Canadians That Were Drafted By The NBA
Draft years 1947 to 2025 | Prepared September 30 2026
A chronological reference to Canadian players selected in the NBA draft through 2025, including the 1947 BAA draft. The table identifies the selecting team, overall selection and college or pre-draft program. Repeat selections are listed separately.
The team shown is the franchise that made the selection, before any trade of the player’s draft rights. Being drafted does not mean that a player appeared in an NBA game. Canadian university connections from the historical list are retained in a separate table below.
| Year | Player | Selecting team | Overall pick | College or pre-draft program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Hank Biasatti | Boston Celtics | 13* | Assumption College Windsor |
| 1949 | Ernie Vandeweghe | New York Knicks | 29 | Colgate |
| 1953 | Bob Houbregs | Milwaukee Hawks | 2 | Washington |
| 1963 | Gary Silc | Detroit Pistons | 67* | Northern Michigan |
| 1964 | Richie Spears | St. Louis Hawks | Supplemental* | Acadia |
| 1969 | Bob Burrows | Seattle SuperSonics | 171 | Seattle Pacific |
| 1970 | Bobby Croft | Boston Celtics | 123 | Tennessee |
| 1973 | Phil Tollestrup | Buffalo Braves | 211 | Lethbridge and Brigham Young |
| 1975 | Ken McKenzie | Seattle SuperSonics | 138 | Montana |
| 1975 | George Rautins | Buffalo Braves | 158 | Niagara |
| 1976 | Lars Hansen | Chicago Bulls | 37 | Washington |
| 1977 | Lars Hansen | Los Angeles Lakers | 151 | Washington |
| 1980 | Perry Mirkovich | Portland Trail Blazers | 125 | Lethbridge |
| 1981 | Jay Triano | Los Angeles Lakers | 179 | Simon Fraser |
| 1981 | Mike Brkovich | Milwaukee Bucks | 181 | Michigan State |
| 1982 | David Coulthard | Detroit Pistons | 214 | York |
| 1983 | Leo Rautins | Philadelphia 76ers | 17 | Syracuse |
| 1983 | Stewart Granger | Cleveland Cavaliers | 24 | Villanova |
| 1983 | Ron Crevier | Chicago Bulls | 75 | Boston College |
| 1983 | Tony Simms | New York Knicks | 128 | Boston University |
| 1983 | Gerald Kazanowski | Utah Jazz | 146 | Victoria |
| 1984 | Greg Wiltjer | Chicago Bulls | 43 | Victoria and Oregon State |
| 1984 | Karl Tilleman | Denver Nuggets | 79 | Calgary |
| 1984 | Eli Pasquale | Seattle SuperSonics | 106 | Victoria |
| 1985 | Bill Wennington | Dallas Mavericks | 16 | St. John’s |
| 1985 | Mike Smrek | Portland Trail Blazers | 25 | Canisius |
| 1985 | Dan Meagher | Chicago Bulls | 126 | Duke |
| 1986 | Barry Mungar | Washington Bullets | 82 | St. Bonaventure |
| 1991 | Rick Fox | Boston Celtics | 24 | North Carolina |
| 1994 | William Njoku | Indiana Pacers | 41 | Saint Mary’s |
| 1996 | Steve Nash | Phoenix Suns | 15 | Santa Clara |
| 1999 | Todd MacCulloch | Philadelphia 76ers | 47 | Washington |
| 2000 | Jamaal Magloire | Charlotte Hornets | 19 | Kentucky |
| 2001 | Samuel Dalembert | Philadelphia 76ers | 26 | Seton Hall |
| 2006 | Denham Brown | Seattle SuperSonics | 40 | Connecticut |
| 2010 | Andy Rautins | New York Knicks | 38 | Syracuse |
| 2011 | Tristan Thompson | Cleveland Cavaliers | 4 | Texas |
| 2011 | Cory Joseph | San Antonio Spurs | 29 | Texas |
| 2012 | Andrew Nicholson | Orlando Magic | 19 | St. Bonaventure |
| 2012 | Kris Joseph | Boston Celtics | 51 | Syracuse |
| 2012 | Robert Sacre | Los Angeles Lakers | 60 | Gonzaga |
| 2013 | Anthony Bennett | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1 | UNLV |
| 2013 | Kelly Olynyk | Dallas Mavericks | 13 | Gonzaga |
| 2014 | Andrew Wiggins | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1 | Kansas |
| 2014 | Nik Stauskas | Sacramento Kings | 8 | Michigan |
| 2014 | Tyler Ennis | Phoenix Suns | 18 | Syracuse |
| 2014 | Dwight Powell | Charlotte Hornets | 45 | Stanford |
| 2015 | Trey Lyles | Utah Jazz | 12 | Kentucky |
| 2015 | Olivier Hanlan | Utah Jazz | 42 | Boston College |
| 2016 | Jamal Murray | Denver Nuggets | 7 | Kentucky |
| 2017 | Dillon Brooks | Houston Rockets | 45 | Oregon |
| 2018 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Charlotte Hornets | 11 | Kentucky |
| 2018 | Justin Jackson | Denver Nuggets | 43 | Maryland |
| 2019 | RJ Barrett | New York Knicks | 3 | Duke |
| 2019 | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | Brooklyn Nets | 17 | Virginia Tech |
| 2019 | Brandon Clarke | Oklahoma City Thunder | 21 | Gonzaga |
| 2019 | Mfiondu Kabengele | Brooklyn Nets | 27 | Florida State |
| 2019 | Ignas Brazdeikis | Sacramento Kings | 47 | Michigan |
| 2019 | Marial Shayok | Philadelphia 76ers | 54 | Iowa State |
| 2021 | Joshua Primo | San Antonio Spurs | 12 | Alabama |
| 2021 | Chris Duarte | Indiana Pacers | 13 | Oregon |
| 2021 | Dalano Banton | Toronto Raptors | 46 | Nebraska |
| 2022 | Bennedict Mathurin | Indiana Pacers | 6 | Arizona |
| 2022 | Shaedon Sharpe | Portland Trail Blazers | 7 | Kentucky* |
| 2022 | Andrew Nembhard | Indiana Pacers | 31 | Gonzaga |
| 2022 | Caleb Houstan | Orlando Magic | 32 | Michigan |
| 2023 | Olivier-Maxence Prosper | Sacramento Kings | 24 | Marquette |
| 2023 | Leonard Miller | San Antonio Spurs | 33 | NBA G League Ignite* |
| 2024 | Zach Edey | Memphis Grizzlies | 9 | Purdue |
| 2024 | Kyshawn George | New York Knicks | 24 | Miami |
| 2025 | Will Riley | Utah Jazz | 21 | Illinois |
Canadian University Connections
These American-born players were included in the earlier historical draft list because of their Canadian university careers. Their inclusion here does not establish Canadian citizenship at the time of selection.
| Year | Player | Selecting team | Overall pick | College or pre-draft program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Warren Sutton | St. Louis Hawks | 94* | Sir George Williams and Acadia |
| 1969 | Brian Heaney | Baltimore Bullets | 215 | Acadia |
| 1973 | Ron Thorsen | Buffalo Braves | 209 | British Columbia |
| 1975 | Mickey Fox | Detroit Pistons | 169 | Saint Mary’s |
| 1979 | Mickey Fox | Portland Trail Blazers | 56 | Saint Mary’s |
| 1985 | Larry Hampton | Atlanta Hawks | 100 | Acadia (had played there but not drafted while playing) |
Notes
Hank Biasatti: RealGM and current biographical records identify him as the 13th selection in 1947. Some older draft tables leave his overall number unassigned and incorrectly give Long Island as his college; he played at Assumption College in Windsor.
Gary Silc: Basketball Reference records 67th overall; several other historical tables record 66th. Northern Michigan was his college.
Richie Spears: recorded as a supplemental selection in some draft histories, and as a late-round selection in Hall of Fame accounts. No consistent overall selection number is assigned here.
Warren Sutton: Basketball Reference records 94th overall. Other historical tables record 92nd or 93rd. His final university team was Sir George Williams; he had previously played at Acadia.
Shaedon Sharpe enrolled at Kentucky but did not play in a college game. Leonard Miller entered the draft from NBA G League Ignite rather than a college.
Phil Tollestrup played at Brigham Young and Lethbridge. Greg Wiltjer played at Oregon State and Victoria; contemporary draft reports identify Victoria as his final program.
The list includes dual citizens, including Dominican-Canadian Chris Duarte and Swiss-Canadian Kyshawn George.
Reference sources
Canada One Foundation — historical draft list researched by Curtis J. Phillips
Basketball Reference — NBA draft archive and individual player records
RealGM — Boston Celtics 1947 draft selections
The Draft Review — historical Canadian selections
UPI — 1985 draft selections including Dan Meagher at 126
UPI — 1984 draft selections identifying Greg Wiltjer at Victoria
University of Miami — Kyshawn George selected 24th in 2024
NBA — international players selected in the 2025 draft
Research by Curtis J. Phillips
Basketball Historian
N.B. Some players did not have Canadian citizenship or were dual citizens at the time of the draft but may have later played on the Canadian National Team or Canadian collegiate/university basketball.