By: Nina Samone
For basketball fans, one of the biggest days of the year is approaching – the NBA draft. The 2022 NBA draft will be kicking off tomorrow, 8pm on June 23rd at the Barclays Center in New York.
For many young basketball players – their lives will forever be changed as they are initiated into nearly every boy’s childhood dream – the NBA.
One of the biggest days on the NBA calendar offers a lot of insight on the next season of play as far as team potential, player trades, new deals, new staff and the building suspense on which prospects can become the next NBA superstar.
This year we have 58 prospects instead of 60, but still some great talents to look out for. The mock drafts and fantasy selections have been well under way for some time, but the consensus among most basketball fans have either Chet Holmgren out of Gonzaga or Jabari Smith out of Auburn as the No. 1 pick.
Despite what a large majority of basketball fans assume as far as prospect placement, draft spots are not guaranteed – players like Paolo Banchero out of Duke or Jaden Ivey from Purdue could potentially sneak into the No. 1 spot.
I personally believe Chet Homlgren will take the No.1 spot – because the Orlando Magic have the top pick. Orlando is covered on the point guard and big men ends, but a player like Holmgren would fit in nicely as a big who can step to the wing and play as a guard – with a nice jumper and great rim-protecting skills to boot.
Any of the top five could potentially be a safe pick, depending on the direction the selecting team is trying to go.
The only way to know for sure is to tune in to draft night – there will be tons of coverage and story angles on every twister, unexpected turn top moments of the night.
Sources:
Harper, Zach. June 20th, 2022. TheAthletic. “When is NBA Draft 2022? Date, time, streaming, mock, key players and expectations.”
<https://theathletic.com/3372382/2022/06/20/nba-draft-time-date-streaming-channel/>
Boone, Kyle. June 22nd, 2022. CBS NBA. “2022 NBA Draft: Debating case for Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith or Jaden Ivey as No. 1 prospect.”
