is this possible? has this ever happened?

ok here's the scenario.. say the shittiest team in the nba (i'll use new orleans for example) won the draft lottery and had the #1 pick overall..

now say the person they want to draft is lebron james - however lebron has made it very clear that he doesn't want to play for new orleans rather for cleveland who has the #2 pick.

now, can lebron skip the draft altogether but still get picked up by cleveland right after (the draft)? just like how people get picked up from the NBDL from time to time? or is there a rule that restricts this kind of behavior? thanks

if i am not mistaken if you are drafted and refuse to sign you have to sit out 1 season before you can play for anyone else. steve francis did this to the grizzlies. he said he would not play for them and they either had to trade him or or would sit out 1 year and join someone else then. well as we all know they ended up getting whatever they could for him and sent him to houston.

what if you avoid the draft altogether though and not even throw your name in to be eligible? instead, doing it the other way, waiting for the draft to be over and then signing with a team as a free agent?

I might be totally wrong here, but when you get drafted the team has your rights. This means, unless if the team that drafts you trades your rights, the player cant goto another team until the rights expire, which is probably around 5 years.

what if you avoid the draft altogether though and not even throw your name in to be eligible? instead, doing it the other way, waiting for the draft to be over and then signing with a team as a free agent?

ofcoarse they can do that, but then no1 would do that. Theres a chance they missing out on a guarenteed contract. $$$

I might be totally wrong here, but when you get drafted the team has your rights. This means, unless if the team that drafts you trades your rights, the player cant goto another team until the rights expire, which is probably around 5 years.

I believe that's correct, but the loophole is that players can re-enter the draft the following year if they do not play in any organised basketball for the 12 months between drafts.

I might be totally wrong here, but when you get drafted the team has your rights. This means, unless if the team that drafts you trades your rights, the player cant goto another team until the rights expire, which is probably around 5 years.

I believe that's correct, but the loophole is that players can re-enter the draft the following year if they do not play in any organised basketball for the 12 months between drafts.

Elaborate "organised basketball" please. Is that like the NBA, NBDL, CBA and College/University. Or would a league at the local recreation center/ AND1 Mixtape team be considered organised basketball?

Also.... since this topic is "has this ever happened'
I was wondering if:
*2 players that were traded for each other have ever ended up playing on the same team later in their careers.
*In light of the Arenas, Hughes, Jamison combo, have any other duos/ trios ever played together on 2 or more different teams? (College or NBA) [I know about Webber and Juwan Howard in Michigan and the Bullets]
*2 players were traded for each other more than once.

nobody has answered his question, everyone seems to have missed the point, which i find quite obvious:

what if you avoid the draft altogether though and not even throw your name in to be eligible? instead, doing it the other way, waiting for the draft to be over and then signing with a team as a free agent?

i don't know the answer. hopefully someone does, cause i've actually thought about this before too.

to clarify- his question is if you can PULL OUT OF THE DRAFT before you are drafted. i've often wondered why people bother to enter the draft. why not just sign for big bucks immediately?

^ yes exactly thank you, lol

I think every player who has played in the nba has to have made themselves eligible to be drafted. They could boycott one or two drafts and wait a bit (like duncan did at wake forest, then come out when he was a senior)

You can just do what Steve Francis did to Vancouver... can't believe he was already whining back then

nobody has answered his question, everyone seems to have missed the point, which i find quite obvious:

what if you avoid the draft altogether though and not even throw your name in to be eligible? instead, doing it the other way, waiting for the draft to be over and then signing with a team as a free agent?

i don't know the answer. hopefully someone does, cause i've actually thought about this before too.

to clarify- his question is if you can PULL OUT OF THE DRAFT before you are drafted. i've often wondered why people bother to enter the draft. why not just sign for big bucks immediately?

No team will give big bucks immediately; it's too big a gamble. In the NBA there's no such thing as a guaranteed star who can just enter the league and start playing like a $50 mil player. What if the player you signed for big bucks because he looked good in highschool turned out to be a total flop like Kwame Brown?

Elaborate "organised basketball" please. Is that like the NBA, NBDL, CBA and College/University. Or would a league at the local recreation center/ AND1 Mixtape team be considered organised basketball?

I'm not sure about YMCA/Recreation League and AND1 Mixtape tours, but NBA, NBDL, CBA and NCAA (if players can still return to college once they're drafted - they once could but I think they might be barred now) will definitely disqualify a player from re-entering the draft.

Also.... since this topic is "has this ever happened'
I was wondering if:
*2 players that were traded for each other have ever ended up playing on the same team later in their careers.
*In light of the Arenas, Hughes, Jamison combo, have any other duos/ trios ever played together on 2 or more different teams? (College or NBA) [I know about Webber and Juwan Howard in Michigan and the Bullets]
*2 players were traded for each other more than once.

I'm certain there's a few examples of those things happening, but they're all escaping me at this moment, save a few.

- Scottie Pippen was traded from Houston to Portland in 1999 in exhange for six players, one of whom was Stacey Augmon. The Rockets waived Augmon and he re-signed with the Blazers, making him Pippen's teammate.

- Gary Payton and Marcus Banks sort of fall into that category as well, though as we all know their situation is kind of different. Initially they were traded for one another, but with the trade amendment they become teammates instead. Sort of the same thing.

- Shaquille O'Neal and Horace Grant have teamed up in Orlando and in Los Angeles (twice), neither having joined the other in the same transaction (as say, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley in Houston and Orlando). Shaquille O'Neal and Eddie Jones have also been teammates on two different teams, each arriving independent of the other.

- I'm sure two players have been traded for each other at least twice. For some reason, Herb Williams in the mid 90s comes to mind, though I could be mistaken.

Keith Van Horn and Tim Thomas have been traded for each other twice, once on draft night in 97 and once when isiah thomas just took over and sent kvh to milwalkee for thomas.

Indeed they were, good memory!

No team will give big bucks immediately; it's too big a gamble. In the NBA there's no such thing as a guaranteed star who can just enter the league and start playing like a $50 mil player. What if the player you signed for big bucks because he looked good in highschool turned out to be a total flop like Kwame Brown?

What if the player you drafted first because he looked good in high school turned out to be a total flop like Kwame Brown?

I understand your point, I just had to be difficult

I don't remember where I heard this, but players have to declare for at least one draft before they can become free agents.

If you didn't have to, why would anyone declare themselves for the draft? They'd just call every NBA team and get the best offer.

I guess that's true, but only until you've reached a certain age? Because players from Europe or elsewhere overseas can just come in, like Antoine Rigadeau.

I don't remember where I heard this, but players have to declare for at least one draft before they can become free agents.

If you didn't have to, why would anyone declare themselves for the draft? They'd just call every NBA team and get the best offer.

this kinda clears some stuff up thanks

I guess that's true, but only until you've reached a certain age? Because players from Europe or elsewhere overseas can just come in, like Antoine Rigadeau.

From what I remember, International players are automatically eligible for the draft in the year that they turn 22, whether they declare or not.