Alabama forward Brandon Miller is expected to be among the first handful of players picked in the 77th NBA Draft on Thursday night.

If he is, Miller will become the ninth player with Alabama basketball roots chosen among the first five selections in an NBA Draft.

Carl Shaeffer became the first player from an Alabama high school or college selected in the NBA Draft when the Providence Steamrollers chose the Crimson Tide swingman in 1949.

It wasn’t until the 12th NBA Draft that a player with Alabama basketball roots got picked in the first round. In 1958, Bennie Swain from Westside High School in Talladega was selected from Texas Southern by the Boston Celtics with the eighth choice, which was the final pick in the first round that year.

It took until the 30th NBA Draft for a player from an Alabama high school or college to reach the top five, when the Detroit Pistons picked Alabama center Leon Douglas at No. 4 in 1976, following No. 1 John Lucas of Maryland, No. 2 Scott May of Indiana and No. 3 Richard Washington on UCLA.

Douglas was the seventh player with Alabama basketball roots chosen in the first round, and there have been 39 since. But only seven more players from Alabama high schools and colleges have joined Douglas as top-five choices in an NBA Draft.

If Miller does go within the top-five selections on Thursday night, the 2022 and 2023 drafts will be the first in which the state has produced top-five players in consecutive years. Auburn forward Jabari Smith was the third pick in last year’s draft.

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The eight players with Alabama basketball roots who have been top-five picks include:

No. 2: Antonio McDyess (Alabama) by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1995

No player with Alabama basketball roots has been the No. 1 pick, so the former Crimson Tide star is first off the state’s draft board at No. 2. After the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in his second season at Alabama, the Clippers picked McDyess after the Golden State Warriors opened the draft by choosing Maryland’s Joe Smith. Los Angeles traded McDyess to the Denver Nuggets on draft night. In his first six NBA seasons, McDyess averaged 17.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, made the All-Rookie team and played in the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. He also won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. But 10 games into his seventh season, McDyess sustained a knee injury that caused him to miss the rest of that campaign and the entire 2002-03 season. He returned to play in eight more seasons, averaging 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds for that span. In 1,015 NBA regular-season games, McDyess averaged 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks.

No. 3: Jabari Smith Jr. (Auburn) by the Houston Rockets in 2022

Smith began his NBA career by averaging 12.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 79 starts for the Rockets. He earned selection to the NBA All-Rookie second team. In the final 20 games of the 2022-23 season, Smith averaged 15.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists after averaging 11.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in his first 59 NBA games.

No. 4: Leon Douglas (Colbert County High School, Alabama) by the Detroit Pistons in 1976

The first Crimson Tide player drafted in the first round, Douglas provided muscle as a 6-foot-10 center for the Pistons and Kansas City Kings in seven NBA seasons before spending another nine seasons playing overseas. In 456 NBA regular-season games, Douglas averaged 7.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Douglas’ top season was his third, when Pistons center Bob Lanier missed 29 games and Douglas averaged 11.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in 78 games for the Pistons, who were coached by Dick Vitale.

No. 4: Chuck Person (Brantley High School, Auburn) by the Indiana Pacers in 1986

Person did not make a single 3-point shot while averaging 18.3 points per game in four seasons at Auburn because it did not exist in the college game during his career. But “The Rifleman” dropped in 1,220 3-point baskets during a 13-season NBA career. The 6-foot-8 forward reached a career high of 21.6 points per game for the Pacers in the 1988-89 season. In 943 NBA regular-season games, Person averaged 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

No. 4: Chris Morris (Auburn) by the New Jersey Nets in 1988

The 6-foot-8 swingman averaged 20.7 points per game as a senior at Auburn and reached an NBA high of 14.8 points per game in his second season. Morris’ scoring average was 12.9 points per game for the first eight of his 11 seasons in the NBA. He went to the NBA Finals twice with the Utah Jazz. In 747 NBA regular-season games, Morris averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals.

No. 5: Charles Barkley (Leeds High School, Auburn) by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984

“Sir Charles” entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer in 2006 after a 16-season NBA career. The 6-foot-6 forward played in 11 All-Star Games – each one from 1987 through 1997. Barkley won the NBA MVP Award for the 1992-93 season in his first campaign with Phoenix, when he averaged 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and a career high 5.1 assists per game in leading the Suns to the NBA Finals. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a member of the Dream Team at the Barcelona Olympics. In 1,073 NBA regular-season games, Barkley averaged 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals. He also averaged 23.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 123 playoff games.

No. 5: DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore High School in Mobile) by the Sacramento Kings in 2010

Cousins had been selected for the NBA All-Star Game four seasons in a row before tearing an Achilles tendon on Jan. 26, 2018. The 6-foot-10 center then suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Aug. 19, 2019. But Cousins persevered to play in two more seasons after missing the entire 2019-20 campaign. In the 2016-17 season, Cousins reached his career-high average of 27.0 points per game. The next season, he had his best rebounding average at 12.9 and assists average at 5.4. In 654 NBA regular-season games, the former Kentucky star averaged 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks. Cousins won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

No. 5: Isaac Okoro (Auburn) by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020

Considered a defensive stopper, Okoro led the Cavaliers by playing 2,173 minutes, and his average of 32.4 minutes of playing time per game led all NBA rookies during the 2020-21 season as he earned a spot on the NBA All-Rookie second team. The 6-foot-5 forward has averaged 8.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

The 77th NBA Draft will be held at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. ABC and ESPN will televise the draft.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.