# 2014 NBA draft
The 2014 [NBA draft](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-draft) was the [National Basketball Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-basketball-association)'s annual player selection draft, held on Thursday, June 26, 2014, in New York, New York, in which 60 players were chosen in two rounds of 30 selections each[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html). The [Cleveland Cavaliers](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland-cavaliers), holding the first overall pick despite only a 1.70 percent chance in the draft lottery, selected Andrew Wiggins, a small forward from Kansas[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) • [2](https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-faq) • [3](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/). The class was widely described before the draft as one of the deepest in years, and it later produced five NBA All-Stars, though its most valuable player, Nikola Jokic, was selected 41st overall[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) • [3](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/) • [4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and place | Thursday, June 26, 2014, New York, New York[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) |
| Selections | 60 picks in two rounds; 54 of the 60 players played in the NBA[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) |
| First overall pick | Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers[5](https://www.nba.com/news/history-draft?channel=desktop) |
| Lottery upset | Cleveland entered the lottery with a 1.70 percent chance and won the first pick[2](https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-faq) |
| Draft-night trades | 19 of the 60 picks, nearly a third, were traded[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick) |
| All-Stars produced | 5: Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, Julius Randle, and Andrew Wiggins[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) |
| Career leaders (win shares) | Nikola Jokic 142.9, Clint Capela 72.6, Joel Embiid 69.0; Wiggins, the No. 1 pick, has 37.6[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html) |
## Lottery and draft order
The draft was presented by [State Farm](https://www.edgepedia.org/state-farm). Four ties among teams that finished the 2013-14 regular season with identical records were broken on April 18, 2014, through random drawings conducted in New York City by NBA officials and overseen by a representative of the accounting firm [Ernst & Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/ernst-and-young). Utah won a tiebreaker with Boston, Brooklyn won over Washington, Chicago won over Toronto, and Portland won over Miami and Houston, after which Houston won a further tiebreaker with Miami[6](https://pr.nba.com/nba-draft-2014-order-of-selection/).
The first three picks were determined by the draft lottery held on May 20, 2014, with the remaining lottery teams selecting in positions 4 through 14 in inverse order of their consolidated standings. Milwaukee (15-67) entered with 250 of the lottery's chances, followed by Philadelphia (19-63) with 199 and Orlando (23-59) with 156. Cleveland, at 33-49, held only 17 chances, yet won the first pick[6](https://pr.nba.com/nba-draft-2014-order-of-selection/) • [2](https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-faq). It was the third time in four years the Cavaliers had received the No. 1 pick[3](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/).
## The first round
**The top of the draft** turned on [Joel Embiid](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-embiid)'s health. Embiid, a center, had recent injury troubles that pushed him down boards, and [Cleveland](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland) was widely expected to choose between [Jabari Parker](https://www.edgepedia.org/jabari-parker), a power forward and small forward from Duke, and Andrew Wiggins, a small forward from Kansas[3](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/). The Cavaliers took Wiggins first. Milwaukee then selected Parker with the second pick; Sports Illustrated's draft tracker described him as the best pure scorer in the draft and noted that Milwaukee got the player it wanted[7](https://www.si.com/nba/2014/06/20/2014-nba-draft-live-tracker-picks). Parker had averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds a game in his single season at Duke and was largely considered the best overall player in his class by at least one pre-draft account[8](https://time.com/2930938/cleveland-cavaliers-pick-andrew-wiggins-first-in-nba-draft/).
Other first-round selections documented in the sources include Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State, taken sixth by Boston[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html), and the traded picks described below. The class was built around scoring forwards: as [Bleacher Report](https://www.edgepedia.org/bleacher-report) later put it in a retrospective, the 2014 draft was "all about the scoring forwards"[9](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889836-re-drafting-the-2014-nba-draft-class).
## Draft-night trades
Nearly a third of the draft, 19 of 60 picks, changed hands in trades, some of which could not be completed until July because of the NBA's free-agency moratorium[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick). The documented deals include:
- The 76ers traded [Elfrid Payton](https://www.edgepedia.org/elfrid-payton) (No. 10) to the Magic for Dario Saric (No. 12), a 2017 first-round pick (top-11 protected, top-eight protected in 2018), and a 2015 second-round pick[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick).
- [Doug McDermott](https://www.edgepedia.org/doug-mcdermott) (No. 11) and [Anthony Randolph](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-randolph) went from Denver to Chicago in a deal that brought the Nuggets Jusuf Nurkic (No. 16), Gary Harris (No. 19), and a second-round choice in 2015.[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick)
- The Hornets traded Shabazz Napier (No. 24) to the Heat for P.J. Hairston (No. 26), Semaj Christon (No. 55), and a future second-round pick[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick).
- The Jazz traded Jarnell Stokes (No. 35) to the Grizzlies for a 2016 second-round pick, and the Timberwolves sold Markel Brown (No. 44) to the Nets for cash[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick).
- The Wizards traded Jordan Clarkson (No. 46) to the Lakers for cash, and the Nuggets traded Roy Devyn Marble (No. 56) and Evan Fournier to the Magic for Arron Afflalo[4](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick).
## The class in hindsight
Before the draft, ESPN wrote that the 2014 class was initially considered likely to go down as one of the most loaded ever seen[10](https://africa.espn.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/11106782/nba-draft-best-worst-draft-classes-last-25-years). Measured by career value, the class's biggest returns came from late picks. Basketball-[Reference](https://www.edgepedia.org/reference) credits the class with five All-Stars and lists Nikola Jokic as its career leader in win shares at 142.9, ahead of [Clint Capela](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-capela) at 72.6 and Joel Embiid at 69.0, while Wiggins, the first overall pick, accumulated 37.6[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html).
A Bleacher Report re-draft of the class placed Jokic first, noting he had accrued 25.0 value over replacement player (VORP) with Embiid second at 10.0[9](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889836-re-drafting-the-2014-nba-draft-class). The same retrospective highlighted the value found deep in the second round, pointing to a player originally selected 33rd who ranked among the leaders in three-point makes and percentage since 2017-18[9](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889836-re-drafting-the-2014-nba-draft-class). The gap between the top picks' reputations and their production made the 2014 draft a recurring example in analyses of draft value, which generally find that career win shares decline steeply with later draft position[3](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/).
## References
1. [2014 NBA Draft, Basketball-Reference.com](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html)
2. [NBA Draft FAQ: order, dates, tickets, prospects, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-faq)
3. [6 Things to Know About the NBA Draft, Time (June 26, 2014)](https://time.com/2928553/2014-nba-draft/)
4. [Every trade involving a 2014 NBA draft pick, NBC Sports (June 27, 2014)](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/every-trade-involving-a-2014-nba-draft-pick)
5. [All-Time NBA Draft History, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/history-draft?channel=desktop)
6. [Ties broken for NBA Draft 2014 order of selection, NBA Communications (April 18, 2014)](https://pr.nba.com/nba-draft-2014-order-of-selection/)
7. [2014 NBA draft tracker: All 60 picks, Sports Illustrated (June 20, 2014)](https://www.si.com/nba/2014/06/20/2014-nba-draft-live-tracker-picks)
8. [Cleveland Cavaliers Pick Andrew Wiggins First in NBA Draft, Time (June 2014)](https://time.com/2930938/cleveland-cavaliers-pick-andrew-wiggins-first-in-nba-draft/)
9. [Re-Drafting the 2014 NBA Draft Class, Bleacher Report](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889836-re-drafting-the-2014-nba-draft-class)
10. [Best, worst NBA draft classes, ESPN](https://africa.espn.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/11106782/nba-draft-best-worst-draft-classes-last-25-years)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › NBA and WNBA (North American professional basketball) › NBA draft*
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