NBA Draft 2022 Thoughts
The Good, The Great, and The Ugly
I’m not going through every team, but I have a few winners and a few losers from last Thursday’s draft.
The Good
The Rockets: I will admit I am not as high on Jabari Smith as others (I had him fourth on my board), so it was a bit of a bummer when Orlando decided to pick Paolo (my number one) at number one. But one through four are very close, IMO, and I could be very wrong about my evaluation. For example, I don’t feel nearly as confident about Paolo as I do/did feel about Evan Mobley. Add to that the Rockets hit on two of my favorite prospects, Tari Eason and Ty Ty Washington, that went five and fifteen picks lower (respectively) than I think they should have that also fit perfectly with the Rocket’s needs. So you have to give them a pretty big win.
The Pacers: I am a fan of what the Pacers did on draft night. Benedict Mathurin is the perfect running mate to pair with Tyrese Haliburton. I also like getting Andrew Nembhard and Kendal Brown in the second. Nembhard is a low-ceiling, high-floor player who will probably be in the Pacers guard rotation immediately. Brown is more of a project, but at 48, with his athletism, he could be a starter if he can have any semblance of an offensive game.
The Great
The Pistons: By getting Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, the Pistons got the best guard and center prospect at 5 and 13 (by trade with the Knicks). They also got perfect running mates to go along with Cade Cunningham. Cade is a great player, but if you are concerned about him, it’s his high-end athleticism, but both Ivey and Duren have that in spades. Ivey, in particular, is a dark horse pick for rookie of the year.
The Magic: I think Paolo is the best player in the draft. I thought they were going to pick the fourth-best player in the draft. Pretty great draft, even if they did it in the weirdest way possible.
The Ugly:
Kings: On the face of it, drafting someone fourth that everyone has sixth to eighth is pretty lousy value. Not drafting the consensus number four pick is even worst, and not trading to pick to drop down a couple of spots to get another selection when everyone knows you are going to do that is just pure Kings.
Wizards: This one was a little tougher to pick, but I went with Washington just because Idk Johnny Davis’ ceiling is that high. It’s hard for me to see him as more than maybe the fifth starter on a playoff team. With players like Duren, Dieng, and Griffin behind him and with the current state of the franchise, it’s hard to understand why they didn’t go for a bigger swing.