2022 NBA Draft: Big Board 1.0
Our first look at an official, tiered draft board in this draft class
We are typically the most restrained draft site out there, waiting to publish draft boards or rankings until we’re certain there’s enough time gone by to get a feel for the class and evaluate every prospect we can. As it’s early December now, we’re approaching ten games in for most college players, about 30% of the season and the overall sample we’re going to get.
As we’ve done more work this year to look into prospects in greater depth, we feel comfortable releasing a big board earlier.
Like most years, we’re going by tier, aiming to place players in a looser order more based on the cluster of outcomes we see possible.
This year’s 2022 draft class has three players on the top who we’re fond of as in competition for the top pick, and three others who are in that next tier that are solid top-five contenders on any type of year. Beyond that, there will likely be a lot of movement up and down the board as the year moves on.
Here’s our first look at an official top nine tiers, the deepest we go at this stage of the game.
Tier 1
Paolo Banchero - F, Duke
Chet Holmgren - P, Gonzaga
Jabari Smith - F, Auburn
Tier 2
Jaden Ivey - PG, Purdue
Jaden Hardy - CG, G-League Ignite
Patrick Baldwin Jr. - W, UW-Milwaukee
Tier 3
Kendall Brown - W, Baylor
Caleb Houstan - W, Michigan
JD Davison - PG, Alabama
TyTy Washington - CG, Kentucky
Peyton Watson - W, UCLA
Bennedict Mathurin - W, Arizona
Tier 4
Jalen Duren - P, Memphis
Roko Prkacin - W, Cibona
Kennedy Chandler - PG, Tennessee
Keegan Murray - F, Iowa
Tier 5
Damion Collins - ATH, Kentucky
MarJon Beauchamp - W, G-League Ignite
Nikola Jovic - F, Mega Bemax
Ousmane Dieng - ATH, NZ Breakers
Dyson Daniels - CG, G-League Ignite
Caleb Love - PG, North Carolina
Matthew Mayer - W, Baylor
Jabari Walker - F, Colorado
Tier 6
AJ Griffin - ATH, Duke
Bryce McGowens - CG, Nebraska
Bryce Hopkins - ATH, Kentucky
Mark Williams - P, Duke
Matthew Cleveland - W, Florida State
EJ Liddell - F, Ohio State
Josh Minott - W, Memphis
Mike Miles - PG, TCU
Jean Montero - PG, Overtime Elite
Max Christie - W, Michigan State
Tier 7
Julian Champagnie - W, St. John’s
Gabriele Procida - W, Cantu
Jordan Hall - ATH, St. Joseph’s
Yannick Nzosa - P, Unicaja
Michael Foster - F, G-League Ignite
Nolan Hickman - CG, Gonzaga
Harrison Ingram - F, Stanford
Jeremy Sochan - W, Baylor
Tier 8
Efe Abogidi - P, Washington State
Hugo Besson - CG, NZ Breakers
Tyson Etienne - PG, Wichita State
Jonathan Davis - PG, Wisconsin
Hyunjung Lee - W, Davidson
Ochai Agbaji - W, Kansas
Julian Strawther - W, Gonzaga
Ron Harper Jr. - ATH, Rutgers
Marcus Sasser - PG, Houston
Kofi Cockburn - P, Illinois
Kerr Kriisa - CG, Arizona
Tier 9
Jaime Jaquez - F, UCLA
Kadary Richmond - W, Seton Hall
Matteo Spagnolo - PG, Real Madrid
Azuolas Tubelis - P, Arizona