The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN.

The players were John Wall (first), DeMarcus Cousins (fifth), Patrick Patterson (fourteenth), Eric Bledsoe (eighteenth), and Daniel Orton (twenty-ninth), all from the University of Kentucky.

The Philadelphia 76ers, who also beat the odds in the draft lottery to obtain the second pick, selected Evan Turner from Ohio State University.

The New Jersey Nets, who had the worst win–loss record in the previous season, used the third pick to select Derrick Favors from Georgia Tech.

This second provision affected Mac Koshwal, Gani Lawal, and Patrick Patterson, all of whom declared for and withdrew from the 2009 draft.

[26] This draft was expected to see an unusual influx of underclassmen, even compared with recent years, for reasons explained by ESPN.com columnist Eamonn Brennan in an April 2010 piece: Because of a potential NBA labor dispute and the threat of an impending lockout in 2011, lots of current college basketball underclassmen have a more drastic decision to face.

As it is commonplace in the event of identical win–loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 16, 2010.