The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986.
Overview and aftermath This draft holds the record for the most players chosen who later debuted in the NBA, with 66.
Drug and health issues involving drafted players Various drug-related problems plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft. Most notable was the death of the #2 overall pick, Len Bias. The highly touted forward died from an overdose of cocaine less than two days after being selected by the defending champion Boston Celtics. Other problems involving drugs hampered the careers of centers Chris Washburn, Roy Tarpley, and William Bedford.
Successful second-round players While a number of first-round selections were unable to make an impact in the league, the 1986 draft featured a number of talented second-round selections who made an impact on the league. Dennis Rodman became one of the leading defenders and rebounders in NBA history and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Mark Price, Kevin Duckworth, and Jeff Hornacek were all multiple NBA All-Stars. Johnny Newman, Nate McMillan, and David Wingate had long, productive careers as role players.
International draftees This draft contained two exceptional international players, both of whom had abbreviated NBA careers for unusual reasons. Third-round selection Dražen Petrović was coming off an All-Star caliber fourth season in 1991 when he was killed in an automobile accident. He has since been elected to both the Naismith Hall of Fame and the FIBA Hall of Fame. Arvydas Sabonis, a resident of the Soviet Union and one of the greatest centers in basketball history, was not permitted to play in the United States during his prime because of Cold War antagonisms. He was already a two-time Olympic medal winner – a gold in 1988 with the USSR, and a bronze in 1992 with Lithuania – before finally being allowed to join the NBA in 1995, four years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. By that time he had lost much of his mobility to a string of knee and Achilles tendon injuries. Still, he finished second in both the Sixth Man Award and Rookie of the Year voting. After the 1995–96 season, he won a second Olympic bronze medal with Lithuania. He played seven seasons with Portland before returning to Lithuania to finish his career. Sabonis entered the FIBA Hall in 2010 and the Naismith Hall in 2011.
Other draftee contributions to the game This draft is also known for the number of players who made important contributions to the sport of basketball beyond playing. For example, Nate McMillan followed a highly successful run on the court with the Seattle SuperSonics by becoming head coach, and then spent seven seasons as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. Scott Skiles coached the Milwaukee Bucks, then became the first coach to lead the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs in the post-Michael Jordan era.
Larry Krystkowiak became the head coach of the Bucks, then became head coach at the University of Utah in 2011. John Salley won four championship rings with three different NBA teams (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers) before becoming one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports Network. Mark Price served as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, a shooting consultant with Memphis (one season) and Atlanta (two seasons), a shooting coach for Golden State (one season), and in December 2011 was named Player Development Coach for the Orlando Magic.
Jeff Hornacek would also be a full-time assistant head coach for the Utah Jazz for two seasons before accepting a job as the head coach for the Phoenix Suns in the 2013–14 NBA season. He moved on to became the head coach for the New York Knicks from 2016 to 2018. Pete Myers, selected in the sixth round as the 120th overall pick, was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls from 2001 to 2010 and Golden State Warriors starting in 2011. Jim Les, the 70th overall pick, was an assistant coach for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs from 1999 to 2001, then was head coach at Bradley University from 2002 to 2011 and UC Davis since 2011.
Jay Bilas, who was selected in the fifth round as the 108th overall pick but never played in the NBA, is an ESPN college basketball analyst.
Draft selections
PG Point guard SG Shooting guard SF Small forward PF Power forward C Center
Round Pick Player Position Nationality NBA Team School/Club team 1 1* C Cleveland Cavaliers (from L.A. Clippers via Philadelphia) North Carolina 1 2# SF Boston Celtics (from Seattle) Maryland 1 3 C Golden State Warriors NC State 1 4 ~ SF Indiana Pacers Auburn 1 5 SF New York Knicks Kentucky 1 6 C Phoenix Suns Memphis State 1 7 C Dallas Mavericks (from Cleveland) Michigan 1 8 SG Cleveland Cavaliers * Miami (OH) 1 9 C Chicago Bulls Ohio State 1 10 PG San Antonio Spurs Duke 1 11 PF Detroit Pistons (from Sacramento) Georgia Tech 1 12 PF Washington Bullets LSU 1 13 PG New Jersey Nets Syracuse 1 14 SF/PF Portland Trail Blazers St. John's 1 15 SG/SF Utah Jazz Virginia Tech 1 16 SF Denver Nuggets (from Dallas) Saint Joseph's 1 17 SF Sacramento Kings (from Detroit) Villanova 1 18 PF Denver Nuggets Duke 1 19 SF Atlanta Hawks Louisville 1 20 SF Houston Rockets Alabama 1 21 SF Washington Bullets (from Philadelphia) UNLV 1 22 PG Milwaukee Bucks Michigan State 1 23# PF Los Angeles Lakers Notre Dame 1 24 ^ C Portland Trail Blazers (from Boston via L.A. Clippers) Zalgiris 2 25 * PG Dallas Mavericks (Traded to Cleveland) Georgia Tech 2 26 C Indiana Pacers Kansas 2 27 ^ PF Detroit Pistons Southeastern Oklahoma State 2 28 PF Chicago Bulls Montana 2 29 SF Cleveland Cavaliers Richmond 2 30 PG Seattle SuperSonics NC State 2 31# SF Phoenix Suns Georgia 2 32 PF Atlanta Hawks Simac Milano (Italy) 2 33 + C San Antonio Spurs Eastern Illinois 2 34 PF Rogers was born in the United States, but represents Spain internationally. Sacramento Kings UC Irvine 2 35 SG Dallas Mavericks Louisville 2 36# PG Washington Bullets UAB 2 37# C Portland Trail Blazers NC State 2 38# C Seattle SuperSonics DePaul 2 39 SF Phoenix Suns Syracuse 2 40# C Atlanta Hawks Virtus Bologna 2 41 SG Denver Nuggets Jacksonville 2 42# SF Atlanta Hawks Kansas 2 43 C Houston Rockets UTEP 2 44 SG Philadelphia 76ers Georgetown 2 45 PG Milwaukee Bucks Loyola Marymount 2 46 + SG Phoenix Suns Iowa State 2 47 PG New York Knicks Georgetown 3 48 SF San Antonio Spurs Loyola Marymount 3 49# F Portland Trail Blazers UTEP 3 50 PG Cleveland Cavaliers Cal State Fullerton 3 51 PF/SF Golden State Warriors Bradley 3 52 PG Chicago Bulls George Mason 3 53 PF Seattle SuperSonics UC Irvine 3 54 SG Los Angeles Clippers Pepperdine 3 55 PF Phoenix Suns Old Dominion 3 56# F Philadelphia 76ers Virginia Tech 3 57 SG Sacramento Kings Illinois 3 58 PG Washington Bullets Duke 3 59# PF Golden State Warriors Syracuse 3 60 ^SG Portland Trail Blazers Cibona (Yugoslavia) 3 61 C Utah Jazz Minnesota 3 62# F Dallas Mavericks Illinois 3 63# C Utah Jazz Rocky Mountain 3 64# G Denver Nuggets LSU 3 65 C Atlanta Hawks Nebraska 3 66 SG Houston Rockets Oklahoma 3 67 SG Philadelphia 76ers St. John's 3 68# F Milwaukee Bucks Memphis 3 69 PG Los Angeles Lakers Memphis State 3 70 PG Atlanta Hawks Bradley 4 71# F New York Knicks Kansas 4 72# G Indiana Pacers LSU 4 73# C Cleveland Cavaliers North Carolina 4 74 PF Chicago Bulls Illinois 4 75# F Golden State Warriors Missouri 4 76# F Seattle SuperSonics Georgetown 4 77 SG Phoenix Suns Pepperdine 4 78# F Los Angeles Clippers Texas 4 79# G San Antonio Spurs Baylor 4 80# G Sacramento Kings Houston 4 81# G New Jersey Nets North Carolina 4 82# F Washington Bullets St. Bonaventure 4 83# F Portland Trail Blazers Florida State 4 84# F Utah Jazz DePaul 4 85 PG Dallas Mavericks Arkansas–Little Rock 4 86# G Detroit Pistons Mississippi State 4 87# G Denver Nuggets San Diego State 4 88# F Atlanta Hawks Illinois 4 89 SG Houston Rockets UC Santa Barbara 4 90# G Philadelphia 76ers East Tennessee State 4 91# F Sacramento Kings Virginia Tech 4 92# G Los Angeles Lakers West Virginia 4 93# G Boston Celtics Texas Tech 5 94# F New York Knicks UAB 5 95 SF Indiana Pacers Michigan 5 96# G Cleveland Cavaliers Gardner–Webb 5 97 SG Golden State Warriors Cleveland State 5 98# C Chicago Bulls Texas A&M 5 99 PG Seattle SuperSonics Boston College 5 100 PF Los Angeles Clippers San Diego State 5 101# C Phoenix Suns Carson–Newman 5 102# G San Antonio Spurs UConn 5 103# G Sacramento Kings Washington State 5 104# F Washington Bullets Washington 5 105# F New Jersey Nets UAB 5 106# F Portland Trail Blazers Oregon 5 107# F Utah Jazz Cal State Fullerton 5 108# C Dallas Mavericks Duke 5 109# C Detroit Pistons Old Dominion 5 110# F Denver Nuggets Eastern Illinois 5 111# G Atlanta Hawks VCU 5 112# G Houston Rockets Iowa 5 113# F Philadelphia 76ers DePaul 5 114# F Milwaukee Bucks Southwestern University 5 115# G Los Angeles Lakers Kentucky 5 116# C Boston Celtics Dayton 6 117# F New York Knicks Michigan 6 118# G Indiana Pacers Louisville 6 119# F Cleveland Cavaliers New Mexico State 6 120 G/SF Chicago Bulls Arkansas–Little Rock 6 121# C Golden State Warriors Alabama 6 122 PF Seattle SuperSonics South Florida 6 123# G Phoenix Suns Holy Cross 6 124 PF Los Angeles Clippers Notre Dame 6 125# F San Antonio Spurs SMU 6 126# F Sacramento Kings UNLV 6 127# G New Jersey Nets George Washington 6 128# G Washington Bullets Sam Houston 6 129# G Portland Trail Blazers Montana State 6 130# C Utah Jazz Villanova 6 131# C Dallas Mavericks Lamar 6 132# F Detroit Pistons Utah State 6 133 SF Denver Nuggets Pepperdine 6 134 C Atlanta Hawks Budivelnik Kiev 6 135# F Houston Rockets Dyke 6 136# F Philadelphia 76ers Seton Hall 6 137# F Milwaukee Bucks Lipscomb 6 138# C Los Angeles Lakers Marquette 6 139# F Boston Celtics Detroit Mercy 7 140# F New York Knicks South Carolina 7 141# F Indiana Pacers Oregon State 7 142# C Cleveland Cavaliers Georgetown 7 143# G Golden State Warriors Santa Clara 7 144# C Chicago Bulls Michigan 7 145# F Seattle SuperSonics Clemson 7 146# F Los Angeles Clippers New Mexico 7 147# G Phoenix Suns Dayton 7 148# G San Antonio Spurs Pan American 7 149# G Sacramento Kings Southeast Missouri State 7 150# G Washington Bullets Notre Dame 7 151# F New Jersey Nets Notre Dame 7 152# G Portland Trail Blazers Linfield 7 153# F Utah Jazz Hartford 7 154# G Dallas Mavericks Middle Tennessee 7 155# F Detroit Pistons Michigan State 7 156# G Denver Nuggets McNeese State 7 157# C Atlanta Hawks CSKA Moscow 7 158# G Houston Rockets Wisconsin 7 159# F Philadelphia 76ers Ball State 7 160# G Milwaukee Bucks Missouri 7 161# G Los Angeles Lakers Mississippi Valley State 7 162# C Boston Celtics Boston University
* compensation for draft choices traded away by Ted Stepien
Notable undrafted players
These players who declared or were automatically eligible for the 1986 draft were not selected but played in the NBA. Player Position Nationality School/Club teamSGGeorge Mason (Sr.)SFNorthern Arizona (Sr.)SGUtah (Sr.)CKK Zadar (Croatia)
Early entrants College underclassmen For the fourth year in a row and the eighth time in nine years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. However, it would be the first time in NBA history that a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, as Cedric Henderson (who had previously played for the University of Georgia for a year before travelling to Italy to play for the Simac Olimpia Milano) would qualify as an official entry there, expanding the list of official players there from eight to nine. Excluding him, however, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
William Bedford – C, Memphis (junior) Walter Berry – F, St. John's (junior) Michael Graham – F, Georgetown (freshman) Jerald Hyatt – G, Lincoln Memorial (junior) Andre Morgan – G, Hawaii (junior) Chris Washburn – F/C, NC State (sophomore) Dwayne Washington – Syracuse (junior)