Jefferson is the first Iowa State player to be selected in the NBA Draft since the Kings selected Tyrese Haliburton with the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Alec Busse | Cyclone Alert

Former Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson has ended a five-year NBA Draft drought for the Cyclone basketball program. Jefferson was selected with the No. 28 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Draft, but he is immediately moving to the Brooklyn Nets via a trade. 

The Nets are in the midst of a rebuild following a 20-win season in 2025-26. Brooklyn entered Tuesday’s first round with the No. 6 and No. 28 overall draft picks. Brooklyn has a young group of players that includes Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf, which would indicate that the Nets want high IQ players with playmaking ability. Jefferson should fit that box, especially his expert passing abilities that were displayed throughout his two seasons at Iowa State.

The Julius Randle acquisition via trade with the Timberwolves on Monday night would complicate things a little bit for Jefferson if he were to land in Brooklyn. But the Nets should want to get younger as they continue to rebuild.

An All-Big 12 first team selection as a senior, Jefferson became the first player in Big 12 history to record multiple triple-doubles in league play. His 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game make him the only high major player in the country to average those numbers, and only five players have done so in an entire season since 1974-75.

Jefferson is the first Cyclone drafted since Tyrese Haliburton went No. 12 overall to the Sacramento Kings in the 2020 NBA Draft before rising to stardom with the Indiana Pacers.

“Joshua Jefferson decided to be a Cyclone again for that senior year, that really took our program to a whole nother place,” T.J. Otzelberger said earlier this year. “He is such a gifted basketball player. So many things he does to impact winning. He’s so intelligent, his playmaking, his finishing, his shooting, his scoring, his passing, his multiple efforts defensively, his ability to block, steals, and you name it, all the things he does to impact winning.”

Jefferson participated in the NBA Combine in Chicago in May and finished ninth in both the side-mid-side drill and the 3-point star drill after making 15-of-27 and 15-of-25 attempts, respectively. He also shot 16-of-30 off the dribble and 11-of-25 in spot-up shooting, while measuring 6-foot-7 3/4 barefoot with a 6-foot-10 3/4 wingspan and an 8-foot-8 1/2 standing reach. Iowa State previously listed Jefferson at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds.

The Cyclones hope that former point guard Tamin Lipsey could emerge as a second-round selection on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Between 2012 and 2020, Iowa State had eight players selected by an NBA team. Former Cyclone stars Royce White, Justin Hamilton, Georges Niang, Abdel Nader, Monte Morris, Marial Shayok, Talen Horton-Tucker and Haliburton helped Iowa State rank among the top 20 programs in college basketball for players selected in the NBA Draft; in the Big 12, only Kansas and Texas had more than eight players selected in that window. Jefferson how helps Iowa State start to build some NBA Draft pedigree this decade, which comes amid the program’s golden era – 83 combined wins over the last two seasons. Jefferson was a part of 54 of those wins in the last two seasons as Iowa State.

What it means: Jefferson’s selection into the NBA Draft is another indicator of sustainability and success that Otzelberger’s program is enjoying. Jefferson is the first player drafted in the Otzelberger era, but he joins former All-Big 12 stars Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert in the professional ranks. Each guard earned NBA minutes last season. Former center Hason Ward has floated around in the G-League. The professional development in Otzelberger’s program should only help Iowa State continue to attract impact high school recruits and transfer portal prospects in roster-building pursuits.