The 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 rounds total. A total of 162 players were selected over seven rounds by the league's 23 teams.
The New York Knicks were awarded the first overall pick by winning the first-ever NBA draft lottery, which was held in May of that year. The Knicks used it on Georgetown's Patrick Ewing. In addition to Ewing, this draft also resulted in several Hall of Famers, including Karl Malone taken by the Utah Jazz at pick 13.
Draft selections PG Point guard SG Shooting guard SF Small forward PF Power forward C Center
Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/club team11 ^~C Ewing was born in , but had become a naturalized United States citizen while at Georgetown, as evidenced by his selection to the USA team at the 1984 Olympics. New York Knicks Georgetown 12 PF Indiana Pacers Oklahoma 13 C Los Angeles Clippers Creighton 14 +PF Seattle SuperSonics Wichita State 15 C Atlanta Hawks SMU 16 C Sacramento Kings Arkansas 17 ^SF Golden State Warriors St. John's 18 *SF/PF Dallas Mavericks Washington 19 +PF Cleveland Cavaliers * Virginia Union 110 PF Phoenix Suns Villanova 111 C Chicago Bulls Memphis State 112 F Washington Bullets Wake Forest 113 ^PF Utah Jazz Louisiana Tech 114 SG San Antonio Spurs Loyola (IL) 115 C Denver Nuggets Oregon 116 C Dallas Mavericks St. John's 117 C Dallas Mavericks Indiana 118 ^SG Detroit Pistons McNeese State 119 SG Houston Rockets Tulsa 120 SG Boston Celtics Michigan State 121 PF Philadelphia 76ers South Alabama 122 G/F Milwaukee Bucks LSU 123 +SF/PF Los Angeles Lakers Oregon State 124 +PG Portland Trail Blazers Wisconsin–Stevens Point 225 C Portland Trail Blazers Canisius 226 F Indiana Pacers Georgetown 227 SG Indiana Pacers Villanova 228 F Chicago Bulls Michigan State 229 C San Antonio Spurs South Carolina 230 #G Cleveland Cavaliers VCU 231 C Washington Bullets Bridgeport 232 C Phoenix Suns Santa Clara 233 F/C Philadelphia 76ers Iowa 234#SG Chicago Bulls Wichita State 235 SF/PF San Antonio Spurs DePaul 236 C New Jersey Nets Georgia Tech 237 F Utah Jazz LIU Brooklyn 238 PF New Jersey Nets Real Madrid 239# F Portland Trail Blazers Illinois 240 F/C Dallas Mavericks Oral Roberts 241 PF Atlanta Hawks NC State 242# C/F Golden State Warriors Alabama 243 G/F Denver Nuggets Iowa State 244 SG Philadelphia 76ers Bradley 245 PF Cleveland Cavaliers Tulane 246 SF Chicago Bulls Maryland 247 SG New York Knicks Chattanooga 348# G Indiana Pacers DePaul 349PFGolden State WarriorsUCLA 350# C Dallas Mavericks San Diego State 351# G Sacramento Kings South Florida 352# C Los Angeles Clippers Houston Baptist 353# G Seattle SuperSonics VCU 354SF/PFHouston Rockets Mercer 355# F Cleveland Cavaliers Tulsa 356# C Phoenix Suns Lamar 357# F Houston Rockets Iowa 358# G Washington Bullets Creighton 359PGAtlanta Hawks**Dayton 360# F Detroit Pistons Northwestern 361SGPortland Trail BlazersVirginia Tech 362# G New Jersey Nets UCLA 363SGDallas MavericksSanta Clara 364# F Detroit Pistons Evansville 365# C Washington Bullets Southern Illinois 366+PGSacramento Kings Boston College 367# G Philadelphia 76ers La Salle 368# C Milwaukee Bucks Florida 369CChicago Bulls***George Washington 370# G Boston Celtics Loyola Chicago 471# G Golden State Warriors UTEP 472# G Indiana Pacers Clemson 473PGNew York KnicksEastern Michigan 474# F Los Angeles Clippers Arizona State 475FSeattle SuperSonicsColorado 476# C Sacramento Kings Louisiana Tech 477 ^CAtlanta Hawks Sabonis was subsequently selected in the first round (24th overall) of the 1986 NBA draft. Žalgiris Kaunas 478# F Phoenix Suns Temple 479SFCleveland CavaliersOld Dominion 480# G Chicago Bulls Samford 481# F Washington Bullets UNLV 482SFSan Antonio SpursWisconsin 483GUtah JazzWake Forest 484SGAtlanta Hawks Rutgers 485# F Portland Trail Blazers Oklahoma State 486# G Dallas Mavericks Texas Tech 487PGDetroit PistonsNC State 488# G Houston Rockets Tennessee 489PFDenver NuggetsArizona 490PFPhiladelphia 76ersUTSA 491PFMilwaukee BucksNC State 492PGLos Angeles LakersSouth Alabama 493# F Boston Celtics Liberty 594# G Indiana Pacers Richmond 595# C Golden State Warriors Missouri 596# F New York Knicks VCU 597# F Seattle SuperSonics Illinois State 598# F Sacramento Kings Saint Joseph's 599# F Los Angeles Clippers USC 5100# F Atlanta Hawks Fairleigh Dickinson 5101# C Cleveland Cavaliers Leverkusen 5102# C Phoenix Suns Weber State 5103# F Chicago Bulls Houston 5104# G Washington Bullets Florida State 5105# G Utah Jazz Canisius 5106# C San Antonio Spurs USC 5107# F Portland Trail Blazers USC Upstate 5108# C New Jersey Nets South Alabama 5109# G Dallas Mavericks Minnesota 5110# C Detroit Pistons Murray State 5111# C Indiana Pacers UIC 5112# G Denver Nuggets Texas A&M 5113# G Philadelphia 76ers SMU 5114# C Milwaukee Bucks Providence 5115# F Los Angeles Lakers BYU 5116# C Boston Celtics La Salle 6117# G Golden State Warriors Georgia 6118# G Indiana Pacers Boston College 6119# G New York Knicks UTEP 6120# F Sacramento Kings Arkansas 6121# F Los Angeles Clippers Missouri 6122# F Seattle SuperSonics Mercer 6123# G Atlanta Hawks Lafayette 6124# G Phoenix Suns Temple 6125# F Cleveland Cavaliers Illinois State 6126# F Chicago Bulls Duke 6127# G Washington Bullets Houston Baptist 6128# G San Antonio Spurs Oregon 6129# F Utah Jazz Virginia 6130# G New Jersey Nets Southwestern Louisiana 6131# G Portland Trail Blazers Nebraska 6132# F Dallas Mavericks Texas 6133# F Detroit Pistons Eastern Michigan 6134# G Houston Rockets Oral Roberts 6135# F Denver Nuggets Harvard 6136# F Philadelphia 76ers Drake 6137# F Milwaukee Bucks Texas Tech 6138# F Los Angeles Lakers Cal State Fullerton 6139SGBoston CelticsLa Salle 7140# F Indiana Pacers Oral Roberts 7141# G Golden State Warriors North Carolina A&T 7142# C New York Knicks Cornell 7143# F Los Angeles Clippers UCLA 7144SGSeattle SuperSonicsAlcorn State 7145# C Sacramento Kings Florida State 7146# G Atlanta Hawks Harvard 7147# G Cleveland Cavaliers North Carolina 7148PFPhoenix SunsAkademik Varna 7149# G Chicago Bulls Maryland 7150# G Washington Bullets Detroit Mercy 7151# F Utah Jazz Texas 7152# G San Antonio Spurs Virginia Tech 7153# G Portland Trail Blazers College of Idaho 7154# G New Jersey Nets Villanova 7155# F Dallas Mavericks UNLV 7156# F Detroit Pistons UNLV 7157# C Indiana Pacers Marshall 7158# F Denver Nuggets Arizona 7159# F Philadelphia 76ers Bucknell 7160SF/SGMilwaukee BucksAmerican International 7161# G Los Angeles Lakers William & Mary 7162# F Boston Celtics Rutgers
* Further compensation for draft choices previously traded away by Ted Stepien. ** Compensation for the Utah Jazz signing Billy Paultz *** Compensation for the Los Angeles Lakers signing Larry Spriggs **** Compensation for the Atlanta Hawks signing Billy Paultz
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 1985 draft but played at least one game in the NBA. Player Pos. Nationality School/club team PF Saint Mary's (Sr.) PG TCU (Sr.)
Conspiracy theories about the first pick Some have argued that NBA Commissioner David Stern fixed the first overall pick to help his hometown team, the struggling New York Knicks. The lottery system used in 1985 involved a random drawing of seven envelopes from a hopper, with each of the then-seven non-playoff teams having an equal chance of obtaining the first pick. Inside each of the envelopes was the logo of a non-playoff team. The team whose envelope was drawn first would get the first pick. The process was then repeated until the rest of the first seven lottery picks were determined. In the U.S., CBS had live coverage of Stern pulling the envelopes from the hopper (as opposed to NBA Draft lotteries today where the actual drawing is held behind closed doors before the results are revealed on TV).
The "frozen envelope theory" suggests that the National Basketball Association rigged its 1985 draft lottery so that Patrick Ewing would join the New York Knicks. Theorists claim that a lottery envelope was chilled so that it could be identified by touch. A similar "hot balls theory", promoted by Scottish football manager David Moyes, suggests that certain balls used in draws for UEFA and AFC competitions have been warmed to achieve specific outcomes.
According to another theory, some claim that when an accountant from Ernst & Whinney (the same firm used by Gulf + Western, then-owners of the Knicks) inserted the seven envelopes into the glass drum, some have claimed that he banged the fourth one against the side of the drum to create a creased corner, thereby making it easier for Stern to determine which envelope to choose: the envelope containing the Knicks logo. According to this theory, as the drum was being spun by NBA security director Jack Joyce, Stern was watching the envelopes closely. He then opened the drum, took a deep breath, reached in and selected the envelope with the bent corner and the Knicks logo. This has not been confirmed or corroborated by any official source, as most note that the spinning of the drum was far more forceful than any movement by Joyce, deliberate or otherwise.
Early entrants College underclassmen For the third year in a row and the seventh time in eight years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. This year, however, saw a total of twelve players qualify for entry as college underclassmen, including a Sudanese born freshman center named Manute Bol, who would be considered the tallest player in NBA history at the time. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
George Almones – G, Southwestern Louisiana (junior) Joe Atkinson – F, Oklahoma State (junior) Benoit Benjamin – C, Creighton (junior) Manute Bol – C, Bridgeport (freshman) Kenny Brown – G, Texas A&M (junior) Derrick Gervin – F, Texas–San Antonio (junior) Kenny Green – F, Wake Forest (junior) Karl Malone – F, Louisiana Tech (junior) Jerry Reynolds – F, LSU (junior) Reggie Roberts – G, Texas A&M (junior) Wayman Tisdale – F, Oklahoma (junior) Carl Wright – G, SMU (junior)
Invited attendees The 1985 NBA draft is considered to be the eighth NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned in the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum for the first time the NBA draft used a green room there), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the 1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands with David Stern, the NBA's commissioner at the time. The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 13 prospects at the time. However, for the fourth year in a row, one invite in Dwayne McClain would end up staying in the green room beyond the first round of the draft. Even so, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.