Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.^[1]

• ^{a 1 2} In a three-team trade, Cleveland acquired the draft rights to sixth pick Melvin Turpin from Washington, Washington acquired Cliff Robinson from Cleveland and Gus Williams from Seattle, and Seattle acquired Ricky Sobers from Washington and the draft rights to 12th pick Tim McCormick from Cleveland.
• ^b Washington acquired the draft rights to 22nd pick Tom Sewell from Philadelphia in exchange for a 1988 first-round pick.
• ^c The L.A. Clippers acquired the draft rights to 31st pick Jay Murphy from Golden State in exchange for Jerome Whitehead.

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of picks between the teams.

• ^d On June 5, 1981, Portland acquired a first-round pick from Indiana in exchange for Tom Owens.^[11] Portland used the pick to draft Sam Bowie.
• ^e On September 16, 1980, Dallas acquired a first-round pick from Cleveland in exchange for Mike Bratz.^[12] Dallas used the pick to draft Sam Perkins.
• ^f On October 12, 1978, Philadelphia acquired a first-round pick from the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) in exchange for World B. Free.^[13][14] Philadelphia used the pick to draft Charles Barkley.
• ^g On August 28, 1980, the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) acquired Phil Smith and a first-round pick from Golden State in exchange for World B. Free.^[13][14] The L.A. Clippers used the pick to draft Lancaster Gordon.
• ^h On August 16, 1978, Philadelphia acquired Bobby Jones, Ralph Simpson and a first-round pick from Denver in exchange for George McGinnis and a 1978 first-round pick.^[15] Philadelphia used the pick to draft Leon Wood.
• ⁱ On August 18, 1983, the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) acquired James Donaldson, Greg Kelser, Mark Radford, a first-round pick and a 1985 second-round pick from Seattle in exchange for Tom Chambers, Al Wood, a third-round pick and a 1987 second-round pick.^[13][16] The L.A. Clippers used the pick to draft Michael Cage.
• ^j On September 17, 1983, Indiana acquired Vince Taylor and a first-round pick from New York in a three-team trade with New York and Kansas City.^[17] Indiana used the pick to draft Vern Fleming.
• ^k On August 18, 1983, Portland acquired a second-round pick from Indiana in exchange for Granville Waiters.^[18] Previously, Indiana acquired the draft rights to Sidney Lowe and the pick on June 28, 1983 from Chicago in exchange for the draft rights to Mitchell Wiggins.^[19] Portland used the pick to draft Victor Fleming.
• ^l On October 5, 1982, Seattle acquired a second-round pick from Houston in exchange for Wally Walker.^[20] Seattle used the pick to draft Cory Blackwell.
• ^m On February 15, 1983, Indiana acquired Russ Schoene a second-round pick and a 1983 first-round pick from Philadelphia in exchange for Clemon Johnson and a third-round pick.^[21] Previously, Philadelphia acquired the pick and a 1983 fourth-round pick on October 27, 1982, from the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) in exchange for Lionel Hollins.^[13][22] Indiana used the pick to draft Stuart Gray.
• ⁿ On October 19, 1981, Golden State acquired 1982 and 1984 second-round picks from Washington in exchange for John Lucas.^[23] Golden State used the pick to draft Steve Burtt.
• ^o On February 10, 1983, Detroit a second-round pick and a 1985 third-round pick from San Antonio in exchange for Edgar Jones.^[24][25] Detroit used the pick to draft Eric Turner.
• ^p On August 15, 1980, Portland acquired a second-round pick and a 1983 first-round pick from Denver in exchange for T. R. Dunn and a 1983 first-round pick.^[26] Portland used the pick to draft Steve Colter.
• ^q On July 5, 1983, Washington acquired Tom McMillen and a second-round pick from Atlanta in exchange for Randy Wittman.^[27] Previously, Atlanta acquired the pick and a 1985 second-round pick on February 13, 1983, from Detroit in a three-team trade with Detroit and Seattle.^[24][28] Previously, Detroit acquired the pick and a 1982 second-round pick on August 26, 1981, from Kansas City in exchange for Larry Drew.^[24][29] Washington used the pick to draft Tony Costner.
• ^r On February 15, 1983, Golden State acquired a second-round pick from Atlanta in exchange for Rickey Brown.^[30] Golden State used the pick to draft Othell Wilson.
• ^s On June 28, 1983, Chicago acquired the draft rights to Ennis Whatley, the draft rights to Chris McNealy and a second-round pick from Kansas City in exchange for Mark Olberding and the draft rights to Larry Micheaux.^[31] Previously, Kansas City acquired the pick on June 30, 1982, from Atlanta in exchange for the draft rights to Jim Johnstone.^[32] Previously, Atlanta acquired the pick and a 1983 second-round pick on December 2, 1980, from Seattle in exchange for Armond Hill.^[33] Chicago used the pick to draft Ben Coleman.
• ^t On November 25, 1981, Seattle acquired Ray Tolbert and a second-round pick from New Jersey in exchange for James Bailey.^[34] Seattle used the pick to draft Danny Young.
• ^u On September 11, 1980, Dallas acquired a second-round pick and a 1983 second-round pick from Utah in exchange for Billy McKinney.^[35] Dallas used the pick to draft Anthony Teachey.
• ^v On August 12, 1983, Dallas acquired Foots Walker, a second-round pick and a 1985 first-round pick from New Jersey in exchange for Kelvin Ransey.^[36] Previously, New Jersey acquired the second-round pick on June 22, 1983 from New York in exchange for Len Elmore.^[37] Dallas used the pick to draft Tom Sluby.
• ^w On June 7, 1984, Denver acquired Wayne Cooper, Lafayette Lever, Calvin Natt, a second-round pick and a 1985 first-round pick from Portland in exchange for Kiki Vandeweghe.^[38] Denver used the pick to draft Willie White.
• ^x On February 15, 1984, Chicago acquired Steve Johnson, a second-round pick and two 1985 second-round picks from Kansas City in exchange for Reggie Theus.^[39] Previously, Kansas City acquired Billy Knight and the pick on September 17, 1983 from Indiana in a three-team trade with Indiana and New York.^[40][41] Previously, Indiana acquired the pick on September 22, 1982 from Detroit in exchange for Tom Owens.^[11] Chicago used the pick to draft Greg Wiltjer.
• ^y On September 30, 1983, Washington acquired a second-round pick from Milwaukee in exchange for Kevin Grevey.^[42] Washington used the pick to draft Fred Reynolds.
• ^z On November 12, 1983, Golden State acquired a second-round pick from Philadelphia in exchange for Sam Williams.^[43] Golden State used the pick to draft Gary Plummer.
• ^aa On October 8, 1980, Portland acquired a second-round pick from the L.A. Lakers in exchange for Jim Brewer.^[44] Portland used the pick to draft Jerome Kersey.
• ^ab On January 21, 1984, San Antonio acquired a third-round pick from Denver in exchange for Keith Edmonson.^[45] San Antonio used the pick to draft Joe Binion.
• ^ac On March 8, 1984, San Antonio acquired a fourth-round pick from Milwaukee as compensation for the signing of Mike Dunleavy as a free agent.^[46] San Antonio used the pick to draft Ozell Jones.
• ^ad On October 5, 1983, Milwaukee acquired a sixth-round pick from Houston as compensation for the signing of Phil Ford as a free agent.^[47] Milwaukee used the pick to draft McKinley Singleton.

Other notable selections

Brazilian Oscar Schmidt was drafted with the 131st pick in the sixth round by the New Jersey Nets. However, Schmidt turned down the offers to play in the NBA and stayed to play in Italy and later in Brazil. He played in five Olympics and was the top scorer in three of them. He finished his career with 49,703 points with various clubs and the Brazilian national team, more than the NBA's career scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points in his NBA career.^[72] In 2010, International Basketball Federation (FIBA) honored Schmidt with an induction to the FIBA Hall of Fame,^[73] and Schmidt was inducted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.^[74]

University of Houston track and field Olympic Champion Carl Lewis, who had never played college basketball, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 208th pick in the 10th round. Lewis would dominate the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in the summer of 1984.^[1][75] Lewis, who had also been drafted in the NFL draft of the same year by the Dallas Cowboys, stayed with his athletics career and went on to win nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals.^[76]

In the fifth round, the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Mike Whitmarsh, who starred for the University of San Diego in both basketball and volleyball, with the 111th pick. Whitmarsh played professional basketball in Germany for three years, but never played in the NBA. He then left basketball to play beach volleyball, where he achieved greater success, including a silver medal in the Olympics.^[77]

The final pick in the 1984 Draft, number 228 by the Boston Celtics, was Dan Trant of Clark University. Trant never played in a regular season game for the Celtics. Trant was working in his office at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and was killed in the terrorist attacks that day.^[78]

This draft would be the last of the NBA that would be without any undrafted players entering the NBA. Starting from 1985 onward, multiple undrafted players from each year would enter the NBA, with more of them coming after the league decreased the number of rounds from the draft from 10 to the current two.

College underclassmen

The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.^[79]