2022 NBA Mock Draft 1.1

Our first adjustment to the Mock Draft is made with some fast risers and fallers, plus a lucky team launches into the top-four

We’ve officially reached the mid-way point of both the NBA and college basketball regular seasons. Being 50% of the way through gives us a great idea about what the next half of the year will bring. On the NBA level, we know which teams are likely to be drafting at the top of the draft, although potential exists for trades and late-season surges to shake up the order.

In college, we’re getting a feel for which players are legitimate and which are not. Small sample size arguments are starting to get thrown out the window. The freshmen class is separating itself into one-and-done contenders and pretenders.

There are some players in this version of the mock draft who have risen up our board drastically, going from outside the top-60 and into the lottery. There are seven new names in the first round and, for the first time this year, we attempted to set the field with who we believe will declare and who will not out of the younger guys on the list. If you’re looking for a list of those who we project to withdraw and return to school for another year, skip to the very end of the video.

A few quick notes:

• The top four of this draft remain the same, just in a slightly different order. To us, the three-man tier of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith is one that might be too far out of reach to be caught by anyone.

• Blake Wesley is the largest riser on this version of the mock draft, going from undrafted and unmentioned in Mock Draft 1.0 into the lottery, landing 14th with the Toronto Raptors in Mock Draft 1.1. Six other players were new to the first round (placed by order of their selection):

  • Max Christie (33rd in Mock 1.0, 19th in Mock 1.1)

  • Jeremy Sochan (44th in Mock 1.0, 22nd in Mock 1.1)

  • Julian Champagnie (32nd in Mock 1.0, 23rd in Mock 1.1)

  • Wendell Moore (49th in Mock 1.0, 25th in Mock 1.1)

  • Mike Miles (27th in Mock 1.1)

  • Harrison Ingram (31st in mock 1.0, 29th in Mock 1.1)

• With those seven moving into the first, that also means were were seven who fell out of it:

  • Caleb Houstan (11th in Mock 1.0, 35th in Mock 1.1)

  • Peyton Watson (18th in Mock 1.0, return to school candidate in Mock 1.1)

  • Kennedy Chandler (19th in Mock 1.0, 39th in Mock 1.1)

  • Hugo Besson (20th in Mock 1.0, 57th in Mock 1.1)

  • Daimion Collins (21st in Mock 1.0, 41st in Mock 1.1)

  • Jabari Walker (22nd in Mock 1.0, 51st in Mock 1.1)

  • Matthew Mayer (28th in Mock 1.0, 46th in Mock 1.1)

• The common denominator in those raises and drops has to be offensive production. Besson and Chandler started high on draft projections due to a hot early-season streak, both of which have cooled down. Others, like Wendell Moore, Blake Wesley and Max Christie, are surging at the right time. After the 16th pick (Keegan Murray), there was a large drop-off, and we have a hard time saying there are more than 16 guys who we would consider as first-round locks at this point.

• There were a few other new names in this mock draft who debuted in the second-round:

  • Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

  • Dereon Seabron, NC State

  • Trevion Williams, Purdue

  • Christian Braun, Kansas

  • Aminu Mohammed, Georgetown

  • Walker Kessler, Auburn

  • Isaiah Mobley, USC

  • Alondes Williams, Wake Forest