| 1988 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 28, 1988 |
| Location | Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York) [1] |
| Network(s) | Superstation TBS |
| Overview | |
| 75 total selections in 3 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Danny Manning (Los Angeles Clippers) |
The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. [2] [3] This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their inaugural season.
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) and (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
| # | Denotes player who has never played in the NBA |
This section is for players who were eligible for the 1988 NBA draft, did not get selected, but still later appeared in at least one NBA regular season or postseason game.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd Daniels | SG |  United States | Waitemata Dolphins (New Zealand) |
| Wayne Engelstad | PF | United States | UC Irvine (Sr.) |
| Duane Ferrell | SF | United States | Georgia Tech (Sr.) |
| Ben Gillery | C | United States | Georgetown (Sr.) |
| Henry James | PF/SF | United States | St. Mary's (TX) (Sr.) |
| Avery Johnson | PG | United States | Southern (Sr.) |
| Bill Jones | PF | United States | Iowa (Sr.) |
| Tim Legler | SG | United States | La Salle (Sr.) |
| Carlton McKinney | SG | United States | SMU (Sr.) |
| Tracy Moore | SG/SF | United States | Tulsa (Sr.) |
| Richard Morton | PG | United States | Cal State Fullerton (Sr.) |
| Žarko Paspalj | SF |  Yugoslavia | KK Partizan (Yugoslavia) |
| Ramon Rivas | C |  Puerto Rico | Temple (Sr.) |
| John Starks + | SG | United States | Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
| Henry Turner | SG/SF | United States | Cal State Fullerton (Sr.) |
| Gary Voce | PF |  Jamaica | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
For the sixth year in a row and the tenth time in eleven years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, for the third time in a row, there would be at least one player that qualified for the status of "college underclassman" while playing professional basketball overseas. In this case, three players ended up qualifying for this case with Lloyd Daniels leaving Mt. San Antonio College to play for the Waitemata Dolphins in New Zealand, the Argentinian born Hernán Montenegro leaving Louisiana State University to play for Olimpo de Bahía Blanca in his home land of Argentina, and Eddie Pope leaving the University of Southern Mississippi to play for Saint-Étienne Basket in France. If you include those three players, the number of college underclassmen increases from nine to twelve total players for this year. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance. [5]
Marvin Alexander – F, Memphis (junior) Rex Chapman – G, Kentucky (sophomore) Sylvester Gray – F, Memphis (sophomore)
Tito Horford – C, Miami (Florida) (sophomore) Mike Jones – F, Auburn (junior) Jerome Lane – F, Pittsburgh (junior) Dwayne Lewis – G, Marshall (junior) Charles Shackleford – F/C, NC State (junior) Rod Strickland – G, DePaul (junior)This would be the third year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. However, it would be the second year in a row where multiple players would qualify for such a feat and the first where none of the underclassmen players would play in Italy after the previous two drafts had a player go to Italy first before being drafted. It was also the second year where a foreign-born player would qualify as an underclassman while also playing for an international team and the first time it happened while said player was playing for what would be considered his home nation.
| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd Daniels | Waitemata Dolphins (New Zealand) | Left Mt. San Antonio College in 1987; playing professionally since the 1987–88 season | [6] |
 Hernán Montenegro | Olimpo de Bahía Blanca (Argentina) | Left LSU in 1987; playing professionally since the 1987–88 season | [7] |
| Eddie Pope | Saint-Étienne Basket (France) | Left Southern Miss in 1986; playing professionally since the 1987–88 season | [8] |
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