Editing 2004 NBA draft (section)

===High school players===
This would be the tenth 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 NBA draft|1975]]. It would also be famous for marking the third (and currently final) time that a #1 pick was selected directly out of high school. This year also saw players like [[LaMarcus Aldridge]], Jermaine Bell, [[Ivan Chiriaev]], and [[Maurice Shaw]] all initially declare entry for this year's draft, but ultimately withdraw from it and decide to enter college instead. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.<ref name=tdr />

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* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Jackie Butler]] – F, Coastal Christian Academy ([[Virginia Beach, Virginia]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Dwight Howard]] – C, [[Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy]] ([[Atlanta, Georgia]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Al Jefferson]] – F, [[Prentiss High School|Prentiss HS]] ([[Prentiss, Mississippi]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Shaun Livingston]] – G, [[Peoria High School (Peoria, Illinois)|Peoria HS]] ([[Peoria, Illinois]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[J. R. Smith]] – G, [[St. Benedict's Preparatory School|St. Benedict's Prep]] ([[Newark, New Jersey]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Josh Smith]] – F, [[Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)|Oak Hill Academy]] ([[Mouth of Wilson, Virginia]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Robert Swift]] – C, [[Bakersfield High School|Bakersfield HS]] ([[Bakersfield, California]])
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Dorell Wright]] – G/F, [[South Kent School|South Kent]] ([[South Kent, Connecticut]])
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