How Many Rookies Are In The NBA?

Just how many rookies are in the NBA? It’s a question that many people ask, and the answer may surprise you.

How Many Rookies Are In The NBA?

According to the NBA, there are 60 rookies in the league as of the 2019-2020 season.

The NBA’s Developmental League

The NBA’s Developmental League, or D-League, is a minor league basketball organization owned and operated by the NBA. The D-League was founded in 2001 and has since served as a training ground for players and coaches looking to make it to the NBA.

The D-League currently has 22 teams, all of which are affiliated with an NBA team. Each D-League team is made up of players who are either signed to that specific team’s affiliate player development contract or are drafted in the annual D-League draft.

Approximately 50% of NBA players have spent time in the D-League at some point in their careers. In recent years, the league has seen an increase in the number of rookies making the jump directly from the D-League to the NBA.

In the 2015-16 season, there were a total of 27 rookies who had played in the D-League at some point during their career. Of those 27 rookies, 12 went on to become NBA All-Stars.

G League

The G League is the NBA’s official minor league. There are currently 26 G League teams, each with a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA team. A select number of players on each NBA team are “on assignment” to their NBA team’s G League affiliate. These players can be sent back and forth between the NBA and the G League an unlimited number of times throughout the season.

As of the 2019-20 season, there are 182 players in the NBA who were rookies in the 2019-20 season. Out of those 182 players, 33 were drafted from the G League.

Two-Way Players

Two-way players are a new breed of NBA player that came about as a result of the 2017 collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. These players are signed to two separate contracts — one with their NBA team and one with their NBA G League affiliate — and are able to freely move between the two leagues throughout the season.

Two-way contracts are for players who have four or fewer years of NBA experience, and they can be for either one or two seasons. A player on a two-way contract will earn a prorated share of the NBA team’s salary cap for each day he is on the active roster, plus a separate prorated amount based on his days spent in the G League. That second amount cannot exceed $385,000 over the course of an entire season.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020-21 season will feature an expanded version of two-way contracts, with each team allowed to carry up to four two-way players instead of just two. Additionally, each team will be allowed to convert one standard contract into a two-way contract at any point during the season.

undrafted Free Agents

Any player who did not play in the NBA last season, regardless of how many years they have been out of school, is considered a rookie. An NBA tryout camp invitee who did not sign a contract with an NBA team last season is also considered a rookie. So are players who were signed late in the season and did not play enough games to lose their rookie status. However, players with previous professional experience in another league (i.e. players who come over from the European leagues) are not considered rookies and are instead classified as “international” or “global” players.

The vast majority of rookies in the NBA are undrafted free agents. In order to be eligible for the NBA draft, players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and must have also spent at least one year out of high school. So, most rookies are actually 22 or 23 years old by the time they enter the league.

The following is a list of all 30 NBA teams and how many rookies they currently have on their rosters: