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One pick in the NBA draft can change a franchise’s fortune. Just think, what would have happened to the Chicago Bulls had they not selected Michael Jordan third overall in 1984? Or the Cleveland Cavaliers had they not taken LeBron James No. 1 in 2003? Or the Golden State Warriors in 2009 had Stephen Curry not gone to them with the seventh pick?

The draft can result in an organization and an entire city changing for the better … or a team can waste years of its future by investing in the wrong player.

So, since the night can be so crucial to the NBA landscape, let’s consider the lay of the land. How many rounds are in the 2023 draft? And picks are there in those rounds?

The 2023 NBA Draft features 58 picks across 2 rounds

While the NFL draft consists of seven rounds and the MLB draft has 20, each stretching over multiple days, the NBA prefers to keep things a bit more streamlined.

Despite one selection having the potential to change everything, basketball teams have significantly smaller rosters than football and baseball teams, so there are just two rounds in the NBA draft. When you multiply 30 teams by two rounds, that sets up a normal slate of 60 picks.

In 2023, however, the total number will fall short of the full five dozen at 58 picks.Both the Chicago Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers lost their second-round picks due to tampering violations. If that situation sounds familiar, it’s because the 2022 NBA Draft also had 58 selections; in that case, though, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat had to pay the penalty.

With that being said, though, the draft hasn’t always been a concise, two-round affair.

Back in the day, teams would go until there weren’t any more prospects. The 1960 draft lasted incredible twenty-one rounds; no wonder teams eventually started getting a bit creative and started selecting the likes of Bruce Jenner and Scooby-Doo.

It’s also worth remembering that teams also made territorial selections designed to increase hometown appeal with local prospects up until the league eliminated that mechanism in 1966. Twelve Hall of Famers, including Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, came off the board in that manner.

Over time, though, the Association moved toward the draft we know today. Things were trimmed to 10 rounds in 1974 and seven in 1985. The draft lasted for three rounds in 1988 before officially switching to only two in 1989.

Of course, each round consisted of fewer picks during previous eras, as the NBA was yet to expand to its modern size. There were only 23 teams, for example, in 1987-88 and 25 in 1988-89. The league officially jumped up to 30 teams in 2004, bringing us to the two rounds and 60 picks that we (usually) see today.

The 2023 NBA draft will be remembered as the day Victor Wembanyama arrived

Remember how we started this piece by saying that all it took was one big-time draft pick to change the course of a franchise? Well, Victor Wembanyama seems like he’ll be that piece of the puzzle for the San Antonio Spurs.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Wemby is viewed as a can’t-miss prospect for a reason. His sheer size — depending on who you ask, the teenager is somewhere around 7-foot-4 — will grab plenty of headlines, but the Frenchman is more than just tall. On offense, he’s also comfortable handling the ball and at ease drifting out to the perimeter to put up a jumper; on defense, he can stay at home in the paint to block shots or use his combination of foot speed and length to stop penetration at the source.

While that seems to suggest Wembanyama will be an elite NBA talent, there’s always room for things to go wrong. Big men can have lower body issues, and while Wemby has been putting in the work to stay healthy, injuries are always a concern. There are also questions about how he’ll handle the NBA’s higher level of competition and increased physicality.

Which way will things pan out? Will the 2023 NBA draft be remembered as the moment that Victor Wembanyama changed the Association for the better? Or the moment that was the beginning of his end?

At this point, there’s no way to tell.

Draft history courtesy of Basketball Reference

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Senior Writer, Programmer

Joe Kozlowski

Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie.

Growing up loving Shaquille O’Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he’s continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives.

As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He’s barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe’s big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level.

Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.