The 2022 NBA Draft Class Is INSANE

The 2022 NBA Draft Class Is INSANE

The 2022 NBA draft has already become one of my favorite draft classes in recent memory and the impact that this class not only already has had but will continue to have on the league in the future is just unbelievable and of course that all starts with Palo Manera

Who makes an All-Star team in his second season after being the first overall pick and it’s really cool the way that this has worked out because I feel like the top three fell How It Should Have despite the fact that it all kind of came together the last minute remember

On draft night the Assumption was Jabari Smith was going to be the first pick and then Orlando changed their mind basically right before the draft Pao goes first overall and the the the case for pao as the first overall pick in the draft was he is the best chance you have

In this class of a franchise Cornerstone of a score of an individual piece that raises the level of everyone else as good as some of the other guys are in the class they long-term project more likely as complimentary options whereas Pao potentially projects as a number one option and Looking Back Now where

Orlando was then and where they are now Paulo was the perfect pick for them now the downside for him was he was not necessarily a selfish player in college but definitely had a Score first mentality in college and there was a concern about if he doesn’t become like

A top level player is he just is his game too narrow is it just focused on scoring but in the NBA he guards decently well he rebounds really well he’s grown as a passer immensely over the last handful of months and individually as an offensive player he

Is just a mismatch problem for these teams and I love how this class has worked out and I love how well Pao has started his career in Orlando and anytime you have a a great draft class you want to compare to other great classes throughout the history of the

League you got to have a great first overall pick and poo certainly is that and then second overall I just every time I watch the Thunder I can’t believe this Chad hren goes second overall now there was some thought about Chad potentially going first maybe he was

Going to go third a lot of different you know kind of takes on what Chad was going to be at the NBA level because of his skinny frame there’s two things that have happened one Chad has absolutely landed in the perfect perfect situation in Oklahoma City but he’s also molded

His game to be a perfect fit there for the Thunder as well his ideal fit at the NBA level his ceiling was always in a situation like this where you’re not asking Chad to be the number one option and break guys down off the dribble and create his own offense all the time

You’re not asking him to be you know this full-time five that’s going to be you know some kind of bruising presence against these other guys it’s perfect where he is right now he can attack Closeouts he can shoot he defends the rim extremely well he can create off of

Closeouts and potentially in some individual one-on-one matchups as he continues to grow um and get better with his offensive game and he had the year I really think that the extra year was critical for Chad cuz he comes into year 2 extremely confident ready to go and

Oklahoma City is even better now than they were last year and it’s just absolutely perfect for him Chad I think this version of him would have been successful on most teams but this is just the perfect situation for him and he is going to continue to have a crazy

Impact on the league and then three overall is Jabari Smith now there’s a lot of people that are kind of down on Jabari Smith I think the situation in Houston is still kind of weird for some of these younger players um but what he’s kind of turned into in Houston is

One of the reasons why he didn’t end up going first overall um he had a a high ceiling as a complimentary player as a guy that could shoot and can guard and and was switchable and versatile but the top tier offensive skills just weren’t there it was a lot of you know mid-range

Jumpers off of you know one jab step or one dribble um a lot of the shooting stuff hasn’t super super translated after he shot the ball extremely well as a freshman at Auburn I still think Jabari Smith’s going to be really good I don’t know if he’s going to be like

All-Star level good but as a complimentary piece which is kind of what he was supposed to be at the time of the draft I still have a lot of Hope for Jabari and again I think that top three worked out perfectly fourth overall Murray I you can go back and

Look at the videos I didn’t like to pick I thought they should have taken Jaden Ivy I thought he was more talented um I didn’t understand the concept of bringing in someone like Keegan Murray is like a highle complimentary piece long term uh but it’s worked out for Sacramento they already had enough

Guards they tra they trade halberton uh Ki Murray’s really good he guards he shoots he’s continued to grow his offensive game and has turned out to be a perfect fit in Sacramento I don’t know what it would have looked like with Jaden Ivy there in Sacramento especially post tyres halberton trade but

Absolutely this has been a really really good pick for Sacramento um and I was wrong about that one totally 100% fifth is Jaden Ivy in Detroit this is this is just a crazy crazy situation Jaden Ivy’s good Jaden Ivy is very good he’s very talented he still got stuff to figure

Out he still has to figure out how to shoot better how to be more efficient how to not turn the ball over but there is Talent there and I don’t know if it’s going to happen in Detroit but I think at some point somewhere it’s going to

Happen for Jaden Ivy and he’s going to be a really really good player and this top five in this class is one of the better top fives that we’ve had over the last handful of Seasons because there isn’t really a Miss like yes Jaden Ivy hasn’t been perfect jar Smith hasn’t

Been perfect Keegan Murray isn’t like a Star by any means but this top five is really really strong and that’s rare throughout the history league for to not have a single like big Miss in the top five of class outside of the top five things start to get a little bit murky

Six is Benedict mathine I don’t really know how I feel about him um there’s an aggressiveness in terms of his mindset there that I like um but I don’t know if we’re just watching a little bit of like a shot chucker if he’s ever going to be

Super efficient I’d like for him to get to the rim more but he draws a ton of fouls I don’t know it’s I like matthd I don’t know that he’s ever going to be a star I don’t know that he’s ever going to be um you know a highlevel starter on

Like a championship caliber team but he’s going to be able to score and he’s a good player and I think there’s room for growth there and again I think the the the biggest selling point for him is just the aggressiveness and the attitude that he brings to the game and I still

Think he’s going to be good uh seven shanen sharp kind of a weird season for him he’s been hurt most of the year the talent and the upside and the potential is unbelievable for Shaden sharp I can’t wait to see what he’s going to turn into as an NBA player with all that

Athleticism eight Dyson Daniels another guy I’m still kind of uncertain about um he’s got to be able to shoot the ball but he can he can guard got incredible physical skills he really really can defend if he can improve as an offensive player specifically as a shooter I

Really like the future for Dyson Daniels nine Jeremy soan um sure maybe I think there’s something there there’s something there with the playmaking instincts there’s something there with the defense my concern would be does he ever figure it out figure out enough as a three-point shooter in the long term

Like there’s small sample sizes where it’s good and somewhere it’s not I want there to be something there with soan but when you think about the nine guys I just listed in a row the top nine of a class all of them have a chance to to be

Good to really really good and that is extremely extremely rare now for this class you got to start skipping a couple of spots to get the next good player but 12 is Jaylen Williams um obviously the wing Jaylen Williams not the big guy I can’t get over this this this continues

To blow my mind every time I look back at this class Jaylen Williams came from Santa Clara he was just he was an interesting perimeter prospect that had good physical tools that shot up draft ports towards the end of the process and I think he’s a future Allstar like he is

Unbelievable in that system in Oklahoma City as a Creator as a floor spacer he’s got size he can guard a little bit and Oklahoma City leaving this draft class with Jaylen Williams and Chad hongren is unbelievable yes they had two top 12 picks but those are two of the best

Players in the entire class that they got and they fit perfectly in Oklahoma City and this is kind of the separator if you’re going to be a great draft class you need to have some of these like late lottery or mid first round guys be really really good and Jaylen

Williams is that guy another guy that people don’t talk about enough 13 is Jaylen Duran I know people don’t really like watching Detroit Jaylen Duran’s good he rebounds the ball well he’s a great athlete good Rim roller still needs to figure some stuff out defensively but the skill set is there I

Love Jaylen Duren I think he’s going to be a really good long-term piece in Detroit and again another mid first round guy in this class 15 is Mark Williams had some injury issues this year but I think he’s a really good long-term five and Charlotte kind of in

Like the Clint capella type mold of like he’s going to defend the rim he’s going to rebound and he’s going to catch lobs really like Mark Williams 17 tar een in Houston another guy that I just like I like the way that he plays if he can

Shoot the ball well enough he’s going to have a role in the league for a long long time as someone that can guard score a little bit and shoot 21 Christian Brown in uh Denver we saw how well he played in the postseason last year again just one of these

Complimentary pieces that you have to have to be a great draft class 22 Walker castler same thing great uh great rim protector great rebounder going to be a long-term piece in the league 30 pton Watson same thing is what I just said for Christian Brown uh in Denver he is

Just this really athletic you know Wing that’s going to make a ton of winning plays for you as a complimentary piece 31 Andrew nard who’s been playing well in Indiana as a guard alongside tyres halberton 35 Max Christie who’s gotten some run with the Lakers can shoot the

Ball pretty well Jaden Hardy High upside side guard potentially long-term in Dallas and 47 Vince Williams Jr in Memphis who’s been really really good now that they’ve been missing Desmond Bane and Jama rant I just named so many players from this class that are going to have long careers long-term impact on

The NBA and I wouldn’t be surprised if 5 10 years from now we look back at the 2022 NBA draft class as one of the best draft classes that we’ve seen in the last 20 years this Talent level is unbelievable and the impact is really cool and the immediate impact as well a

Lot of times you get some late bloomers that kind of raise the ceiling of a class there’s so many guys from this group that are already contributing straight away and I can’t wait to see what the rest of their careers look like as well

The 2022 NBA Draft class features a ton of talent like Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren, and looks like one of the better draft classes of the past 10 years.

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