1985 NBA Draft: Best Draft Ever?

1985 NBA Draft with Patrick Ewing and David Stern
The 1985 NBA Draft featured Patrick Ewing and a young-looking David Stern.

The 1985 NBA Draft mattered because Patrick Ewing was at stake.

Was the envelope frozen? Or was the crease in the upper right hand/folded corner enough for the commish to know it was the correct envelope to pick?

It was an interesting time for the 1985 NBA Draft. The first ever NBA Draft Lottery was used to determine the picking order and the Knicks hadn’t been relevant for years.

The Knicks had the third worst record the previous year, with Golden State the expected recipient of the #1 pick due to having the worst record the previous season.

Each non-playoff team had an equal shot at their envelope being selected and it temporarily solved the problem of teams losing games on purpose to get the number one pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.

With Ewing, already a fixture on the east coast thanks to his college days at Georgetown, the slumbering New York media market would be rejuvenated and the league would make a ton of dough.

The Knicks got Ewing and Golden State fell all the way down to the seventh overall pick, where they picked future hall of famer Chris Mullin, though at the time he was seen as more of a consolation prize because they didn’t get Ewing. But, it ended up working out well for both teams.

Ewing and the conspiracy surrounding the Draft Lottery are what get all the headlines. But the 1985 NBA Draft affected the NBA as much as any draft ever (arguabley as much as the 1984 NBA Draft) and shaped the league for the next several years.

In the first 18 picks, four Hall of Famers were selected. In the first round (24 picks in all) nine all stars were selected. Of the 24 players selected in the first round, 19 of them played in the NBA for eight or more seasons. That’s some pretty amazing longevity compared to the way a lot of NBA Draft picks over the last ten or so years won’t ever play a minute in the league.

A few of the better picks:

– Patrick Ewing at one
Xavier McDaniel at four
– Chris Mullin at seven
– Detlef Schrempf at eight
Charles Oakley at nine
Karl Malone at 13
– Joe Dumars at 18

– AC Green at 23
Terry Porter at 24

A few that didn’t pan out:

Benoit Benjamin at three.
– Jon Koncak at five

– Joe Kleine at six
– Ed Pickney at 10

Even the guys that “didn’t pan out” made an impact and cut out roles for themselves, maybe none more than Jon Koncak especially regarding the future of the league.