2012 NBA draft

Source:

These players were not selected in the 2012 NBA Draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.

The first 14 picks in the draft belong to teams that missed the playoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery was only used to determine the teams that obtained the first three picks in 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. To determine the top three picks, fourteen ping pong balls numbered 1-14 were placed into a lottery machine. Four random balls were selected for each of the three picks and there were a total of 1,001 combinations. The lottery was weighted so that the teams with the worst records had better chances at the first pick. For example, the Charlotte Bobcats had the worst record from the previous season, so they were assigned 250 of the 1,001 combinations, which meant they had a 25% chance of getting the first pick.

The lottery was held on May 30, 2012, in the Disney/ABC Times Square Studio in New York City. The New Orleans Hornets won the rights to the first overall selection with a 13.7% chance to win. The Hornets were a league-owned team at the time, leading to continued conspiracy theories about the lottery process. The Bobcats won the second overall pick despite having the highest odds to win the lottery.

Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2012 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places.

^ 1: Brooklyn Nets' pick was conveyed to the Portland Trail Blazers.
^ 2: Minnesota Timberwolves' pick was conveyed to the New Orleans Hornets via the Los Angeles Clippers.

The draft was conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's now-expired 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players union. The CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes. The basic eligibility rules for the draft are listed below:

• All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players eligible for the 2012 draft must be born on or before December 31, 1993.
• Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the 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 prior to 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, 1990). U.S. players who were at least one year removed from their high school graduation and have played minor-league basketball with a team outside the NBA are also automatically eligible.
• 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. For the 2012 draft, this date fell on April 29. Under NCAA rules, players will only have until April 10 to withdraw from the draft and maintain their college eligibility.

A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted. Also, while the CBA allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice, the NCAA mandates that a player who has declared twice loses his college eligibility.

Early entrants

On May 3, 2012, the league announced a list of 67 early entry candidates which consisted of 50 collegiate players and 17 international players. At the withdrawal deadline, 11 early entry candidates withdrew from the draft, leaving 49 collegiate players and 7 international players as the early entry candidates for the draft.

College underclassmen

(All players are Americans except as indicated.)

• Erik Austin, F, Jackson College (sophomore)
• Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina (sophomore)
• Will Barton, G, Memphis (sophomore)
• Bradley Beal, G, Florida (freshman)
• J'Covan Brown, G, Texas (junior)
• Dominic Cheek, G, Villanova (junior)
• Jared Cunningham, G, Oregon State (junior)
• Anthony Davis, F/C, Kentucky (freshman)
• Andre Drummond, C, Connecticut (freshman)
• Dominique Ferguson, F, Florida International (sophomore)
• Justin Hamilton, C, LSU (junior)
• Maurice Harkless, F, St. John's (freshman)
• John Henson, F, North Carolina (junior)
• John Jenkins, SG, Vanderbilt (junior)
• Perry Jones III, F, Baylor (sophomore)
• Terrence Jones, F, Kentucky (sophomore)
• Xavier Jones, G, Missouri State-West Plains (freshman)
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, G, Kentucky (freshman)
• Doron Lamb, G, Kentucky (sophomore)
• Jeremy Lamb, G/F, Connecticut (sophomore)
• Meyers Leonard, C, Illinois (sophomore)
• Damian Lillard, G, Weber State (junior)
• Kendall Marshall, PG, North Carolina (sophomore)
• Fab Melo, C, Syracuse (sophomore)
• Khris Middleton, F, Texas A&M (junior)
• Quincy Miller, F, Baylor (freshman)
• Tony Mitchell, SF, Alabama (junior)
• Arnett Moultrie, F/C, Mississippi State (junior)
• Reeves Nelson, F, UCLA (junior)
  • Nelson left the Bruins in December 2011 and had been playing professionally for Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) before declaring for the draft.
• Austin Rivers, G, Duke (freshman)
• Peter Roberson, C, Alabama (junior)
• Quincy Roberts, G, Grambling State (junior)
• Thomas Robinson, PF, Kansas (junior)
• Terrence Ross, G, Washington (sophomore)
• Avery Scharer, G, Shoreline CC (WA) (sophomore)
• Renardo Sidney, F, Mississippi State (junior)
• Jonathon Simmons, G, Houston (junior)
• Terrell Stoglin, G, Maryland (sophomore)
• Gerardo Suero, G, Albany (junior)
• Jared Sullinger, PF, Ohio State (sophomore)
• Marquis Teague, G, Kentucky (freshman)
• Joston Thomas, F, Hawaiʻi (junior)
• Hollis Thompson, F, Georgetown (junior)
• Rich Townsend-Gant, F, Vancouver Island U (junior)
• Dion Waiters, G, Syracuse (sophomore)
• Maalik Wayns, PG, Villanova (junior)
• Royce White, F, Iowa State (sophomore)
• D'Angelo Williams, G, Notre Dame (CA) (junior)
• Tony Wroten, G, Washington (freshman)

International players

Automatically eligible entrants

Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They have completed 4 years of their college eligibility.
• If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under that contract.

Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They are least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players born on or before December 31, 1990, are automatically eligible for the 2012 draft.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.

The NBA annually invites top prospects to the "green room", a staging area at the draft site where players, their families, and agents wait for the draft picks to be announced. For this draft, 14 players were invited to attend in person. All 14 players represented the United States.

• Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
• Bradley Beal, Florida
• Anthony Davis, Kentucky
• Andre Drummond, Connecticut
• John Henson, North Carolina
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky
• Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut
• Meyers Leonard, Illinois
• Damian Lillard, Weber State
• Austin Rivers, Duke
• Thomas Robinson, Kansas
• Terrence Ross, Washington
• Dion Waiters, Syracuse
• Tyler Zeller, North Carolina

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.

Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft