How Many Rounds in NBA Draft? Why There Aren't 60 Picks in 2022

The 2022 NBA Draft is just days away, and fan bases are swirling with optimism as they hope their team lands the league's next great superstar. The Orlando Magic will be the first on the clock, where they're expected to choose between Jabari Smith and Chet Holmgren at No. 1 overall.

There'll be plenty of picks after the Magic, though. He's everything you need to know about the structure of the 2022 NBA Draft.

The June 23 draft gives teams around the league the chance to add promising young talent to their rosters. Orlando gets the first choice, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 2 and Houston Rockets at No. 3.

How Many Rounds in NBA Draft?

There are traditionally 60 picks during the NBA Draft, coming in two rounds. Picks 1-30 make up Round 1, followed by 31-60 in Round 2.

Picks 1-14 will be made by the 14 lottery teams that didn't qualify for the NBA Playoffs this season, giving them first dibs on the top college prospects for this upcoming year.

In 2022, however, there won't be 60 picks made. Two second-round selections -- No. 54 and No. 55 -- were forfeited due tampering violations.

Forfeited NBA Picks 2022

The Milwaukee Bucks were docked the No. 54 selection in the second round of this year's draft after an investigation by the NBA for premature free agent negotiations. The violation occurred in November of 2020, when a sign-and-trade involving Bogdan Bogdanovic was announced on Nov. 17 prior to the official start of free agency on Nov. 20.

The Miami Heat lost the No. 55 overall pick in this year's draft over their negotiations with free agent Kyle Lowry last offseason. Miami pulled off a sign-and-trade for Lowry within an hour of free agency starting, which prompted the league to dock the Heat their second-round pick this year.

As a result of these penalties, there will only be 58 picks made during the 2022 NBA Draft.

Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.