1976 NBA draft

The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season.

The New York Knicks forfeited their first-round draft pick due to their illegal signing of George McGinnis whose rights were held by the Philadelphia 76ers.

On August 8, 1976, the league also hosted a Dispersal draft for ABA players from the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis, who were not included in the ABA–NBA merger.

Adrian Dantley from the University of Notre Dame, who went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season, was selected 6th by the Buffalo Braves.

[19] Two other players drafted also went on to have coaching careers in the NBA: Dennis Johnson and seventh pick Quinn Buckner.

This year saw ten college underclassmen that previously entered the 1976 NBA draft in Texas Southern's Alonzo Bradley, Oral Roberts' Arnold Dugger, Marquette's Bo Ellis, UCLA's Marques Johnson, Tennessee's Bernard King, Oral Roberts' Anthony Roberts, Clemson's Wayne Rollins, Illinois Valley Community College's Hollis Vickery, Old Dominion's Wilson Washington, and Minnesota's Ray Williams all later decline their official entry into this year's draft, with fourteen players officially entering this year's draft.

[46] On August 5, 1976, the NBA hosted a dispersal draft to select players from the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis, the American Basketball Association (ABA) franchises that were not included in the ABA–NBA merger.

[47] The team that made a selection must pay a certain price for the signing rights to the player, which are set by the league's committee.

The Portland Trail Blazers, who acquired the Atlanta Hawks' second pick, selected Maurice Lucas and Moses Malone with signing price of $300,000 and $350,000 respectively.

Marvin Barnes, who was selected fourth by the Detroit Pistons was the second most expensive player in the draft with a signing price of $500,000.