The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and non-North American leagues. The NBA announced that 49 college and high school players and 11 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft. This was the last NBA draft for which high school players were eligible. The new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players union established a new age limit for draft eligibility. Starting with the 2006 NBA draft, players of any nationality who complete athletic eligibility at a U.S. high school cannot declare themselves eligible for the draft unless they turn 19 no later than December 31 of the year of the draft and are at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school classes. International players, defined in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement as non-US nationals who did not complete athletic eligibility at a U.S. high school, must turn 19 (or older) in the calendar year of the draft, up from 18. This draft is notable for a most recent draft pick from an NAIA (and non-NCAA) school in any round; that pick is Robert Whaley, the 51st player drafted from Walsh University, which is now in NCAA Division II. As of 2024, Chris Paul is the only remaining player from this draft class to currently play in the NBA.

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

These players who declared or were automatically eligible for the 2005 draft, were not selected but have played in the NBA.

Trades involving draft picks

Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft:

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

This year marked the first time in NBA draft history that over 100 underclassmen would declare their initial entry into the NBA draft with 108 total players doing so. However, 49 of these players that were either in college, high school, or overseas play at the time would withdraw from the draft, leaving a total of 59 underclassmen officially declaring their entry into this year's draft. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.

High school players

This would be the eleventh straight year in a row where at least one high school player would declare their entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school after previously only allowing it one time back in 1975. It would also be the last year that the NBA would officially allow for high school players to declare entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school. This year saw the highest amount of high schoolers entering the NBA draft with eleven total players officially entering, with Martellus Bennett, Keith Brumbaugh, and Brandon Rush each initially declaring their interest in joining the NBA draft, but ultimately withdrawing to instead spend some time in college going forward. This year also would see the youngest player being taken in NBA history with Andrew Bynum being selected at 17 years old and playing his first NBA game only 6 days after he turned 18 years old. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.

International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.