The National Basketball Association (NBA) holds an annual draft where teams select eligible players to join the league. While most NBA players are drafted, undrafted players occasionally earn roster spots as well. Sometimes, they even outperform more celebrated draft picks. The number of rounds in the draft has evolved since the first one in 1947. The 1960 and 1968 drafts were 21 rounds, before settling at 10 rounds by 1974 ; it was reduced to seven rounds in 1985. After negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association, the draft has been two rounds since 1989, leaving undrafted players free to negotiate with any team. With the creation of two-way contracts in the NBA being made available ever since the 2017–18 season, more undrafted talents have gained opportunities to debut in the NBA than they previously had in recent years.