The 1988 NBA Draft took place on June 28, 1988 in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds.
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) and (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
Round one[]
| Pick | Player | Nationality | NBA Team | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Manning+ (PF) |  United States
|
Los Angeles Clippers | Kansas |
| 2 | Rik Smits+(C) |  Netherlands
|
Indiana Pacers | Marist |
| 3 | Charles Smith (PF) | United States
|
Los Angeles Clippers (from Sacramento) | Pittsburgh |
| 4 | Chris Morris (SF) | United States
|
New Jersey Nets | Auburn |
| 5 | Mitch Richmond* (SG) | United States
|
Golden State Warriors | Kansas State |
| 6 | Hersey Hawkins+ (SG) | United States
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Bradley |
| 7 | Tim Perry (F) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns | Temple |
| 8 | Rex Chapman (SG) | United States
|
Charlotte Hornets | Kentucky |
| 9 | Rony Seikaly (C) |  Lebanon United States
|
Miami Heat | Syracuse |
| 10 | Willie Anderson (SG) | United States
|
San Antonio Spurs | Georgia |
| 11 | Will Perdue (C) | United States
|
Chicago Bulls (from New York) | Vanderbilt |
| 12 | Harvey Grant (PF) | United States
|
Washington Bullets | Oklahoma |
| 13 | Jeff Grayer (PG) | United States
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Iowa State |
| 14 | Dan Majerle+ (SF) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland) | Central Michigan |
| 15 | Gary Grant (PG) | United States
|
Seattle SuperSonics | Michigan |
| 16 | Derrick Chievous (SG) | United States
|
Houston Rockets | Missouri |
| 17 | Eric Leckner (C) | United States
|
Utah Jazz | Wyoming |
| 18 | Ricky Berry (SF) | United States
|
Sacramento Kings | San Jose State |
| 19 | Rod Stricklandx (PG) | United States
|
New York Knicks (from Chicago) | DePaul |
| 20 | Kevin Edwards (SG) | United States
|
Miami Heat (from Dallas) | DePaul |
| 21 | Mark Bryant (PF) | United States
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Seton Hall |
| 22 | Randolph Keys | United States
|
Cleveland Cavaliers (from Detroit via Phoenix) | Southern Miss |
| 23 | Jerome Lane (PF) | United States
|
Denver Nuggets | Pittsburgh |
| 24 | Brian Shaw (SG) | United States
|
Boston Celtics | UC Santa Barbara |
| 25 | David Rivers (PG) | United States
|
Los Angeles Lakers | Notre Dame |
Round two[]
| Pick | Player | Nationality | NBA Team | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Rolando Ferreira (C) |  Brazil
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Houston |
| 27 | Shelton Jones (F) | United States
|
San Antonio Spurs | St. John's |
| 28 | Andrew Lang (C) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns | Arkansas |
| 29 | Vinny Del Negro (SG) | United States
|
Sacramento Kings | North Carolina State |
| 30 | Fennis Dembo (PF) | United States
|
Detroit Pistons | Wyoming |
| 31 | Everette Stephens (G) | United States
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Purdue |
| 32 | Charles Shackleford (F/C) | United States
|
New Jersey Nets | North Carolina State |
| 33 | Grant Long (F) | United States
|
Miami Heat | Eastern Michigan |
| 34 | Tom Tolbert (F/C) | United States
|
Charlotte Hornets | Arizona |
| 35 | Sylvester Gray (F) | United States
|
Miami Heat | Memphis State |
| 36 | Ledell Eackles (G/F) | United States
|
Washington Bullets | New Orleans |
| 37 | Greg Butler (C) | United States
|
New York Knicks | Stanford |
| 38 | Dean Garrett (C) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland) | Indiana |
| 39 | Tito Horford (C) |  Dominican Republic
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Miami (FL) |
| 40 | Orlando Graham (F) | United States
|
Miami Heat | Auburn-Montgomery |
| 41 | Keith Smart (G) | United States
|
Golden State Warriors | Indiana |
| 42 | Jeff Moe (SG) | United States
|
Utah Jazz | Iowa |
| 43 | Todd Mitchell (F) | United States
|
Denver Nuggets | Purdue |
| 44 | Anthony Taylor (G) | United States
|
Atlanta Hawks | Oregon |
| 45 | Tom Garrick (G) | United States
|
Los Angeles Clippers | Rhode Island |
| 46 | Morlon Wiley (G) | United States
|
Dallas Mavericks | Long Beach State |
| 47 | Vernon Maxwell (SG) | United States
|
Denver Nuggets | Florida |
| 48 | Yakov Salzberg (G) | United States
|
Detroit Pistons | Baylor |
| 49 | Jose Vargas (C/PF) | Dominican Republic
|
Dallas Mavericks | LSU |
| 50 | Steve Kerr (PG) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns | Arizona |
Round three[]
| Pick | Player | Nationality | NBA Team | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Rob Lock (F) | United States
|
Los Angeles Clippers | Kentucky |
| 52 | Derrick Hamilton (SF) | United States
|
New Jersey Nets | Southern Miss |
| 53 | Anthony Mason* (SF/PF) | United States
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Tennessee State |
| 54 | Jorge González (C) |  Argentina
|
Atlanta Hawks | Sport Club de Cañada de Gómez (Argentina) |
| 55 | Rodney Johns (PG) | United States
|
Phoenix Suns | Grand Canyon |
| 56 | Barry Sumpter (F/C) | United States
|
San Antonio Spurs | Austin Peay |
| 57 | Hernán Montenegro (PF/C) | Argentina
|
Philadelphia 76ers | LSU |
| 58 | Jeff Moore (PF) | United States
|
Charlotte Hornets | Auburn |
| 59 | Simon deSouza (F) | United States
|
New York Knicks | BU |
| 60 | Ed Davender (PG) | United States
|
Washington Bullets | Kentucky |
| 61 | Herbert Crook (SF/SG) | United States
|
Indiana Pacers | Louisville |
| 62 | Derrick Lewis (PF) | { United States
|
Chicago Bulls | Maryland |
| 63 | Mike Fritzthadus Jones (PF) | United States
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Auburn |
| 64 | Winston Bennett (F) | United States
|
Cleveland Cavaliers | Kentucky |
| 65 | Corey Gaines (G) | United States
|
Seattle SuperSonics | Loyola Marymount |
| 66 | Dwight Boyd (SG) | United States
|
Denver Nuggets | Memphis State |
| 67 | Ricky Grace (G) | United States
|
Utah Jazz | Oklahoma |
| 68 | Darryl Middleton (PF) | United States
|
Atlanta Hawks | Baylor |
| 69 | Phil Stinnie (PF) | United States
|
New York Knicks | Virginia Commonwealth |
| 70 | Jerry Johnson (PG) | United States
|
Dallas Mavericks | Florida Southern |
| 71 | Craig Neal (G) | United States
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Georgia Tech |
| 72 | Lee Johnson (PF) | United States
|
Detroit Pistons | Norfolk State |
| 73 | Michael Anderson (G) | United States
|
Indiana Pacers | Drexel |
| 74 | Gerald Paddio (F/G) | United States
|
Boston Celtics | UNLV |
| 75 | Archie Marshall (SF) | United States
|
San Antonio Spurs | Kansas |
Notable undrafted players[]
- Avery Johnson (PG), Southern
- Tim Legler (SG), La Salle University
Trivia[]
- More players born in Lebanon were selected in this draft than any other:
- Rony Seikaly, a citizen of both Lebanon and the U.S., played college ball at Syracuse.
- Steve Kerr, who starred at Arizona, was also born in Lebanon. The son of academic Malcolm Kerr, he spent much of his childhood in the Middle East. The elder Kerr was the president of the American University of Beirut when he was murdered by Islamic militants in 1984.
- Rod Strickland (no. 19) holds the rare distinction of being named to an All-NBA team (second team in 1997-98) without ever being picked for the All-Star game. Off all the NBA players drafted after 1951, only Drazen Petrovic (his career was tragically cut short by a fatal car accident) holds the same distinction.
- David Rivers (no. 25) was involved in a horrendous auto accident with his Notre Dame teammate Ken Barlow, but the two have since recovered and Barlow lives in Indianapolis.
- Jorge Gonzalez (no. 54) later achieved fame as a professional wrestler, competing as El Gigante in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Giant Gonzalez in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
- When Dan Majerle was drafted by the Suns, he was promptly booed by the audience. But Suns coach Cotton Fitzsimmons publicly chastised them and told them "you'll be sorry you ever booed this young man".