 # G Utah Jazz UNLV 8179 # C New York Knicks Youngstown State 8180 # F Portland Trail Blazers UC San Diego 8181 # C Detroit Pistons Appalachian State 8182 # F Milwaukee Bucks South Carolina 8183 # G Philadelphia 76ers Villanova 8184 # G Boston Celtics Holy Cross 9185 F Indiana Pacers Kansas 9186 # F Chicago Bulls Oklahoma 9187 # G Cleveland Cavaliers Xavier 9188 # F Houston Rockets Presbyterian 9189 # G Los Angeles Clippers Westmont 9190 # G Washington Bullets UNC Pembroke 9191 # G San Antonio Spurs Saint Mary's 9192 # G Golden State Warriors Fresno State 9193 # F Kansas City Kings Auburn 9194 # F Denver Nuggets North Carolina 9195 # G Atlanta Hawks Georgetown 9196 # F Phoenix Suns Bellarmine 9197 # C Seattle SuperSonics Idaho State 9198 # G Dallas Mavericks LSU 9199 # F Utah Jazz Kansas 9200 # G New Jersey Nets Princeton 9201 # F New York Knicks Marquette 9202 # F Portland Trail Blazers Portland 9203 # F Detroit Pistons Michigan State 9204 # C Milwaukee Bucks UMass 9205 # C Philadelphia 76ers Drexel 9206 # F Boston Celtics Merrimack 10207 # F Indiana Pacers Western Kentucky 10208 # – Chicago Bulls Houston 10209 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Northeastern Illinois 10210 # G Houston Rockets Canisius 10211 # C Los Angeles Clippers Penn State 10212 # G Washington Bullets Stetson 10213 # F Golden State Warriors UC Riverside 10214 # F San Antonio Spurs New Mexico State 10215 # F Denver Nuggets Xavier 10216 # G Kansas City Kings Northwest Missouri State 10217 # G Atlanta Hawks Hofstra 10218 # G Phoenix Suns Liberty 10219 # F Seattle SuperSonics Creighton 10220 # F Dallas Mavericks Grambling State 10221 # G New Jersey Nets Saint Peter's 10222 # G Utah Jazz Niagara 10223 # F New York Knicks LIU Post 10224 # F Portland Trail Blazers George Fox 10225 # G Detroit Pistons Michigan 10226 # C Milwaukee Bucks Florida A&M 10227 # F Philadelphia 76ers Boston College 10228 # G Boston Celtics Clark
Trades involving draft picks
Draft day trades The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft. In a three-team trade, Cleveland acquired the draft rights to sixth pick Melvin Turpin from Washington, Washington acquired Cliff Robinson from Cleveland and Gus Williams from Seattle, and Seattle acquired Ricky Sobers from Washington and the draft rights to 12th pick Tim McCormick from Cleveland. Washington acquired the draft rights to 22nd pick Tom Sewell from Philadelphia in exchange for a 1988 first-round pick. The L.A. Clippers acquired the draft rights to 31st pick Jay Murphy from Golden State in exchange for Jerome Whitehead.
Predraft trades Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of picks between the teams. On June 5, 1981, Portland acquired a first-round pick from Indiana in exchange for Tom Owens. Portland used the pick to draft Sam Bowie. On September 16, 1980, Dallas acquired a first-round pick from Cleveland in exchange for Mike Bratz. Dallas used the pick to draft Sam Perkins.