2022 NBA Mock Draft 1.0
Our first installment of the YouTube mock draft series is here with holiday-based rankings
IT'S HERE!
Our first installment of the 2022 NBA Draft season comes just before Christmas as we use Tankathon to simulate draft positioning and set the field for the first NBA mock draft of the year. Based on our own evaluations and some hot names on mainstream boards, we bring to you picks 1-60 in our new format.
A few quick notes on the mock draft and this initial iteration:
The mock draft is meant to be a combination of our selections/ preferences and consensus picks. There are players, such as Jonathan Davis or Trevor Keels, who we do not give first-round grades to but are receiving potential top-10 interest. Their placement on our boards is meant to split the difference and provide insight as to why we don’t have them as high as other outlets
The top tier of prospects at this moment is a group of four: Paolo Banchero (Duke), Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga), Jaden Ivey (Purdue) and Jabari Smith (Auburn). Ivey has forced his way into the group due to his strong play and the fact he’s the only guard listed, which gives him an advantage in terms of ability to put his impact on an NBA game. We think the only other player with the upside to force his way into this top tier is Jaden Hardy for the G-League Ignite
Several one-and-done prospects have underwhelmed, including Patrick Baldwin Jr. (UW-Milwaukee), Max Christie (Michigan State), Caleb Houstan (Michigan) and Peyton Watson (UCLA). There have been relatively few first-time draft entrants who have stepped up in their place. As a result, our first round is heavy on sophomores, which is somewhat rare. Guys like Ivey (4th) and Bennedict Mathurin (9th) wind up in the lottery, while the later part of the first-round is littered with sophomores: Jabari Walker (22nd), Jonathan Davis (23rd), Mark Williams (26th), Tari Eason (27th) and Jordan Hall (29th)
On this mock draft, a few teams saw several prospects get drafted from their program. Duke leads the way with four: first-round selections Banchero, Williams, AJ Griffin and Trevor Keels, with a fifth (Wendell Moore) going in the second. The G-League Ignite places three in the first round (Hardy, Dyson Daniels and MarJon Beauchamp) and saw Michael Foster go in the 30s. Other teams with multiple draftees:
Baylor (3) - Kendall Brown, Matthew Mayer, Jeremy Sochan
Arizona (2) - Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko
Gonzaga (2) - Chet Holmgren, Julian Strawther
Kentucky (2) - TyTy Washington, Daimion Collins
Memphis (2) - Jalen Duren, Josh Minott
Michigan (2) - Caleb Houstan, Moussa Diabate
New Zealand Breakers (2) - Hugo Besson, Ousmane Dieng
Overtime Elite (2) - Jean Montero, Dominick Barlow
UCLA (2) - Peyton Watson, Johnny Juzang
Picks 51 (Miami) and 54 (Milwaukee) were not included since both teams were forced to forfeit their selections due to violations of NBA tampering rules. Both selections were left blank to signify where they would occur.
Some of our top players who were not selected in this version of the mock draft:
Mike Miles, TCU
Efe Abogidi, Washington State
Tyson Etienne, Wichita State
Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers
Other players were not selected because we anticipate they will withdraw from the draft process or return to school for a second year:
Nolan Hickman, Gonzaga
Bryce Hopkins, Kentucky
Tyrese Hunter, Iowa State
Want to see more or different draft content? Let us know what you’d like to see directly in your inboxes.
Have a happy and safe holiday season!
-Coach Spins