The NBA Draft goes through cycles like anything else. Littered within the top-10 picks are potential franchise cornerstone players, ready to set foot on the NBA hardwood for the first time. At the same time, there could be some busts residing amongst those picks as well. Throughout the rest of the first round, you might find guys that potentially offer more value with similar upside, helping make the Draft as special as it is.
The ticket prices to the NBA Draft on the secondary market are an interesting barometer of the hype. On June 25, the Barclays Center will host the 2015 NBA Draft for the third consecutive season. Anyone can attend the potentially franchise-changing event with Hipmunk.com by reserving flights to and from Brooklyn. As one of the more hyped-up drafts in the past five years, Hipmunk is the one-stop shop for a visit to the Barclays, providing the ability to book Brooklyn hotels starting from $42 a night.
In the past five years, this year’s NBA Draft has the second-highest average ticket price on the secondary market at $95.69, and a get-in price of $38. This year’s top-10 talent includes franchise cornerstones Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor from Kentucky and Duke, respectively. After the two big men come off the board, there is European intrigue with Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia) and Emmanuel Mudiay (played in China), along with college basketball standouts D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) and Justise Winslow from the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils.
The only draft more expensive was last year’s 2014 draft that had an average price of $160.98 and a get-in price of $47. Coincidentally, this was Adam Silver’s first draft as Commissioner of the NBA. The headliner was Andrew Wiggins, who was one of the most-hyped high school players since LeBron James, and ended up winning Rookie of the Year honors this past season. Behind Wiggins, Joel Embiid from Kansas, Aaron Gordon from Arizona, Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State, Julius Randle from Kentucky and Zach LaVine from UCLA led the stellar lineup of top-15 picks from some of college basketball’s most popular programs.
The 2013 NBA Draft was the first one held at the Barclays Center, and former Commissioner David Stern’s last. The top-10 talent just wasn’t there, as Anthony Bennett, Victor Oladipo, Alex Len and Nerlens Noel were some of the top names called. The average ticket price was $64.65, with a get-in price of $27.
The drafts in 2011 and 2012 were the cheapest, and were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. The 2011 NBA Draft’s No. 1 overall pick was Kyrie Irving, but was followed by a weak top-10. In retrospect, the back part of the draft was loaded, consisting of the likes of Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert, Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, Kenneth Faried and Jimmy Butler during picks 10-30. Unfortunately, thinking in retrospect doesn’t help ticket prices, as 2011’s draft was the cheapest in the past five years with an average price of $42 and a get-in price of only $23.
Lastly, 2012 finished slightly better with an average price of $52.48 and a get-in price of $19. The 2012 draft was notable for having six players from Kentucky drafted in the first two rounds. A few of the top-10 selections included Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond.
Even though this year’s Draft ranks as the second-most expensive out of the last five, only time will tell how talent-laden it truly was. One thing for sure is that the NBA is doing a great job marketing the hype, as the next wave of potential stars enters the Association for the 2015-16 campaign.
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