Draft (sports)
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A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selects a player, the team receives exclusive rights to sign that player to a contract, and no other team in the league may sign the player. The process is similar to round-robin item allocation.
The best-known type of draft is the entry draft, which is used to allocate players who have recently become eligible to play in a league. Depending on the sport, the players may come from college, high school or junior teams, or teams in other countries. An entry draft is intended to prevent expensive bidding wars for young talent and to ensure that no team can sign contracts with all of the best young players and make the league uncompetitive. To encourage parity, teams that do poorly in the previous season usually get to choose first in the postseason draft, sometimes with a "lottery" factor to discourage teams from deliberately losing.
Other types of drafts include the expansion draft, in which a new team selects players from other teams in the league, and the dispersal draft, in which a league's surviving teams select players from the roster of a newly defunct franchise. Major professional sports leagues also have special contingency plans for rebuilding a team via a disaster draft, should an accident or other disaster kill or disable many players.[1]
Drafts are usually permitted under
In 1935, National Football League president Joseph Carr instituted the NFL draft as a way to restrain teams' payrolls and reduce the dominance of the league's perennial contenders.[2] It was adopted by the precursor of the National Basketball Association in 1947; by the National Hockey League in 1963; and by Major League Baseball in 1965, although draft systems had been used in baseball since the 19th century.[3]
Sports drafts are uncommon outside the U.S. and Canada. Most professional football clubs and those in other sports obtain young players through transfers from smaller clubs or by developing youth players through their own academies. The youth system is operated directly by the teams themselves, who develop their players from childhood. Parity in these leagues is instead maintained through promotion and relegation, which automatically expels the weakest teams from a league in exchange for the strongest teams in the next lower league.
Australia
AFL draft
In
In the AFL Draft, clubs receive picks based on the position in which they finish on the ladder. Therefore, the teams that finish at the bottom of the AFL ladder will get the first draft picks. Also, any team that finishes in a low ladder position for consecutive seasons will receive priority picks.
The AFL's National Draft is held in November, with a pre-season draft and a rookie draft held in December.
NSWRL draft
The 1991 NSWRL season featured the introduction of rugby league football's first draft system. The draft allowed teams to recruit players on a roster system based on where the club finished the previous year. It ran in reverse order with the wooden spooners getting first choice and the premiers last. The draft lasted just the one season before being defeated in the courts by players and coaches opposed to its limitations.[5]
Europe
KHL draft
When the Russian Superleague became the Kontinental Hockey League, the collective bargaining agreement between the KHL and its players introduced a draft, starting from the very first season of the league. It also allowed teams to use a first-round draft pick to select protected players from a team's farm system. The KHL Junior Draft was discontinued in 2016.
The Hundred
A draft system is used for The Hundred, a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament in England and Wales run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which started in 2021. The inaugural Hundred draft took place in October 2019.
North America
CFL Draft
The
The draft is restricted to Canadian citizens, plus non-citizens who were raised in Canada since childhood (see the relevant section of the main CFL article). Eligible players can be drafted both from U Sports football programs in Canada and U.S. college football programs (with the latter category containing one Canadian school, Simon Fraser).
International players, which can compose up to half of a CFL team's roster, are not subject to a draft and enter the league by way of the
Global T20 Canada
In the inaugural 2018 Global T20 Canada a player draft was held for franchises to choose the players from the available pool.
NFL draft
Draft order in the NFL is determined in a reverse-record order (the previous season's worst team picking first, the
Because the NFL requires that players be three years removed from high school, and of the lack of an effective junior development system outside the college and university programs, players are chosen almost exclusively from National Collegiate Athletic Association college football programs.
The NFL draft has become one of the key events on the American football calendar, airing live on television each April. In recent years it had been held at New York's Radio City Music Hall, but in 2015 and 2016 it was held at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre,[6] and in 2017 it was held on the Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The 2018 draft was the first ever to be held at an NFL stadium, namely the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium.
NBA draft
The NBA Draft, held historically in an NBA city, but in recent drafts in either a theater in the New York area or at the Barclays Center each summer, is only two rounds long (60 picks). Instead of automatically granting the top pick to the worst team from the year before, the NBA holds a draft lottery to determine who chooses first. The top four picks are allocated by chance among the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs the year before. This discourages a team from losing on purpose to get a better draft pick, but also causes other controversies such as allegations and conspiracy theories suggesting that the draft lottery is rigged.
NBA teams choose players from the NCAA and from teams overseas. It was formerly common for players to be chosen directly from high school, but in 2006, the NBA required that players wait a year after high school before playing in the NBA. Almost all top U.S. players thus play at least one year in college.
NHL Entry Draft
The NHL operates a seven-round off-season draft (224 picks). Like the NBA, the NHL uses a
The NHL rotates the draft's location among cities with teams in the league. Like baseball, players drafted in the entry draft usually have to wait a few years in development, either in
The league has incrementally expanded the draft lottery process over the course of the early 2010s to discourage "tanking"—the act of deliberately losing to get a better draft pick. Historically, the league only subjected the first overall pick to the draft lottery among the five worst teams in the league, meaning that if a draft had more than one marquee prospect (a generally rare occurrence), it would still be a viable strategy to tank, as a second overall pick was still guaranteed. This was made evident in the
The three major junior leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League also hold drafts of teenage players in their territories.
MLB draft
Major League Baseball holds two drafts each year. In June, the first-year player praft, MLB's entry draft, takes place. Only players from Canada, the U.S. or a U.S. territory may be drafted; players from elsewhere are free agents and can be signed by any team. Draftees are high-school graduates who have opted not to go to college;
In December, MLB holds the much shorter Rule 5 draft. If an organization keeps a player in the minor leagues for a certain number of years, other teams can draft him in the Rule 5 draft. The drafting team must keep the player on its major league roster; it cannot put the player in its own minor leagues system.
MLC draft
See Major League Cricket.
MLL draft
MLL implemented its first collegiate draft in 2001. The draft was held every year until MLL merged with the Premier Lacrosse League in December 2020, with the merged league operating under the PLL banner.
MLS Draft
Major League Soccer has two types of draft that occur each year, plus a third that is held intermittently when the league
The MLS SuperDraft happens every January. During the draft the teams from the league will pick up to three players each from colleges across the United States. Only players from the American college sports system (e.g., the NCAA and the NAIA) are eligible to be drafted. Canadian U Sports men's soccer players are not included.
The draft is divided into three rounds in which each club has one selection.
In addition to drafted players, MLS teams also acquire new players from their youth academies. These players are called homegrown players. Homegrown player are academy players who is given a first-team contract. They are required to have spent at least one year in a club’s academy, and to have lived in the club’s territory (for example, in the case of Orlando City, northern Florida).
The draft gives to the teams opportunity to acquire players from other regions of the country, from outside their territory.
The teams can also acquire new players by signing players from other leagues (usually foreigner leagues). MLS has two
MLR draft
Major League Rugby implemented its first collegiate draft in 2020. Players are eligible for draft after 3 years in college at 21 years old. Free agents can try to join teams at 18 years old.[4][8][9][10]
MLW draft
Major League Wrestling held its first draft in 2021.
NLL draft
NLL held its first collegiate draft in 1988 as
NWSL drafts
The
The league has held the college draft, referred to since 2021 simply as the
PLL draft
The Premier Lacrosse League held its first collegiate draft in 2019, shortly before the start of its inaugural season.
WNBA draft
The
WWE Draft
The WWE Draft is used to refresh WWE's Raw and SmackDown rosters, as well as shuffle talent between the two.
South Asia
IPL auction
Cricket's Indian Premier League instead holds a yearly auction before the start of each season in which teams bid on players, subject to a salary cap and restrictions on roster size.
ISL draft
Indian Super League is responsible for holding drafts prior to the commencement of each season. Teams can buy foreign players with international experience while they still can purchase Indian players with little or no experience.
PSL draft
The Pakistan Super League uses a draft system for player recruitment before the start of every season to fairly distribute the league's new players. Teams are allotted slots in every round of the draft and slots can be exchanged with other teams.
Southeast Asia
PBA draft
The
Until 2014, there was a draft lottery between the two worst team of the preceding season. This was scrapped after the events of the 2014 draft lottery.
The
Other terminology
Draft bust
A draft bust is a highly touted or highly selected draftee who does not meet expectations. This can be for a variety of reasons such as being unable to adjust to the professional level or if their career was derailed by injuries. A player is also regarded as a bust if more successful players are drafted after them.
NFL
One of the most frequently cited examples of a draft bust in the NFL is Ryan Leaf, who was selected second overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers, after the Indianapolis Colts had selected future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. The Chargers had chosen Leaf over future Hall of Famers Charles Woodson, Randy Moss, and Alan Faneca, as well as six future Pro Bowlers.
Despite being described as being equal in talent to Manning prior to the draft, Leaf only managed to play two seasons with the Chargers and start 18 games (winning only four) for them before being released in 2000. Leaf played only three further games for the Dallas Cowboys, and was out of the league by 2002.[16][17][18]
Tony Mandarich and JaMarcus Russell, two other frequently cited draft busts, are examples of players whose status as busts are amplified by their placements in the draft:
- Mandarich is the only top-five pick from the 1989 NFL draft who is not in the Hall of Fame, having been selected second overall by the Green Bay Packers after the Dallas Cowboys selected Troy Aikman, with the subsequent three picks being Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders. The Packers also passed on Hall of Famer Steve Atwater as well as six future Pro Bowlers to select Mandarich.
- Russell was selected first overall in the 2007 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, with the next two picks being Hall of Famers Calvin Johnson and Joe Thomas. The Raiders also passed on two future Hall of Famers, Darrelle Revis and Patrick Willis, as well as future Pro Bowlers Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Eric Weddle, Ryan Kalil, and Greg Olsen to select Russell.
Like Leaf, Russell was released by the Raiders after three seasons and was out of the league by 2010. Mandarich later managed to become a serviceable offensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts after being released by the Packers in 1992, but ultimately never lived up to his draft position.
Other frequently cited examples include:
- 1999 NFL Draft. The Bengals declined the offer and selected Smith.[19]
- Charles Rogers (WR) - selected one spot ahead of future Hall of Famer Andre Johnson.
- Lawrence Phillips (RB) - the St. Louis Rams traded future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis to the Pittsburgh Steelers believing that Phillips could better fill the position.[20]
- Todd Marinovich (QB) - remembered for both his unorthodox upbringing and being selected ahead of Hall of Famer Brett Favre.[21]
- Tim Couch (QB) - selected first overall by the expansion Cleveland Browns in the 1999 NFL draft: the Browns passed on Donovan McNabb, who was selected with the second pick.[22]
NBA
In the NBA, the most well-known example of a draft bust is LaRue Martin, who was selected first overall in the 1972 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers: the Trail Blazers passed on Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo, Paul Westphal, and Julius Erving[23] to select Martin. Despite being seen as an excellent prospect, Martin had a career average of only 5.3 points per game, and was out of the NBA by 1977.
Another well-known example is Sam Bowie: while proving to be a serviceable though injury-prone player, Bowie was haunted by being drafted second overall by the Trail Blazers in the famously talent-rich 1984 NBA draft. Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon was the first pick, while the Trail Blazers passed on Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton to select Bowie.
Other notable examples include:
- Michael Olowokandi, in 1998, who was selected ahead of Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, and Paul Pierce.
- Ron Artest and Manu Ginóbili.
- Kwame Brown, in 2001, who was selected ahead of Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Tony Parker.
- Darko Miličić, in 2003, who was selected after LeBron James and ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.
- Adam Morrison, in 2006, who was selected after LaMarcus Aldridge and ahead of Brandon Roy.
- Greg Oden, in 2007, who was selected ahead of Kevin Durant and Al Horford.
- Hasheem Thabeet, in 2009, who was selected after Blake Griffin and ahead of James Harden, Stephen Curry, and DeMar DeRozan.
- Derrick Williams, in 2011, who was selected after Kyrie Irving and ahead of Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler.
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, in 2012, who was selected after Anthony Davis and ahead of Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, and Draymond Green.
- Anthony Bennett, in 2013, who was selected ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.
- Jahlil Okafor, in 2015, who was selected ahead of Kristaps Porziņģis and Devin Booker.
- Markelle Fultz, in 2017, who was selected ahead of Jayson Tatum, De'Aaron Fox, and Donovan Mitchell.
- Marvin Bagley III, in 2018, who was selected ahead of Luka Dončić, Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
MLB
Notable draft busts include Steve Chilcott (1966), Brien Taylor (1991), and Brady Aiken (2014), all of whom were 1st overall draft picks who never reached the majors.
Matt Bush (2004), another 1st overall pick, dealt with legal troubles culminating in incarceration and waited nearly 12 years to make the major leagues, eventually doing so as a middle relief pitcher in 2016.
Pitcher
A player like outfielder Josh Hamilton (1999) can also be considered a draft bust before unexpectedly turning his career around, winning the 2010 AL MVP Award.
NHL
A notable draft bust was
Other players cited as major draft busts include:
Australian Football League
Examples of draft busts include Scott Gumbleton and Mitch Thorp.[25][26][27] Gumbleton and Thorp were selected with the second and sixth picks respectively in the 2006 AFL draft; their clubs, Essendon and Hawthorn, passed on future All-Australian players Travis Boak, Joel Selwood, Ben Reid, James Frawley, Jack Riewoldt, Shane Edwards, Todd Goldstein, Bachar Houli and Robbie Gray to draft them.
Thorp managed only two games in three years with Hawthorn before being delisted, while Gumbleton managed only 35 games in six years with Essendon before being traded to Fremantle, after which he retired without playing another game.
Draft steal
Conversely, a player who was drafted at a low spot or in later rounds and is expected to have little success yet goes on to have a stellar and productive career is known as a draft steal.
MLB
Mike Piazza, who went on to become one of the best catchers of the 1990s, a 12-time MLB All-Star selection and a Hall of Famer, was chosen in the 62nd round (1390th overall)[28] of the 1988 MLB draft and was selected only as a favor to Tommy Lasorda (whose team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, drafted Piazza): to further put the pick in historic perspective, the MLB draft is now much shorter, having most recently been reduced from 40 rounds to 20 in 2021.
NFL
One of the most notable examples is
Wide receiver
Antonio Brown was drafted 195th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010 but was an All-Pro receiver from 2013 to 2018, before being traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2019 (later getting released by them and the New England Patriots over accusations of sexual assault). Brown would eventually help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl LV.
Center Jason Kelce was drafted in the sixth round, 191st overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL draft. Kelce went on to play thirteen seasons with the Eagles, being selected to seven Pro Bowl teams and six All-Pro teams and is widely considered one of the greatest centers in NFL history. Kelce also helped the Eagles reach two Super Bowls and won Super Bowl LII. Similarly, Jason's brother Travis was a third-round selection by the Kansas City Chiefs, but went on to become a seven-time All-Pro while setting multiple receiving records for the tight end position and helping the Chiefs win Super Bowls LIV, LVII, and LVIII.
Quarterback
NBA
Another notable draft steal is Isaiah Thomas, who was selected as the 60th and last pick in the 2011 NBA draft, but emerged as an All-Star in 2017 and led the Boston Celtics to the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference that same year. He also finished 5th in MVP voting in 2017 with an average of 28.9 points and 5.9 assists.
Draymond Green, who was selected as the 35th pick in the 2012 NBA draft, was a key contributor to the Golden State Warriors winning four championships. Green has been named to multiple All-Star selections and also won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2017.
Nikola Jokić, a Serbian who was selected by the Denver Nuggets as the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA draft, remained in Europe for the 2014–15 season to develop his skills before arriving in the NBA in 2015. In his second season, he quickly became a solid post playmaker, averaging about 16.7 ppg, 4.9 apg, and 9.8 rpg. He was also named to the All-NBA Team in both 2019 (first team) and 2020 (second team), and won league MVP in 2021 and 2022 before leading the Nuggets to their first championship in 2023. He was the first 2nd round pick to win MVP since Willis Reed in 1970. Reed was the 8th pick in the 1964 NBA draft.
.Jordan Clarkson, who was selected as the 46th pick in the 2014 NBA draft, won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award with the Utah Jazz in 2021.
Malcolm Brogdon, who was the 36th pick in the 2016 NBA draft, won the Rookie of the Year award in 2017 and became a member of the exclusive 50–40–90 club in 2019. He also won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2023.
Marc Gasol is also another example as he was selected as the 48th pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2007 NBA draft, but was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a package that sent his older brother Pau to the Lakers. Like his brother Pau, he became an elite rim protector who could pass, shoot, and score efficiently in the post, and later in his career became an example of a "stretch five", a center capable of effective scoring from three-point range. He was also the 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and he helped the Toronto Raptors win their first championship in 2019.
NHL
The
Hall of Famer
The
A similar Stanley Cup legacy was achieved by the
Jamie Benn was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 5th round, 129th overall in 2007, became the franchise's sixth captain in 2013, and won the Art Ross Trophy in 2015.
Mark Stone was drafted in the 6th round, 178th overall by the Ottawa Senators, and has been nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy (awarded to the league's best defensive forward) as a member and now captain of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Australian Football League
An example of a draft steal is Hawthorn midfielder Sam Mitchell[25][32] who was drafted with pick 36 in the 2001 AFL draft. Mitchell went on to become a four-time premiership player, a premiership captain with Hawthorn in 2008, a two time All-Australian, a four time Peter Crimmins Medallist, and the 2003 AFL Rising Star.
Another example of a draft steal in the AFL is former
Another notable AFL draft steal is Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan,[32][33] who was drafted with pick 58 in the 2001 AFL draft. Swan became a premiership player with Collingwood, a three-time Copeland Trophy winner, the 2011 Brownlow Medalist and a five-time All-Australian.
Another notable AFL draft steal was
Other
Mr. Irrelevant is a title given to the last player selected in each year's NFL Draft. The phrase pokes fun at the typically poor chances such a player has of ultimately making an impact in the league, although several went on to productive and/or notable NFL careers, such as Ryan Succop and Brock Purdy.
Some unusual draft picks in professional sports history have included Taro Tsujimoto, a fictional Japanese ice hockey forward who was drafted in the 1974 NHL amateur draft by the Buffalo Sabres (a move made in protest of the league's decision to hold the draft by phone); actor John Wayne, who at age 64 was legally drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1972 NFL draft;[34] and Derrell Robertson, a man who was mistakenly drafted by the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 1995 CFL Dispersal Draft for the Las Vegas Posse after his death in the previous year.
See also
References
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- ^ a b "Questions And Concerns About MLR Draft". Goff Rugby Report. April 16, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-86840-643-5.
- ^ "L.A. or Chicago to host 2015 draft". ESPN. October 3, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
- ^ "NHL Draft Lottery changes announced for 2021". March 23, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ "2020 MLR Collegiate Draft Summary". June 14, 2020.
- ^ "MLR Draft Picks 2020". Major League Rugby. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "MLR Draft 2020: What you need to know". Utah Warriors Rugby.
- ^ "NWSL Opens Player Registration and Announces Current Selection Order for the Renamed 2021 NWSL Draft". National Women's Soccer League. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Kassouf, Jeff (January 15, 2016). "Report: Pugh skipping college, headed to Thorns". The Equalizer. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- ^ Herrera, Sandra (January 12, 2023). "How the 2023 NWSL Draft works: Complete draft order, player pool, selection process, rules, trade windows". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ "2022 NWSL Expansion Draft and 2022 NWSL Draft Presented by Ally to be Broadcast Remotely" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. December 7, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ Yang, Stephanie (January 29, 2018). "NWSL releases dispersal draft order". The Bent Musket. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ ESPN 25 Biggest Sports Flops Archived May 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ESPN, 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
- ^ Ventre, Michael Beware of next Ryan Leaf in draft MSNBC April 23, 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
- ^ "NFL Videos: Top 10 QB draft busts". National Football League. September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ^ "NFL Draft: 10 worst first-round quarterbacks drafted since 2000". CBS Sports. April 18, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ "Huge mistakes: The 25 biggest NFL draft busts of past 15 years". USA Today. April 26, 2011.
- ^ "Biggest NFL Draft Busts of the Modern Era". Sports Illustrated. May 15, 2013.
- ^ "11 of the Biggest NFL Draft Busts of All Time". The Cheat Sheet. May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ McAdoo and Erving were also both selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
- Espn.com.
- ^ a b c "Wednesday special: draft hits and misses – AFL.com.au". AFL.com.au. November 13, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "A decade of AFL National Draft duds | Sportal Australia". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- ^ "Draft gems and disasters". Herald Sun. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "62nd Round of the 1988 MLB June Amateur Draft - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ISBN 1589793153
- ^ "2017 NFL Draft".
- ^ Moky (March 11, 2011). "Top 10: Most Skilled Hockey Players". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2017 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b c "AFL draft bargains and busts". FoxSports.com.au. November 21, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ a b "Boom and bust: the best and worst draft picks by the numbers – AFL.com.au". AFL.com.au. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ Merron, Jeff (April 18, 2005). "The strangest NFL draft moments". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
External links
- NRL revisits the draft – The Sun-Herald, February 9, 2003.
- ESPN.com: Page 2 : The 100 worst draft picks ever