1985 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Pos Nationality Team School/club team
1 1 Patrick Ewing C Jamaica United States New York Knicks Georgetown ( Sr . )
1 2 Wayman Tisdale PF United States Indiana Pacers Oklahoma ( Jr . )
1 3 Benoit Benjamin C United States Los Angeles Clippers Creighton ( Jr . )
1 4 Xavier McDaniel PF United States Seattle SuperSonics Wichita State ( Sr . )
1 5 Jon Koncak C United States Atlanta Hawks SMU ( Sr . )
1 6 Joe Kleine C United States Sacramento Kings Arkansas ( Sr . )
1 7 Chris Mullin SF United States Golden State Warriors St. John 's ( Sr . )
1 8 Detlef Schrempf * SF/PF West Germany Dallas Mavericks ( from Cleveland ) Washington ( Sr . )
1 9 Charles Oakley PF United States Cleveland Cavaliers * Virginia Union ( Sr . )
1 10 Ed Pinckney PF United States Phoenix Suns Villanova ( Sr . )
1 11 Keith Lee C United States Chicago Bulls Memphis State ( Sr . )
1 12 Kenny Green F United States Washington Bullets Wake Forest ( Jr . )
1 13 Karl Malone PF United States Utah Jazz Louisiana Tech ( Jr . )
1 14 Alfredrick Hughes SG United States San Antonio Spurs Loyola ( IL ) ( Sr . )
1 15 Blair Rasmussen C United States Denver Nuggets ( from Portland ) Oregon ( Sr . )
1 16 Bill Wennington C Canada Dallas Mavericks ( from New Jersey ) St. John 's ( Sr . )
1 17 Uwe Blab C West Germany Dallas Mavericks Indiana ( Sr . )
1 18 Joe Dumars SG United States Detroit Pistons McNeese State ( Sr . )
1 19 Steve Harris SG United States Houston Rockets Tulsa ( Sr . )
1 20 Sam Vincent SG United States Boston Celtics ( from Denver via Dallas ) Michigan State ( Sr . )
Draft selections
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The 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the lottery era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 rounds total. A total of 162 players were selected over seven rounds by the league's 23 teams. The New York Knicks were awarded the first overall pick by winning the first-ever NBA draft lottery, which was held in May of that year. The Knicks ultimately used it on Georgetown's Patrick Ewing. In addition to Ewing, this draft was also notable for being the draft that Karl Malone was taken by the Utah Jazz at pick 13. Malone spent all but one season with the Jazz, eventually being the player with the second-highest point total in league history, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as of the 2018-19 season.