Basketball player selection
1997 NBA draft Sport Basketball Date(s) June 25, 1997 Location Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte , North Carolina )Network(s) TNT 57 total selections in 2 roundsLeague NBA First selection Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs )
The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina . The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery , but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto Raptors they were not allowed to select first in this draft. Although the Boston Celtics had the second-worst record in the 1996–97 season and the best odds (36 percent) of winning the lottery with two picks, the Spurs lost David Robinson and Sean Elliott to injury early in the season, finished with the third-worst record, and subsequently won the lottery. Leading up to the draft, there was no doubt that Tim Duncan would be selected at No. 1 by the Spurs as he was considered the best prospect in a long time, and the rest of the draft was regarded with some skepticism.[1] The Celtics had the third and sixth picks, selecting Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer , both of whom were traded in the next two years.
The Washington Wizards forfeited their 1997 first-round pick in connection with the signing of Juwan Howard . (Washington would have had the 17th pick.) Thus, the draft only had 28 first-round selections and 57 selections overall.
Draft selections [ ]
Tim Duncan was selected 1st overall by the
San Antonio Spurs .
Chauncey Billups was selected 3rd overall by the
Boston Celtics .
Tracy McGrady was selected 9th overall by the
Toronto Raptors .
Round
Pick
Player
Position
Nationality[n 1]
NBA team
School/Club team
1
1
Tim Duncan ^
PF/C
United States [n 2]
San Antonio Spurs
Wake Forest (Sr. )
1
2
Keith Van Horn
PF
United States
Philadelphia 76ers
Utah (Sr. )
1
3
Chauncey Billups *
PG
United States
Boston Celtics
Colorado (So. )
1
4
Antonio Daniels
PG
United States
Vancouver Grizzlies
Bowling Green (Sr. )
1
5
Tony Battie
C/F
United States
Denver Nuggets
Texas Tech (Jr. )
1
6
Ron Mercer
SF
United States
Boston Celtics (from Dallas )
Kentucky (So. )
1
7
Tim Thomas
SF
United States
New Jersey Nets
Villanova (Fr. )
1
8
Adonal Foyle
C
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Golden State Warriors
Colgate (Jr. )
1
9
Tracy McGrady ^
SG/SF
United States
Toronto Raptors
Mt. Zion Christian Academy (Durham, North Carolina )
1
10
Danny Fortson
PF
United States
Milwaukee Bucks
Cincinnati (Jr. )
1
11
Tariq Abdul-Wahad
SF
France
Sacramento Kings
San Jose State (Sr. )
1
12
Austin Croshere
PF
United States
Indiana Pacers
Providence (Sr. )
1
13
Derek Anderson
SG
United States
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kentucky (Sr. )
1
14
Maurice Taylor
PF
United States
Los Angeles Clippers
Michigan (Jr. )
1
15
Kelvin Cato
C
United States
Dallas Mavericks (from Minnesota )
Iowa State (Jr. )
1
16
Brevin Knight
PG
United States
Cleveland Cavaliers (from Phoenix )
Stanford (Sr. )
1
17
Johnny Taylor
PF
United States
Orlando Magic
Chattanooga (Sr. )
1
18
Chris Anstey
PF
Australia
Portland Trail Blazers
SE Melbourne Magic (Australia )
1
19
Scot Pollard
C
United States
Detroit Pistons
Kansas (Sr. )
1
20
Paul Grant
C
United States
Minnesota Timberwolves (from Charlotte via Milwaukee and Portland )
Wisconsin (Sr. )
1
21
Anthony Parker
SG
United States
New Jersey Nets (from L.A. Lakers )
Bradley (Sr. )
1
22
Ed Gray
PG/SG
United States
Atlanta Hawks
California (Sr. )
1
23
Bobby Jackson
PG
United States
Seattle SuperSonics
Minnesota (Sr. )
1
24
Rodrick Rhodes
SG
United States
Houston Rockets
USC (Sr. )
1
25
John Thomas
C
United States
New York Knicks
Minnesota (Sr. )
1
26
Charles Smith
SG
United States
Miami Heat
New Mexico (Sr. )
1
27
Jacque Vaughn
PG
United States
Utah Jazz
Kansas (Sr. )
1
28
Keith Booth
SF
United States
Chicago Bulls
Maryland (Sr. )
2
29
Serge Zwikker #
C
Netherlands
Houston Rockets (from Vancouver )
North Carolina (Sr. )
2
30
Mark Sanford #
SF/PF
United States
Miami Heat (from Boston )
Washington (Jr. )
2
31
Charles O'Bannon
PG
United States
Detroit Pistons (from San Antonio )
UCLA (Sr. )
2
32
James Cotton
SF
United States
Denver Nuggets
Long Beach State (Sr. )
2
33
Marko Milič
PG/SG
Slovenia
Philadelphia 76ers
Smelt Olimpija (Slovenia )
2
34
Bubba Wells
SF/PF
United States
Dallas Mavericks
Austin Peay (Sr. )
2
35
Kebu Stewart
SF/PF
United States
Philadelphia 76ers (from New Jersey Nets )
Cal State Bakersfield (Sr. )
2
36
James Collins
PG/SG
United States
Philadelphia 76ers (from Toronto )
Florida State (Sr. )
2
37
Marc Jackson
SF/PF
United States
Golden State Warriors
Temple (Sr. )
2
38
Jerald Honeycutt
PF
United States
Milwaukee Bucks
Tulane (Sr. )
2
39
Anthony Johnson
PG/SG
United States
Sacramento Kings
College of Charleston (Sr. )
2
40
Ed Elisma #
SF
United States
Seattle SuperSonics (from L.A. Clippers )
Georgia Tech (Sr. )
2
41
Jason Lawson
C
United States
Denver Nuggets (from Indiana )
Villanova (Sr. )
2
42
Stephen Jackson
SG
United States
Phoenix Suns
Butler CC (Sr. )
2
43
Gordon Malone #
SF
United States
Minnesota Timberwolves
West Virginia (Sr. )
2
44
Cedric Henderson
PF
United States
Cleveland Cavaliers
Memphis (Sr. )
2
45
God Shammgod
PG
United States
Washington Bullets
Providence (Sr. )
2
46
Eric Washington
SG
United States
Orlando Magic (traded to Denver )
Alabama (Sr. )
2
47
Alvin Williams
PG
United States
Portland Trail Blazers
Villanova (Sr. )
2
48
Predrag Drobnjak
C
FR Yugoslavia
Washington Bullets (from Charlotte )
KK Partizan (Yugoslavia )
2
49
Alain Digbeu #
SG
France
Atlanta Hawks (from Detroit )
ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (France )
2
50
Chris Crawford
SF
United States
Atlanta Hawks
Marquette (Sr. )
2
51
DeJuan Wheat
PG
United States
Los Angeles Lakers
Louisville (Sr. )
2
52
C.J. Bruton #
PG/SG
Australia
Vancouver Grizzlies (from Houston )
Indian Hills CC (So. )
2
53
Paul Rogers #
C
Australia
Los Angeles Lakers (from New York )
Gonzaga (Sr. )
2
54
Mark Blount
C
United States
Seattle SuperSonics
Pittsburgh (So. )
2
55
Ben Pepper #
C
Australia
Boston Celtics (from Miami )
Newcastle Falcons (Australia )
2
56
Nate Erdmann #
SG
United States
Utah Jazz
Oklahoma (Senior )
2
57
Roberto Dueñas #
C
Spain
Chicago Bulls
FC Barcelona (Spain )
^ Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.
^ Tim Duncan is a United States citizen by birth, as are all natives of the U.S. Virgin Islands, he has represented the United States internationally.[2]
Notable undrafted players [ ]
These players were not selected in the 1997 NBA Draft but have played in the NBA.
Despite going undrafted
Pat Burke gained notability through being the NBA's first Irish player.
See also [ ]
References [ ]
External links [ ]
"Official website" . Archived from the original on 2001-02-15. Retrieved 2011-06-15 .CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link )
1997 NBA Draft at Basketball-reference
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