Scott Van Pelt has had enough of the NBA Draft \u201chat situation.\u201d And he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n
Every year, the NBA Draft features several players drafted by a team that they will not play for. But since the agreed-upon trades aren\u2019t official until the new league season begins in July, the draftees take photos and do interviews in the hats of the team that selected them.<\/p>\n
In a conversation with Jay Bilas following the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday, Van Pelt took a brief sidebar to rant about the NBA Draft\u2019s omnipresent hat issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna scream about the hat situation,\u201d Van Pelt said. \u201cThe league\u2019s too smart to have the moment that they\u2019ve waited their whole life for be a picture in the wrong hat. It just doesn\u2019t make sense. I don\u2019t know why they can\u2019t fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Van Pelt: \u201cI\u2019m gonna scream about the hat situation. The league\u2019s too smart to have the moment that they\u2019ve waited their whole life for be a picture in the wrong hat. It just doesn\u2019t make sense. I don\u2019t know why they can\u2019t fix it.\u201d #NBADraft<\/a> #NBA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/BffUpklnVO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s strength in numbers in Van Pelt\u2019s opinion. Throughout the first round, which saw several trades, a lot of NBA Draft viewers made similar observations.<\/p>\n If you know the pick is going to the Blazers, give him a Blazers hat instead of Grizzlies\u2026<\/p>\n This is the biggest flaw in the NBA draft and needs to be changed. They can never enjoy their draft stage photos?!#NBADraft<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tana Hughes (@TanaHughes) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n I rarely tweet about the NBA, yes, but it\u2019s absolutely idiotic that the league forces draft picks to wear the hat of a team everyone knows has already traded them elsewhere. This goes back to Magic and Chris Webber. Dumb.<\/p>\n \u2014 Greg Auman (@gregauman) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The NBA Draft charade of wearing the wrong hat continues because why would we want a kid to wear the hat of the team he\u2019s actually going to play for on the biggest night of his life.<\/p>\n \u2014 Colby Daniels (@Colby_Daniels) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The NBA needs to cut the shit and just let draft picks wear the hat of the team we all know they\u2019re actually going to. Just use common sense.<\/p>\n \u2014 Unbiased Ev (@DoubleVodkaDon) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s still ridiculous that the NBA makes a player wear the hat of the team that he is not going to be on in the draft pic.twitter.com\/29U1nIlDbu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n I hate that picks already traded before the NBA draft are still called as though they\u2019re for the team that traded the pick away & the kids get the wrong hat on stage<\/p>\n Stupid<\/p>\n \u2014 Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Is there anything more pointless than the #NBADraft<\/a> not letting guys just wear the hat of the team that traded for them?<\/p>\n Never forget the Kobe era in Charlotte pic.twitter.com\/oRVnsqSeKK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Daren Stoltzfus WESH (@DarenStoltzfus) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n As opposed to the NFL Draft where trades are announced before teams make their selection, the NBA has a quirk where trades are only officially announced by commissioner Adam Silver after the picks have been made. This presents a very awkward scenario where we know that the player being selected won\u2019t play for the team that drafts them, yet has to go through the pomp and circumstance of putting on that team\u2019s hat anyways. It makes no sense, but it\u2019s been this way in the NBA for years.<\/p>\n While Adam Silver listened to fans and the NBA was able to make changes during the broadcast of the NBA Finals like bringing back player introductions<\/a>, this is the perfect opportunity for another common sense move.<\/p>\n \t