D-League Draft
The fourth annual National Basketball Development League Draft is ready to tip-off.

11.01.04 – Sixty young basketball players will take their first step towards the NBA as the National Basketball Development League's 2004 Drafts commences on Friday November 5th.

The draft will take place over 10 rounds and be conducted via conference call from locations in each of the six NBDL markets.

The Columbus Riverdragons will have the first selection in the draft, followed by the Roanoke Dazzle, Fayetteville Patriots, Huntsville Flight, Florida Flame and 2004 NBDL champion Asheville Altitude.

The selection process will operate with each team having one pick in each of the 10 rounds. Teams will have up to three minutes to make a selection in each round. No trades will be permitted during the draft and only players signed to an NBDL Standard Player Contract are eligible to be selected.

Huntsville took center Ken Johnson with the first pick of the 2003 NBDL Draft. Mikki Moore was the first pick in the 2002 NBDL Draft. Moore, taken by Roanoke, went on to earn NBDL Defensive Player of the Year honors and is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers. New Orleans Hornet forward Chris Andersen was the first pick in 2001.

Fourteen players were called up to the NBA 17 times last year, boosting the three-year NBDL total to 39 callups spread over 28 players. Fifty-two former NBDL players were in NBA vet camps this year.

NBA assistant director of scouting Ryan Blake will team up with NBDL director of basketball operations Chris Alpert to offer commentary to fans via streaming audio that can be heard by logging on to NBDL.com.

2004 NBDL Draft Information

Who Is Eligible?
A player shall be eligible for the NBDL Draft if he has signed an NBDL Standard Player Contract and if, at a minimum, he meets the following requirements: 1) He will be at least 20 years old prior to the start of his first NBDL season and has been through an NBA draft, or, 2) He was drafted by an NBA team, signed a Uniform Player Contract with such team, and was subsequently waived by that team.

NBDL Draft History
The inaugural NBDL draft was 12 rounds, followed by a four-round supplemental draft. The 2002 Draft consisted of 14 rounds with no supplemental rounds. The draft was revised to its current 10-round format in 2003.

Draft Procedures
The draft will be conducted via conference call from league draft headquarters and the six NBDL cities. Teams will have up to three (3) minutes to make each selection in all 10 rounds. If a team fails to make a selection in the allotted time, it will forfeit that selection and be given an additional selection at the end of the draft. Once the selection has been made by the team spokesperson, it cannot be withdrawn.

Trades
No trades will be permitted during the draft or at anytime thereafter until the first NBDL regular season game has been played.

Draft Order
The draft order is in reverse order from the final 2003-04 final regular season standings.
Columbus Riverdragons (18-28)
Roanoke Dazzle (20-26)
Fayetteville Patriots (21-25)
Huntsville Flight (24-22)
Florida Flame (27-19)*
Asheville Altitude (28-18)
* Florida draft position determined from 2003-04 regular season finish of Charleston Lowgators

NBDL Team Draft Headquarters
Columbus Riverdragons: The Draft American Bar & Grille, Columbus, Ga.
Roanoke: Cornerstone Bar and Grille, Roanoke, Va.
Fayetteville: Buffalo Wild Wings, Fayetteville, N.C.
Huntsville Flight: Southeast YMCA, Huntsville, Ala.
Florida Flight: Hooter's South Cleveland Ave., Ft. Myers, Fla.
Asheville Altitude: Asheville Civic Center, Asheville, N.C.