Why are there only 29 teams in the 2004 nba draft?

The NBA draft ranking is based on the team's ranking and lottery last season. The worse the team's record, the greater the chance of getting a high ranking. Although Bobcats passed the decision to join the NBA in 2002, they didn't actually participate until the 2004-05 season. So there were still only 29 teams in 2003-04 season, so there were only 29 signings in 2004 season. As for Bobcats' victory over Okafor, it ranks second. According to NBA regulations, the new army Bobcats will be able to select at least 14 players from each NBA team, but each team can only have one player, while the remaining 29 NBA teams can only protect eight players, and the rest must be selected by Bobcats. They selected 19 players from the NBA team and got the No.2 draft pick of the Clippers through the transaction.