1981 NBA Draft Results
1981 NBA Draft results with every pick in order, led by No. 1 pick Mark Aguirre to Dallas Mavericks.
| Pick | Team | Player | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||
| 1 |  Dallas Mavericks | Mark Aguirre | DePaul |
| 2 |  Detroit Pistons | Isiah Thomas | Indiana |
| 3 |  New Jersey Nets | Buck Williams | Maryland |
| 4 |  Atlanta Hawks | Al Wood | UNC |
| 5 |  Seattle SuperSonics | Danny Vranes | Utah |
| 6 |  Chicago Bulls | Orlando Woolridge | Notre Dame |
| 7 |  Kansas City Kings | Steve Johnson | Oregon State |
| 8 |  San Diego Clippers | Tom Chambers | Utah |
| 9 | Dallas Mavericks | Rolando Blackman | Kansas State |
| 10 | New Jersey Nets | Albert King | Maryland |
| 11 |  Washington Bullets | Frank Johnson | Wake Forest |
| 12 | Detroit Pistons | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame |
| 13 |  Utah Jazz | Danny Schayes | Syracuse |
| 14 |  Indiana Pacers | Herb Williams | Ohio State |
| 15 |  Portland Trail Blazers | Jeff Lamp | Virginia |
| 16 | Portland Trail Blazers | Darnell Valentine | Kansas |
| 17 | Kansas City Kings | Kevin Loder | Alabama State University |
| 18 | New Jersey Nets | Ray Tolbert | Indiana |
| 19 |  Los Angeles Lakers | Mike McGee | Michigan |
| 20 |  Phoenix Suns | Larry Nance | Clemson |
| 21 |  Milwaukee Bucks | Alton Lister | Arizona State |
| 22 |  Philadelphia 76ers | Franklin Edwards | Cleveland State University |
| 23 |  Boston Celtics | Charles Bradley | Wyoming |
| Round 2 | |||
| 24 | Dallas Mavericks | Jay Vincent | Michigan State |
| 25 | Boston Celtics | Tracy Jackson | Notre Dame |
| 26 | Portland Trail Blazers | Brian Jackson | Utah State University |
| 27 | Utah Jazz | Howard Wood | Tennessee |
| 28 |  San Antonio Spurs | Gene Banks | Duke |
| 29 | Kansas City Kings | Eddie Johnson | Illinois |
| 30 | San Antonio Spurs | Ed Rains | University of South Alabama |
| 31 | Boston Celtics | Danny Ainge | BYU |
| 32 | Chicago Bulls | Mike Olliver | Lamar |
| 33 |  Golden State Warriors | Sam Williams | Arizona State |
| 34 |  Denver Nuggets | Ken Green | University of Texas Rio Grande Valley |
| 35 | Washington Bullets | Charles Davis | Vanderbilt |
| 36 | Indiana Pacers | Ray Blume | Oregon State |
| 37 | Indiana Pacers | Al Leslie | Bucknell |
| 38 | Atlanta Hawks | Clyde Bradshaw | DePaul |
| 39 | Los Angeles Lakers | Harvey Knuckles | Toledo |
| 40 |  New York Knicks | Greg Cook | LSU |
| 41 | Washington Bullets | Claude Gregory | Wisconsin |
| 42 | Los Angeles Lakers | Elvis Rolle | Florida State |
| 43 | Dallas Mavericks | Elston Turner | Ole Miss |
| 44 | Washington Bullets | Steve Lingenfelter | South Dakota State |
| 45 |  Houston Rockets | Ed Turner | None listed |
| 46 | Philadelphia 76ers | Vernon Smith | Texas A&M |
| Round 3 | |||
| 47 | Dallas Mavericks | Art Housey | Kansas |
| 48 | Washington Bullets | Mike Ferrara | Colgate |
| 49 | New Jersey Nets | David Burns | Saint Louis |
| 50 | Portland Trail Blazers | Derek Holcomb | Illinois |
| 51 | Los Angeles Lakers | Zam Fredrick | South Carolina |
| 52 | Atlanta Hawks | Rudy Macklin | LSU |
| 53 | Seattle SuperSonics | Mark Radford | Oregon State |
| 54 | San Diego Clippers | Jim Smith | Ohio State |
| 55 |  Cleveland Cavaliers | Mickey Dillard | Florida State |
| 56 | Golden State Warriors | Carlton Neverson | Pitt |
| 57 | New York Knicks | Frank Brickowski | Penn State |
| 58 | Kansas City Kings | Curtis Berry | Missouri |
| 59 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Russell Bowers | American University |
| 60 | Indiana Pacers | Purvis Miller | USC |
| 61 | Portland Trail Blazers | Pétur Guðmundsson | Washington |
| 62 | Phoenix Suns | Sam Clancy | Pitt |
| 63 | New York Knicks | Wayne McKoy | St. John's |
| 64 | San Antonio Spurs | Tom Baker | Eastern Kentucky University |
| 65 | Los Angeles Lakers | Ron Cornelius | University of the Pacific |
| 66 | Phoenix Suns | Craig Dykema | Cal State Long Beach |
| 67 | Milwaukee Bucks | Mark Smith | Illinois |
| 68 | Philadelphia 76ers | Ernest Graham | Maryland |
| 69 | Boston Celtics | John Johnson | Michigan |
| Round 4 | |||
| 70 | Dallas Mavericks | Eddie Moss | Syracuse |
| 71 | Detroit Pistons | John May | University of South Alabama |
| 72 | New Jersey Nets | Ed Sherod | VCU |
| 73 | Utah Jazz | Georgie Torres | Southern Nazarene University |
| 74 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Ethan Martin | LSU |
| 75 | Atlanta Hawks | Kevin Figaro | Louisiana |
| 76 | Golden State Warriors | Lewis Lloyd | Drake University |
| 77 | San Diego Clippers | Lee Raker | Virginia |
| 78 | Kansas City Kings | Kenny Dennard | Duke |
| 79 | Washington Bullets | Ron Davis | Arizona |
| 80 | Golden State Warriors | Terry Adolph | West Texas A&M University |
| 81 | Houston Rockets | Larry Spriggs | Howard University |
| 82 | Kansas City Kings | B.B. Davis | Lamar |
| 83 | Indiana Pacers | Rolando Frazer | Briar Cliff University |
| 84 | Chicago Bulls | Oliver Lee | Marquette |
| 85 | Portland Trail Blazers | Pete Verhoeven | Fresno State |
| 86 | New York Knicks | Alex Bradley | Villanova |
| 87 | San Antonio Spurs | Earl Belcher | St. Bonaventure |
| 88 | Los Angeles Lakers | Kevin McKenna | Creighton |
| 89 | Detroit Pistons | Don Koonce | UNC Charlotte |
| 90 | Milwaukee Bucks | Kris Anderson | Florida State |
| 91 | Boston Celtics | Stanley Williams | La Salle |
| 92 | Philadelphia 76ers | Rynn Wright | Texas A&M |
| Round 5 | |||
| 93 | Dallas Mavericks | Pete Budko | UNC |
| 94 | Detroit Pistons | George DeVone | UNC Charlotte |
| 95 | New Jersey Nets | Joe Cooper | Colorado |
| 96 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Kenny Page | New Mexico |
| 97 | Utah Jazz | Mike Clark | Oregon |
| 98 | Atlanta Hawks | Steve Krafcisin | Iowa |
| 99 | Seattle SuperSonics | Andra Griffin | Washington |
| 100 | San Diego Clippers | Dennis Isbell | Memphis |
| 101 | Denver Nuggets | Willie Sims | LSU |
| 102 | Golden State Warriors | Hank McDowell | Memphis |
| 103 | Washington Bullets | Garry Witts | Holy Cross |
| 104 | Kansas City Kings | U.S. Reed | Arkansas |
| 105 | Houston Rockets | Hasan Houston | Bradley |
| 106 | Indiana Pacers | George Peterson | New Jersey City University |
| 107 | Portland Trail Blazers | Herb Andrew | University of South Alabama |
| 108 | Chicago Bulls | Johnny Nash | Arizona State |
| 109 | New York Knicks | Jim Wright | Rhode Island |
| 110 | San Antonio Spurs | Mike Rhodes | Vanderbilt |
| 111 | Los Angeles Lakers | Craig Watts | NC State |
| 112 | Phoenix Suns | Paul Heuerman | Michigan |
| 113 | Milwaukee Bucks | Kelvin Troy | Rutgers University |
| 114 | Philadelphia 76ers | Steve Craig | BYU |
| 115 | Boston Celtics | Glen Grunwald | Indiana |
| Round 6 | |||
| 116 | Dallas Mavericks | Karl Bankowski | Utah |
| 117 | Detroit Pistons | Vince Brookins | Iowa |
| 118 | New Jersey Nets | Kevin Lynam | La Salle |
| 119 | Utah Jazz | Kevin Sprewer | Loyola Chicago |
| 120 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Aaron Strayhorn | Hawaii |
| 121 | Atlanta Hawks | Darryl Warwick | Hampton |
| 122 | Seattle SuperSonics | Earl Banks | Auburn |
| 123 | San Diego Clippers | Mike Pepper | UNC |
| 124 | Denver Nuggets | Alonzo Weatherly | Denver |
| 125 | Washington Bullets | Robert Williams | Grambling State University |
| 126 | Golden State Warriors | Carter Scott | Ohio State |
| 127 | Houston Rockets | Fred Cowan | Kentucky |
| 128 | Kansas City Kings | Brian Walker | Purdue |
| 129 | Indiana Pacers | Robert Fronk | Washington |
| 130 | Chicago Bulls | Roger Burkman | Louisville |
| 131 | Portland Trail Blazers | Roshern Amie | Texas-El Paso |
| 132 | New York Knicks | John Blair | Monmouth University |
| 133 | San Antonio Spurs | Northern Shavers | Jackson State University |
| 134 | Los Angeles Lakers | Kevin Singleton | California |
| 135 | Phoenix Suns | Pete Harris | Northeastern University |
| 136 | Milwaukee Bucks | Jo Jo Hunter | Colorado |
| 137 | Boston Celtics | Steve Waite | Iowa |
| 138 | Philadelphia 76ers | Michael Thomas | North Park University |
| Round 7 | |||
| 139 | Dallas Mavericks | Danny Davis | UNC Wilmington |
| 140 | Detroit Pistons | Greg Nance | West Virginia |
| 141 | New Jersey Nets | Rod Roberson | Northwestern |
| 142 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Andre Smith | Nebraska |
| 143 | Utah Jazz | Mike Robinson | Central Michigan University |
| 144 | Atlanta Hawks | Kevin Vesey | Iona College |
| 145 | Seattle SuperSonics | Tom Sienkiewicz | Villanova |
| 146 | San Diego Clippers | Randy Johnson | University of Southern Colorado |
| 147 | Denver Nuggets | Greg Manning | Maryland |
| 148 | Golden State Warriors | Robbie Dosty | Arizona |
| 149 | Washington Bullets | Randy Martel | Houston Baptist University |
| 150 | Kansas City Kings | Clinton Wheeler | William Paterson University |
| 151 | Houston Rockets | Joe Faine | Bowling Green |
| 152 | Indiana Pacers | Larry McKinney | Boise State |
| 153 | Portland Trail Blazers | Julius Wayne | Texas-El Paso |
| 154 | Chicago Bulls | Scott Williams | University of South Alabama |
| 155 | New York Knicks | Terry Cramer | Ripon College |
| 156 | San Antonio Spurs | Mark Minderman | Northern Michigan University |
| 157 | Los Angeles Lakers | Larry Petty | Wisconsin |
| 158 | Phoenix Suns | David Williams | Southern University and A&M College |
| 159 | Milwaukee Bucks | Lewis Latimore | Virginia |
| 160 | Philadelphia 76ers | John Crawford | Kansas |
| 161 | Boston Celtics | Tom Seaman | Holy Cross |
| Round 8 | |||
| 162 | Dallas Mavericks | David Kennedy | Cincinnati |
| 163 | Detroit Pistons | Joe Schoen | Saint Francis University |
| 164 | New Jersey Nets | Ken Webb | Fairleigh Dickinson University |
| 165 | Utah Jazz | Bobby Cattage | Auburn |
| 166 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Glenn Marcus | UAB |
| 167 | Atlanta Hawks | Gilbert Salinas | Notre Dame |
| 168 | San Diego Clippers | Todd Haynes | Davidson |
| 169 | Denver Nuggets | Curtis Redding | St. John's |
| 170 | Washington Bullets | Mike Howard | Wofford College |
| 171 | Golden State Warriors | Yasutaka Okayama | None listed |
| 172 | Houston Rockets | Stanley Brewer | West Georgia |
| 173 | Kansas City Kings | Randy Smithson | Wichita State |
| 174 | Indiana Pacers | Len Hatzenbeller | Drexel |
| 175 | Chicago Bulls | Ben Mitchell | None listed |
| 176 | Portland Trail Blazers | John Smith | Saint Joseph's |
| 177 | New York Knicks | Brian O'Connor | Thomas More College |
| 178 | San Antonio Spurs | Bob Bartholomew | University of San Diego |
| 179 | Los Angeles Lakers | Jay Triano | Simon Fraser University |
| 180 | Phoenix Suns | Steve Risley | Indiana |
| 181 | Milwaukee Bucks | Mike Brkovich | Michigan State |
| 182 | Boston Celtics | George Morrow | Creighton |
| 183 | Philadelphia 76ers | Frank Gilroy | St. John's |
| Round 9 | |||
| 184 | Dallas Mavericks | John Hollinden | Southern Indiana |
| 185 | Detroit Pistons | Eddie Baker | Alcorn State |
| 186 | New Jersey Nets | Rudy Williams | Providence |
| 187 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Paul Roba | Cleveland State University |
| 188 | Utah Jazz | Ken Ollie | Wyoming |
| 189 | Atlanta Hawks | Howard Thompkins | Wagner College |
| 190 | San Diego Clippers | Art Jones | NC State |
| 191 | Denver Nuggets | Andrew Burton | Austin Peay State University |
| 192 | Golden State Warriors | Doug Murrey | San Jose State |
| 193 | Washington Bullets | Eddie Brown | Valdosta State University |
| 194 | Kansas City Kings | Mike Perry | Richmond |
| 195 | Indiana Pacers | Scott Whitley | William & Mary |
| 196 | Portland Trail Blazers | Sid Williams | San Jose State |
| 197 | Chicago Bulls | Terry Martin | Lambuth University |
| 198 | New York Knicks | Marty Headd | Syracuse |
| 199 | San Antonio Spurs | Leonel Marquetti | Hampton |
| 200 | Phoenix Suns | Brian Johnson | Colorado |
| 201 | Milwaukee Bucks | Chip Rucker | Northeastern University |
| 202 | Philadelphia 76ers | Ron Wister | Temple |
| 203 | Boston Celtics | Greg McCray | VCU |
| Round 10 | |||
| 204 | Dallas Mavericks | Scott Bolanko | Northern State University |
| 205 | Detroit Pistons | Melvin Maxwell | Western Michigan |
| 206 | New Jersey Nets | Vic Sison | UCLA |
| 207 | Utah Jazz | Joe Merten | University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |
| 208 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Greg Boone | Augsburg College |
| 209 | Atlanta Hawks | Mike Frazier | Georgetown |
| 210 | San Diego Clippers | Tony Gwynn | San Diego State |
| 211 | Denver Nuggets | Derrick Rowland | State University of New York at Potsdam |
| 212 | Washington Bullets | Ralton Way | Houston Baptist University |
| 213 | Golden State Warriors | Barry Brooks | USC |
| 214 | Kansas City Kings | Mark Wilson | Fort Hays State University |
| 215 | Indiana Pacers | Rodney Benson | Wright State University |
| 216 | Chicago Bulls | Kenny Easley | UCLA |
| 217 | Portland Trail Blazers | Steve Cochran | Lewis and Clark College |
| 218 | New York Knicks | Kevin Rogers | Saint Peter's College |
| 219 | San Antonio Spurs | Alvin Brooks | Lamar |
| 220 | Phoenix Suns | Felton Sealey | Oregon |
| 221 | Milwaukee Bucks | Artie Green | Marquette |
| 222 | Boston Celtics | Kenny Matthews | NC State |
| 223 | Philadelphia 76ers | Pete Mullenberg | University of Delaware |