1986 NBA Draft

The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986.

Overview and aftermath

This draft holds the record for the most players (out of prospects chosen) who later debuted in the NBA, with 66.

Drug and health issues involving drafted players

There were various drug-related problems that plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft. Most notable was the death of highly touted Len Bias. Bias died less than two days after being selected second overall by the defending champion Boston Celtics. His death was ruled an overdose that resulted from the abuse of the drug cocaine. Other problems involving drugs hampered the careers of Chris Washburn, Roy Tarpley, and William Bedford.

Successful second-round players

While a number of first-round selections were unable to make an impact in the league, this draft did feature a number of talented second-round selections. Dennis Rodman, who became one of the leading defenders and rebounders in NBA history, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2011. Mark Price, Kevin Duckworth, and Jeff Hornacek also went on to have successful careers, and each made the NBA All-Star Game. Three others Johnny Newman, Nate McMillan, and David Wingate, had long, productive careers as role players.

International draftees

This draft contained two exceptional international players, both of whom had shortened careers for unusual reasons. Third-round selection Dražen Petrović was coming off an All-Star caliber fourth season when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1993. He has since been elected to both the Naismith Hall of Fame and the FIBA Hall of Fame. The other, Arvydas Sabonis, was not permitted to play in the United States because of the dangerous political climate in the Soviet Union. He won two Olympic medals before his arrival in the NBA—a gold in 1988 with the USSR, and a bronze in 1992 with Lithuania. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Sabonis had a very successful career in Europe before finally joining the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995. Sabonis had lost much of his mobility by the time he joined the team because of a string of knee and Achilles tendon injuries. He finished second in both the Sixth Man Award and Rookie of the Year voting; after the 1995–96 season, he won a second Olympic bronze medal with Lithuania. He played seven seasons with Portland before returning to his homeland of Lithuania where he finished his career. Sabonis entered the FIBA Hall in 2010 and the Naismith Hall in 2011.

Other draftee contributions to the game

This draft is also known for the number of players who made important contributions to the sport of basketball outside of the court. For example, [1] Jeff Hornacek would also be a full-time assistant head coach for the Utah Jazz for two seasons before accepting a job as the head coach for the Phoenix Suns in the 2013–14 NBA season. Pete Myers, selected in the sixth round as the 120th overall pick, was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls from 2001 to 2010 and Golden State Warriors since 2011. Jim Les, the 70th overall pick, was an assistant coach for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs from 1999 to 2001 then was head coach at Bradley University from 2002 to 2011 and UC Davis since 2011.

Jay Bilas, who was selected in the fifth round as the 108th overall pick but never played in the NBA, is an ESPN college basketball analyst.

Draft selections

Brad Daugherty, the 1st pick Ron Harper, the 8th pick Arvydas Sabonis, the 24th pick Dennis Rodman, the 27th pick Larry Krystkowiak, the 28th pick Nate McMillan, the 30th pick Otis Smith, the 41st pick

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	NBA Team	School/Club Team
1	1	Daugherty, BradBrad Daugherty*	C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers (from L.A. Clippers via Philadelphia)	North Carolina (Sr.)
1	2	Bias, LenLen Bias#	SF	United States	Boston Celtics (from Seattle)	Maryland (Sr.)
1	3	Washburn, ChrisChris Washburn	C	United States	Golden State Warriors	NC State (So.)
1	4	Person, ChuckChuck Person	SF	United States	Indiana Pacers	Auburn (Sr.)
1	5	Walker, KennyKenny Walker	SF	United States	New York Knicks	Kentucky (Sr.)
1	6	Bedford, WilliamWilliam Bedford	C	United States	Phoenix Suns	Memphis State (Jr.)
1	7	Tarpley, RoyRoy Tarpley	C	United States	Dallas Mavericks (from Cleveland)	Michigan (Sr.)
1	8	Harper, RonRon Harper	SF	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers *	Miami (OH) (Sr.)
1	9	Sellers, BradBrad Sellers	C	United States	Chicago Bulls	Ohio State (Sr.)
1	10	Dawkins, JohnnyJohnny Dawkins	PG	United States	San Antonio Spurs	Duke (Sr.)
1	11	Salley, JohnJohn Salley	PF	United States	Detroit Pistons (from Sacramento)	Georgia Tech (Sr.)
1	12	Williams, John S.John S. Williams	PF	United States	Washington Bullets	LSU (So.)
1	13	Washington, DwayneDwayne Washington	PG	United States	New Jersey Nets	Syracuse (Sr.)
1	14	Berry, WalterWalter Berry	SF/PF	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	St. John's (Sr.)
1	15	Curry, DellDell Curry	SG/SF	United States	Utah Jazz	Virginia Tech (Sr.)
1	16	Martin, MauriceMaurice Martin	SF	United States	Denver Nuggets (from Dallas)	Saint Joseph's (Sr.)
1	17	Pressley, HaroldHarold Pressley	SF	United States	Sacramento Kings (from Detroit)	Villanova (Sr.)
1	18	Alarie, MarkMark Alarie	PF	United States	Denver Nuggets	Duke (Sr.)
1	19	Thompson, BillyBilly Thompson	SF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Louisville (Sr.)
1	20	Johnson, BuckBuck Johnson	SF	United States	Houston Rockets	Alabama (Sr.)
1	21	Jones, AnthonyAnthony Jones	SF	United States	Washington Bullets (from Philadelphia)	UNLV (Sr.)
1	22	Skiles, ScottScott Skiles	PG	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Michigan State (Sr.)
1	23	Barlow, KenKen Barlow#	PF	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Notre Dame (Sr.)
1	24	Sabonis, ArvydasArvydas Sabonis^	C	Soviet Union ( Lithuania)	Portland Trail Blazers (from Boston via L.A. Clippers)	Zalgiris (USSR)
2	25	Price, MarkMark Price*	PG	United States	Dallas Mavericks, traded on draft day to the Cleveland Cavaliers	Georgia Tech (Sr.)
2	26	Dreiling, GregGreg Dreiling	C	United States	Indiana Pacers	Kansas (Sr.)
2	27	Rodman, DennisDennis Rodman^	PF	United States	Detroit Pistons	Southeastern Oklahoma State (Sr.)
2	28	Krystkowiak, LarryLarry Krystkowiak	PF	United States	Chicago Bulls	Montana (Sr.)
2	29	Newman, JohnnyJohnny Newman	SF	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Richmond (Sr.)
2	30	McMillan, NateNate McMillan	PG	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	NC State (Sr.)
2	31	Ward, JoeJoe Ward#	SF	United States	Phoenix Suns	Georgia (Sr.)
2	32	Henderson, CedricCedric Henderson	PF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Georgia (Sr.)
2	33	Duckworth, KevinKevin Duckworth+	C	United States	San Antonio Spurs	Eastern Illinois (Sr.)
2	34	Rogers, JohnnyJohnny Rogers	PF	United States	Sacramento Kings	UC Irvine (Sr.)
2	35	Wagner, MiltMilt Wagner	SG	United States	Dallas Mavericks	Louisville (Sr.)
2	36	Mitchell, SteveSteve Mitchell#	PG	United States	Washington Bullets	UAB (Sr.)
2	37	Fasoulas, PanagiotisPanagiotis Fasoulas#	C	Greece	Portland Trail Blazers	NC State (Sr.)
2	38	Lampley, LemoneLemone Lampley#	C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	DePaul (Sr.)
2	39	Addison, RafaelRafael Addison	SF	United States	Phoenix Suns	Syracuse (Sr.)
2	40	Binelli, AugustoAugusto Binelli#	C	Italy	Atlanta Hawks	Virtus Bologna (Italy)
2	41	Smith, OtisOtis Smith	SG	United States	Denver Nuggets	Jacksonville (Sr.)
2	42	Kellogg, RonRon Kellogg#	SF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Kansas (Sr.)
2	43	Feitl, DaveDave Feitl	C	United States	Houston Rockets	UTEP (Sr.)
2	44	Wingate, DavidDavid Wingate	SG	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Georgetown (Sr.)
2	45	Smith, KeithKeith Smith	PG	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Loyola Marymount (Sr.)
2	46	Hornacek, JeffJeff Hornacek+	SG	United States	Phoenix Suns	Iowa State (Sr.)
2	47	Jackson, MichaelMichael Jackson	PG	United States	New York Knicks	Georgetown (Sr.)

Notable post-second round picks

These players selected after the second round have played at least one game in the NBA.

Dražen Petrović, the 60th pick Jim Les, the 70th pick Pete Myers, the 120th pick

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
3	48	McKenzie, ForrestForrest McKenzie	SF	United States	San Antonio Spurs	Loyola Marymount (Sr.)
3	50	Henderson, KevinKevin Henderson	PG	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cal State Fullerton (Sr.)
3	51	Williams, MikeMike Williams	PF/SF	United States	Golden State Warriors	Bradley (Sr.)
3	52	Wilson, RickyRicky Wilson	PG	United States	Chicago Bulls	George Mason (Sr.)
3	53	Murphy, TodTod Murphy	PF	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	UC Irvine (Sr.)
3	54	Polee, DwayneDwayne Polee	SG	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	Pepperdine (Sr.)
3	55	Gattison, KennyKenny Gattison	PF	United States	Phoenix Suns	Old Dominion (Sr.)
3	57	Douglas, BruceBruce Douglas	SG	United States	Sacramento Kings	Illinois (Sr.)
3	58	Henderson, DavidDavid Henderson	PG	United States	Washington Bullets	Duke (Sr.)
3	60	Petrović, DraženDražen Petrović^	SG	Yugoslavia ( Croatia)	Portland Trail Blazers	Cibona (Yugoslavia)
3	61	Shasky, JohnJohn Shasky	C	United States	Utah Jazz	Minnesota (Sr.)
3	65	Hoppen, DaveDave Hoppen	C	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Nebraska (Sr.)
3	66	Bowie, AnthonyAnthony Bowie	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	Oklahoma (Sr.)
3	67	Rowan, RonRon Rowan	SG	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	St. John's (Sr.)
3	69	Turner, AndreAndre Turner	PG	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Memphis State (Sr.)
3	70	Les, JimJim Les	PG	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Bradley (Sr.)
4	74	Meents, ScottScott Meents	PF	United States	Chicago Bulls	Illinois (Sr.)
4	77	Gondrezick, GrantGrant Gondrezick	SG	United States	Phoenix Suns	Pepperdine (Sr.)
4	85	Jackson, MyronMyron Jackson	PG	United States	Dallas Mavericks	Arkansas–Little Rock (Sr.)
4	89	Henry, ConnerConner Henry	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	UC Santa Barbara (Sr.)
5	95	Rellford, RichardRichard Rellford	SF	United States	Indiana Pacers	Michigan (Sr.)
5	97	Smith, ClintonClinton Smith	SG	United States	Golden State Warriors	Cleveland State (Sr.)
5	99	Pressley, DominicDominic Pressley	PG	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Boston College (Sr.)
5	100	Johnson, SteffondSteffond Johnson	PF	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	San Diego State (Sr.)
6	120	Myers, PetePete Myers	G/SF	United States	Chicago Bulls	Arkansas–Little Rock (Sr.)
6	122	Kitchen, CurtisCurtis Kitchen	PF	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	South Florida (Sr.)
6	124	Kempton, TimTim Kempton	PF	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	Notre Dame (Sr.)
6	133	Frederick, AnthonyAnthony Frederick	SF	United States	Denver Nuggets	Pepperdine (Sr.)
6	134	Volkov, AlexanderAlexander Volkov	C	Soviet Union ( Ukraine)	Atlanta Hawks	Budivelnik Kiev (USSR)

* compensation for draft choices traded away by Ted Stepien

Notable undrafted players

Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
Rose, RobertRobert Rose	SG	United States	George Mason (Sr.)
Spencer, AndreAndre Spencer	SF	United States	Northern Arizona (Sr.)
Upshaw, KelvinKelvin Upshaw	SG	United States	Utah (Sr.)
Vranković, StojkoStojko Vranković	C	Yugoslavia ( Croatia)	KK Zadar (Croatia)

References