NBA Rumors: What is new about this year's NBA Draft?

The NBA Draft is an exciting event that takes place very early in the offseason. Teams can select the best players from colleges, the NBA G League, and overseas leagues in a two-round draft.

Similar to recent years, the draft will include 58 picks as opposed to the usual 60 as the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers lost second-round picks due to violating the league's tampering policy. Mostly everything else is the same as usual.

However, this year, the draft is taking on a slightly different look than drafts of years past. In this piece, we will break down the biggest change to the NBA Draft and what will be different from previous years.

What is different about this year's NBA Draft?

The NBA Draft usually takes place on the night of the fourth Thursday in the month of June. Last year, the draft took place on June 22.

However, the NBA has decided to do it a little bit differently this year.

While the format is the same and two rounds will commence, the rounds will take place on separate nights. The first round of the draft will take place on Wednesday, June 26, while the second round will take place the following night.

Round one will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, the home of the Brooklyn Nets, but the second round will take place at a different location entirely. It will take place at ESPN's Seaport District Studios in New York.

Hall-of-Famer and NBA Executive Vice President Joe Dumars discussed these changes with the media, stating that the expansion to two nights will give teams more time to make selections and trades, and in the second round, teams will have four minutes to make their selections as opposed to the usual two minutes.

"Based on feedback about the NBA Draft format from basketball executives around the league and my own experience in draft rooms, we believe that teams will benefit from being able to regroup between round and having additional time to make decisions during the second round," said Dumars. "Two nights of primetime coverage will also enhance that viewing experience for our fans and further showcase the draftees."

Two nights being used for the draft also allows for things to move a little bit faster. The 2023 draft lasted close to five hours, with it ending close to 1:00 a.m. ET.

And thus, the draft will look slightly different this year, but it shouldn't take away from the overall experience.