2022 NBA Draft Discussion

Day after the 2021 NBA Draft, you know what that means?

Means it's time to start focusing on the 2022 NBA Draft! Scouting never stops, and there's plenty of high school/FIBA tape to look through and advanced scout reports to read before college ball starts up later in the year.

Who are some of the big names to look at in next year's draft?

- Paolo Banchero
- Chet Holmgren
- AJ Griffin
- Yannick Nzosa
- Nikola Jovic
- Caleb Houstan
- Jean Montero
- Patrick Baldwin Jr
- Jaden Hardy
- Jaden Ivey
- Jabari Smith
- Ousmane Dieng
- Jalen Duren
- Peyton Watson

And then a bunch of guys who could have gone this year but withdrew: Roko Prkacin, Bennedict Mathurin, Ariel Hukporti, etc.

It's going to be an exciting draft cycle. Paolo Banchero is my pre-college Number 1 prediction, as he's got a super well developed 6'9 frame already and has shown some elite defensive indicators as well as pull-up shooting, intense athleticism, and great feel for the game on offense.

Chet Holmgren has obviously got a lot of pre-draft hype, and rightly so because he's a very good prospect - an elite rim protector with size who, despite his skinny frame, doesn't really shy from contact and who has flashed some signs of face up scoring that can be super valuable for a bigger guy. Will be interesting to see which way he leans during college; is he going all-Defense or will he focus on diversifying his offensive game? He's even got some decent handles in transition, though I wouldn't want him initiating in the half-court.

But despite Holmgren's incredible defense, he's not the best defensive big man prospect in this draft! That goes to Yannick Nzosa, imo. He's just a freak rim protector with lateral mobility skills despite his size (6'11 with a plus wingspan) and an insanely high level of defensive processing. He's shown some handles on offense and is a good passer, but the jump shot is more of a rumour than a fact right now so there's some limitation. He'll still be 18 in his first NBA game though so lots of room to improve there.

AJ Griffin is a kind of mystery character. On the one hand, he's a 6'7 lead ball handler with a super advanced handle who has posted insane STL/BLK numbers at the high school level (2.04stls and 2.2 blks per 70 in U17 play) who has shown all kinds of impressive shotmaking and self-creation ability. On the other hand, his passing is kind of whatever and the sample size we have to work with is very small: this is why he's a mystery - somehow, despite being such a highly touted draft prospect with so many enticing skills, there's very little tape of him compared to other major prospects over the last 2 years and there are rumours about knee problems. He had an ankle injury that kept him out much of last year also. Will need to see how that develops.

Looking forward to this draft cycle.

Already? Why put the time and effort when you know Griff & Langdon will pick the opposite on draft day?:hihi:

It’s actually straight from the Loomis playbook.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Already? Why put the time and effort when you know Griff will pick the opposite on draft day?:hihi:

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I don't just follow the draft for our team, I follow it because it's fun to watch the next group of players develop and learn about them and get excited. If all things go well, we'll be too good to pick in the lottery for the next 10 years, but that's not really the point to me.

Emoni Bates, the No. 1 player in the class, told @Stadium he will reclassify and either head to college and the G-League this season. He said he will choose between Oregon, Memphis, Michigan State if he goes the college route.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 4, 2021

Your aware we don’t have picks? I’d say until we do I ain’t worried about it.

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Originally Posted by tdcreator

Your aware we don’t have picks? I’d say until we do I ain’t worried about it.

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Literally two posts above you I said this:

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I don't just follow the draft for our team, I follow it because it's fun to watch the next group of players develop and learn about them and get excited. If all things go well, we'll be too good to pick in the lottery for the next 10 years, but that's not really the point to me.

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My opinion has not magically changed in the last 6 days.

I think I also saw something about Bates age makes him ineligible for next years draft even if he plays in college or g-league this season. He'll have to do two years within the college or g-league system if current NBA rules remain.

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Originally Posted by Drudkh_

I think I also saw something about Bates age makes him ineligible for next years draft even if he plays in college or g-league this season. He'll have to do two years within the college or g-league system if current NBA rules remain.

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Yeah he's an '04 birthday so he won't be eligible to be drafted this year, but the fact that he's basically going to get in an extra year of (hopefully) G League experience is going to do so much for his development. He'll be like Kira, where Kira was a sophomore in college but still young enough to be the age of a freshman and therefore has an experience gap.

Hopefully, unlike Kira, Bates will get drafted to a team with a coach that plays him :hihi:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Yeah he's an '04 birthday so he won't be eligible to be drafted this year, but the fact that he's basically going to get in an extra year of (hopefully) G League experience is going to do so much for his development. He'll be like Kira, where Kira was a sophomore in college but still young enough to be the age of a freshman and therefore has an experience gap.

Hopefully, unlike Kira, Bates will get drafted to a team with a coach that plays him :hihi:

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Yeah I'm also pretty keen to see how he goes now. Kid looks special and having that extra year of development within g-league or college like you mentioned will be a massive boon for when he does make the leap into the NBA.

Agree on Kira, that's part of the reason that I'm still really high on him. He is still crazy young and hopefully having Green now in at the helm will mean he gets some consistent playing time. He needs to be de-SVG'd haha.

Not really excited about this draft class, although im looking forward to that 2023 class with Wembanyama and Bates

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

Not really excited about this draft class, although im looking forward to that 2023 class with Wembanyama and Bates

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Watch more Yannick Nzosa, AJ Griffin, and Paolo Banchero film. That's all I can say :hihi:

Breaking: Jalen Duren, the No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2022, has reclassified into the class of 2021 and committed to Memphis, according to @PaulBiancardi.

(��️ via @jaydoefilms) pic.twitter.com/5jQDHBOX8K

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 6, 2021

Jalen Duren also reclassifying.

Top 10 guy, very probably top 5.