The Philippine Basketball Association draft is an annual Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) event dating back to 1985 in which the league's teams can draft eligible prospects seeking to join the league. Each team has one draft pick per round to select players and the draft lasts for as many rounds as needed until all teams have passed their selection.
The draft usually takes place between October and December, during the league's off-season. During the early to mid-2020s, due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the league's schedule, the draft is scheduled towards the earlier or middle part of the year. No player may sign with any PBA team until he has been eligible for at least one draft.
Eligibility All players have to be natural-born Filipinos. Persons who chose Philippine citizenship by the age of maturity are considered as natural-born citizens.
The following are the eligibility requirements for local players: Entrants of at least 22 years of age on the day of the draft must be at least four years removed from high school or have played one year of college basketball; Entrants between 19 and 21 years of age must have had at least two years of college education; All entrants must be at least in height.
Eligibility requirements for Filipino-descended foreigner entrants (Filipino-foreigners) are similar to the locals but with some additions: All Filipino-foreigner entrants must be a holder of a Philippine passport. All Filipino-foreigner entrants must have previously played professional basketball elsewhere and is not under contract with other teams.
Players who apply for the draft on the fourth or fifth year of eligibility will instead be assigned to a lottery separate from the draft proper. Foreign players, or imports, don't enter the PBA draft. Instead, they are signed directly by teams and only play in conferences which allow imports, such as the Commissioner's Cup and Governors' Cup. Naturalized citizens are classified as imports.
Beginning with the PBA season 51 draft in 2027, players who have existing contracts with teams from other leagues cannot declare for the draft. The new condition came as more players were drafted from the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, whose season runs from March to December, and were required to fulfill their contracts with MPBL teams before joining the PBA.
Historical requirements From 2015 to 2019, all entrants were also required to play at least seven games across two PBA D-League conferences. Anyone who played for the Philippines men's national basketball team was exempted from this rule and was automatically eligible for the draft. Starting with the PBA season 46 draft in 2021, this requirement was abolished for all players.
Until the season 46 draft, all Filipino-foreigner entrants must have had documents from the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration proving their Philippine citizenship. This clause was repealed later in November that year, abolishing the rule as of the PBA season 47 draft in 2022.
Order The draft order is determined by the teams' final rankings within each conference from the previous season, with rankings from the Philippine Cup having heavier weight than the import-laden Commissioner's and Governors' Cups. Teams pick in ascending order of the weighted cumulative rankings, with the team with the lowest cumulative ranking picking first while the team with the highest cumulative ranking picking last. The draft order can also change if teams choose to trade their first- or second-round picks to another team.
Number of rounds From 1985 to 2004 and since 2011, the PBA draft consists of a minimum of two rounds where teams are required to pick. The draft can go past the second round, but from the third round onwards, teams have the option to pass. Doing so opts the team out for the remainder of the draft. Once all teams have passed, the draft is finished and all undrafted players become free agents.
From 2005 to 2010, the association limited the draft to only two rounds with no selections beyong that point. This restriction was attributed to an agreement between the PBA and the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), which also included a development fee to the PBL team from which the player was drafted. This was removed in 2011 as the PBL had folded, and amateur players played in the PBA D-League instead.
Occasionally, Gilas Pilipinas players may be placed in a special Gilas draft. In 2016, the Gilas draft was held as the first round of that year's draft, but in all drafts since that have the Gilas draft, it is held as a separate round from the draft proper.
Draft lottery Before 2015, a draft lottery determined which team gets the first overall draft pick. The lottery involved the two teams with the worst cumulative rankings from the previous season. The team with the worst cumulative ranking had a 2 in 3 chance of clinching the first pick while the second-worst only got a 1 in 3 chance. The lottery was usually held prior to the finals of the final conference of the season. It was abandoned after the controversies that aroused during the lottery for the first pick of the 2014 draft.Salud says sorry for 'crude' conduct of PBA draft lottery, but insists it was an honest draw, Snow Badua, spin.ph, July 4, 2014PBA rules out re-draw of draft lottery after board settles controversy in emergency meeting , Richard Dy, spin.ph, July 5, 2014
Expansion draft There have been three expansion drafts in the league's history. The first was in 1990, in which the new teams Pepsi Hotshots and the Pop Cola Sizzlers selected up to six players from the expansion pool, which is made up of three players from each of the six existing franchises. The second was in 2000, when newcomers Batang Red Bull Energizers selected players from the draft.
An expansion draft for new teams Blackwater Elite and Kia Sorento was held on July 18, 2014, so that both team can form its rosters for the 2014–15 season. The 10 existing PBA franchises protected up to 12 players in their roster.No direct hires for three PBA expansion teams, but board relents to 'Protect 12' scheme, additional draft picks, Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph, April 24, 2014PBA expansion teams given more draft rights, Nelson Beltran, The Philippine Star, April 24, 2014 Two time MVP Danny Ildefonso of the Meralco Bolts was selected as the first pick of the expansion draft by Blackwater, followed by Reil Cervantes of Barako Bull by Kia.FLASH: Blackwater makes Danny Ildefonso the first pick of PBA dispersal draft, Snow Badua, spin.ph, July 18, 2014
Carry over amateurs If a new franchise also has an existing franchise from an amateur league (from the Philippine Basketball League before 2011 and the PBA D-League afterwards), the franchise, upon approval from the PBA's Board of Governors, may be given an incentive of selecting players from their amateur team to be directly elevated to their PBA team. This was last given to the Welcoat Dragons, who elevated three players from their PBL team.
List of first overall picks ^Denotes players who have been selected to the Mythical Team *Elected to the PBA Hall of Fame Player(in italic text)Rookie of the YearPPGPoints per gameAll statistics are taken from the players' respective rookie season unless otherwise noted.APGAssists per gameRPGRebounds per game Flags indicate the country where the player competed as college student-athletes; all players are Filipinos until proven otherwise, like Sonny Alvarado's case where he fled the country as his citizenship was being questioned. DraftPlayerSelected byCollegeDraft venuePBA rookie statisticsRef.PPGRPGAPG 1985 Shell PSBA 1986 ^ Alaska Arellano 1987* Great Taste UE 1988 Purefoods FEU 1989 * Shell UP Diliman 1990 Great Taste USJ-R The Ultra, Pasig 1991 Alaska Ateneo 1992 ^ Presto-Tivoli JRC 1993^ Sta. Lucia De La Salle The Peninsula, Makati 1994 ^ Tondeña De La Salle Manila Hyatt Hotel, Manila 1995 ^ Sta. Lucia UST New World Makati Hotel, Makati 1996^ Ginebra Adamson 1997 Mobiline New Orleans Glorietta Activity Center, Makati 1998^ San Miguel NU 1999^ Tanduay Texas 2000 Sta. Lucia UP Diliman 2001 ^ Red Bull Letran 2002^ FedEx St. Francis 2003^ Alaska De La Salle 2004 Shell Ateneo 2005^ Air21 Eckerd Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Cainta 2006^ Sta. Lucia Oakland Market! Market!, Taguig 2007 ^ Welcoat UTEP 2008^ Rain or Shine George Mason 2009^ Burger King Western Kentucky 2010 Air21 Ateneo 2011 Powerade De La Salle Robinsons Place Manila, Manila 2012^ Petron UC 2013^ Barangay Ginebra Ateneo 2014^ GlobalPort Penn State 2015 Talk 'N Text Chadron State 2016 No first overall pick 2017 San Miguel Hawaii 2018^ Columbian Lyceum 2019 Columbian College of Idaho 2021 Terrafirma Cal State Los Angeles TV5 Media Center, Mandaluyong 2022 Blackwater UC Riverside Robinsons Place Manila, Manila 2023 Terrafirma Saint Mary's Market! Market!, Taguig 2024 Justine Baltazar Converge De La Salle Glorietta Activity Center, Makati 2025 Geo Chiu Terrafirma Ateneo SM Mall of Asia, Pasay
Notes
By school School Total Ateneo 6 De La Salle 4 UP Diliman 2 Others 1 each
References