16-638: The Philippine Basketball Association draft is an annual event dating back to 1985 in which the twelve teams from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. The draft usually takes place between October and December, during the league's off-season. No player may sign with the PBA until he has been eligible for at least one draft. All players have to be natural-born Filipinos . Persons who chose Philippine citizenship by
32-400: A 33% chance. The lottery was usually held prior to the finals of the final conference of the season. It was abandoned after the controversies that aroused during the lottery for the first pick of the 2014 draft. From 1985 to 2004 and since 2011, the PBA has had unlimited number of rounds until all the teams have passed, with all undrafted players becoming free agents . From 2005 to 2010 ,
48-465: Is also subject to change if a team deals their draft picks in trades. The draft is finished if all teams have passed. Before 2015, a draft lottery determined which team gets the first overall draft pick, but in a much smaller scale; only the two worst-performing teams in the preceding season participated. The team with the worst record had a 67% chance of clinching the No. 1 seed while the second-worst only got
64-549: The 2014–15 season . The 10 existing PBA franchises protected up to 12 players in their roster. Two time MVP Danny Ildefonso of the Meralco Bolts was selected as the first pick of the expansion draft by Blackwater, followed by Reil Cervantes of Barako Bull by Kia. If a new franchise also has an existing franchise from an amateur league (from the Philippine Basketball League before 2011 and
80-602: The PBA D-League afterwards), the franchise, upon approval from the PBA's Board of Governors, may be given an incentive of selecting players from their amateur team to be directly elevated to their PBA team. This was last given to the Welcoat Dragons , who elevated three players from their PBL team. Flags indicate the country where the player competed as college student-athletes; all players are Filipinos until proven otherwise, like Sonny Alvarado's case where he fled
96-504: The 2015 draft. For the 46th season's draft held on March 14, 2021, the PBA decided to forgo the seven-game requirement after the 2020 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup was cancelled. Imports – non-Filipino citizens, even those born in the Philippines – do not enter the PBA via the draft. They are directly signed by teams, and only play in some conferences. Naturalized citizens can only play in the association also as imports. Starting with
112-482: The 48th season's draft in 2023, the following changes were implemented: The natural drafting order is determined by the teams' final rankings within each conference from the previous season, with rankings from the PBA Philippine Cup having heavier weight ; the team with the worst record picks first, and the team with best winning percentage picking last in the first and second rounds. The drafting order
128-563: The D-League. The D-League has held its own rookie draft since the 2013–14 PBA season . In August 2015, the PBA approved plans for a nationwide D-League and a Women's D-League that will open soon. From 2016, the men's competition was first to be held in three separate, simultaneous tournaments, first in Luzon and later in the Visayas and Mindanao. The three regional champions would join
144-597: The PBA D-League, when they failed to acquire a sixth team in order to smoothly run the league. The NLEX Road Warriors became the champions of the tournament, winning two games to none against the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems. The second tournament, dubbed as the "Aspirant's Cup" began on October 20. Four teams (Maynilad, Junior Powerade, Max Bond and Pharex) did not join the tournament. However, two new teams (Boracay Rum and Informatics) made their debut in
160-476: The age of maturity are considered as natural-born citizens. For local players the requirements are that they: Filipino-descended foreigners have almost the same requirements as locals except they must: Any person who played for the Philippines men's national basketball team is exempted from the D-League and is automatically eligible for selection. The changes in eligibility rules are in effect starting in
176-478: The association limited the draft to two rounds. This restriction was attributed to an agreement between the PBA and the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), which also included a development fee to the PBL team from which the player was drafted. This was removed in 2011 as the PBL had folded, and amateur players played in the PBA D-League instead. There have been three expansion drafts in the league's history. The first
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#1732802493217192-415: The country as his citizenship was being questioned. 1985 PBA draft The 1985 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. 1984 2nd PBA Developmental League The PBA D-League , or PBA Developmental League , is the official minor league of the Philippine Basketball Association . The PBA D-League
208-762: The national championship round which would be joined by Metro Manila teams. However the plan was never fully realized with the Northern Luzon tournament never finished and the Visayas tournament cancelled. The 2020 season was indefinitely postponed in March 2020 with only some games of the Aspirants Cup played before the season was cancelled altogether in September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The league has not held games as of 2021. The resumption of
224-551: The proposal. The maiden tournament, named " Foundation Cup " began on March 12, 2011 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan . The tournament composed of 13 teams, with five teams (Junior Powerade, NLEX, Maynilad, Freego and Cafe France) having affiliation with existing PBA teams. Four teams (Cobra Energy Drink, Agri-Nature Inc./FCA, Pharex, and Cafe France) from the Philippine Basketball League filed for application in
240-526: Was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and Liga Pilipinas after the staging of the Tournament of the Philippines which was composed by PBL and Liga Pilipinas teams. PBA Commissioner Chito Salud proposed the formation of a PBA D-League, which will fill the void left by the PBL. On January 25, 2011, the PBA Board of Governors approved
256-522: Was in 1990 , in which the new teams Pepsi Hotshots and the Pop Cola Sizzlers selected up to six players from the expansion pool, which is made up of three players from each of the six existing franchises. The second was in 2000 , when newcomers Batang Red Bull Energizers selected players from the draft. An expansion draft for new teams Blackwater Elite and Kia Sorento was held on July 18, 2014, so that both team can form its rosters for
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