How to watch the 2023 NBA draft live and free in Australia

Teams jostle to draft who they think will be the NBA's next star.

SUMMARY: The 2023 NBA Draft is exclusive to NBA League Pass and ESPN, the latter of which you can watch via Kayo, Foxtel iQ, Foxtel Now and Fetch TV. New customers can sign up for Foxtel Now's 10-day free trial.

A new round of hopefuls are lining up to be selected in the 2023 NBA draft and take their spot in the biggest basketball league in the world.

This year is one of the more hyped drafts in recent seasons, headlined by 223cm once in a generation prospect Victor Wembanyama, although teams who miss out on the first pick won't be disappointed.

What time does the 2023 NBA Draft start in Australia?

The NBA Draft kicks off at 10am AEST on Friday 23 June 2023 at Barclays Center in New York.

How to watch the 2023 NBA Draft live in Australia

You can watch 2023's NBA Draft live on ESPN, with options to view via Kayo, Foxtel iQ, Foxtel Now and Fetch TV.

If you have NBA League Pass, you're also able to watch via that app.

Live stream 2023 NBA Draft on Foxtel Now: Start your 10-day FREE trial now

Live stream 2023 NBA Draft on Foxtel Now

If you're new to Foxtel Now, take advantage of a 10-day free trial to watch the 2023 NBA Draft at no cost.

Once your free trial is over, Foxtel Now costs at least $54 a month so you can keep on watching ESPN and streaming sport.

You get plenty of entertainment options on Foxtel Now too, such as season 7 of Outlander.

You can watch Foxtel Now across a range of devices, including Mac and PC and Android and iOS mobile devices. It's also available on selected smart TVs and PlayStation 3 and 4.

Live stream the 2023 NBA Draft on Kayo

Kayo offers a 7-day trial, so you can check out all it has to offer for free, including the NBA Draft.

Subscriptions to Kayo then start from $25 a month and that lets you watch on 1 device at a time.

Kayo boasts more than 50 sports on its platform including other American faves like the MLB.

Who will be the number 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft?

General consensus is that 19-year-old French player Victor Wembanyama will be the number 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Wembanyama plays for Metropolitans 92 in the LNB Pro A, which is France's top professional basketball league.

In 2023, the San Antonio Spurs will make the first pick in the NBA Draft for the third time.
Image: @MarkusSpiske via Canva.com

Assuming they select Wembanyama as is widely expected, they will hope he brings them the same good fortune as previous Spurs number 1 draft picks David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

Between them they won 5 titles with the Spurs and are both in the NBA Hall of Fame.

Although Wembanyama is the most hyped player, there's a number of top tier talent still available for other franchises including Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite), Brandon Miller (Alabama) and twins Amen and Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite).

In fact, according to ESPN, 9 draftees have at least a 30% chance to become an All-Star-calibre player, which is the most since they started running projections in 2015.

Sadly there are no Australians in the 2023 NBA Draft after potential prospect Tyrese Proctor decided to return to college basketball for another year.

But there might be some interest for NBL fans as New Zealand Breakers forward Rayan Rupert is entered in the NBA Draft, as is previous NBL player now G-League Ignite participant Mojave King.

How does the NBA Draft work?

Eligible players can declare for the Draft to be selected by any of the NBA's 30 teams.

Usually, there are 60 picks in the Draft, done over 2 rounds. But there are only 58 picks in the 2023 NBA Draft because the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls each forfeited a second-round pick due to violating rules governing free agency discussions.

The 76ers were punished for early discussions with PJ Tucker and Danuel House. While the Bulls penalty stems from its 2021 signing of Lonzo Ball.

In order to decide who gets first pick, the NBA has a lottery system, with teams that have a higher losing percentage getting greater odds of getting the first pick.

The lottery system decided the first 14 picks in the NBA draft back on 17 May.

The rest of the first round picks, then the picks in round 2, are completed in reverse order based on the previous season's win/loss records.

That means the lower placed teams get the earlier picks.

Keep in mind though teams frequently trade picks, so the Draft order will not play out exactly in the reverse order of the last NBA season.

Image: Kayo

Still trying to figure out who to stream with? Check out our Foxtel vs Kayo guide to further help you decide.