2022 NBA Draft Part II

[MemphisX]

Agreed. Although there are players I like more than others, I think from about 8 to 35ish, it is in the eye of the beholder.

I'm curious, who are your top 7 that you have separated from the rest of the pack? I see it as a little more jumbled in the mid lottery.

Smith
Holmgren
Banchero
Ivey
Sharpe
Murray
Mathurin
Griffin

I see these 8 and am even inclined to include Davis who I think is getting a bit underrated then a bit of a drop off to the next group which could be a whole bunch of guys from 10 on. A lot of people have Duren solidly in the 2nd tier but I don't get it, I don't see what separates him from the other rim running bigs in this draft outside of being younger and having a Bam Adebayo esque frame.

It's a weird draft because I don't see a huge gap between 1-8. I don't remember the last draft in which that was the case. The 3 bigs are likely top tier but I could see some guys in the 2nd tier having better careers. In other words, I don't think there's a big "lottery winner" like there has been in years past, last year in particular.

Smith
Chet
Paolo
Ivey
Duren
Sharpe

For me it is this 6. I would add Griffin if I had his medicals. I could see an argument for any of these 6 going #1. Would not take Griffin #1 though.

[K_chile22]

No idea how legit this account is but this is making the rounds on Twitter

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?t=Hx7r5oSlNo-2a2O-2GGptA&s=19

[RookieStar]

No idea how legit this account is but this is making the rounds on Twitter

Read on Twitter

?t=Hx7r5oSlNo-2a2O-2GGptA&s=19

Yeah... I read college boards asking if the sources posting those are legit.

[K_chile22]

So I guess it's not legit?

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[NYPiston]

Smith
Chet
Paolo
Ivey
Duren
Sharpe

For me it is this 6. I would add Griffin if I had his medicals. I could see an argument for any of these 6 going #1. Would not take Griffin #1 though.

Interesting that you have Duren in there.
Honest question, in your opinion what separates him from the other athletic rim runners in this draft outside of him being younger? Personally, I haven't seen much in his offensive game outside of lobs and putbacks around the rim kind of like Mark Williams.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Smith
Chet
Paolo
Ivey
Duren
Sharpe

For me it is this 6. I would add Griffin if I had his medicals. I could see an argument for any of these 6 going #1. Would not take Griffin #1 though.

Interesting that you have Duren in there.
Honest question, in your opinion what separates him from the other athletic rim runners in this draft outside of him being younger? Personally, I haven't seen much in his offensive game outside of lobs and putbacks around the rim kind of like Mark Williams.

probably his body (in addition to the athleticism and length). very few dudes are built like duren - especially at such a young age.

[CP War Hawks]

These GMs fancy Duren as a young Dwight Howard apparently. Williams is a safer bet, but how different is he from a Javale Mcgee who bounces around.

[jman3134]

Sharpe has a top 10 promise if he's staying in according to Shams.

[tmorgan]

Sharpe has a top 10 promise if he's staying in according to Shams.

I doubt thar’s even close to an issue. You’d need a helluva draft for SS to not be a top 10 talent, and this isn’t it.

Weird, tho. There’s only six teams, before trades, that can even promise a top 10 pick (although in the realm of realism it’s more like eight). And any of them could end up picking first, likely voiding said promise.

[jman3134]

That is a valid point. Think he must have at least 2 teams in the 8-10 range ish that wouldn't let him slip, obviously barring if they move up considerably. To be clear on my last post (bc it was very unclear), Shams is saying he will stay in. There is another article I read (unrelated) suggesting he would need a top 10 promise to stay in.

[SelfishPlayer]

Jalen Duren actually played some college basketball games as a 17 year old. He's getting sucked into the "rim runner" only projection when in reality he probably compares favorably to past power forward prospects like Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. Jalen Duren weighing 250lbs of chisled muscle at only 18 years of age is rare enough to possibly be some kind of record.

[BlazersBroncos]

Jalen Duren actually played some college basketball games as a 17 year old. He's getting sucked into the "rim runner" only projection when in reality he probably compares favorably to past power forward prospects like Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. Jalen Duren weighing 250lbs of chisled muscle at only 18 years of age is rare enough to possibly be some kind of record.

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Jalen Duren actually played some college basketball games as a 17 year old. He's getting sucked into the "rim runner" only projection when in reality he probably compares favorably to past power forward prospects like Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. Jalen Duren weighing 250lbs of chisled muscle at only 18 years of age is rare enough to possibly be some kind of record.

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

ayton was so much more advanced offensive, but wasn't a defender. honestly an 18 year old dwight is the best comp - no need to overthink it. both very athletic, chiseled, 6'11 rim protectors.

[SelfishPlayer]

Jalen Duren actually played some college basketball games as a 17 year old. He's getting sucked into the "rim runner" only projection when in reality he probably compares favorably to past power forward prospects like Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. Jalen Duren weighing 250lbs of chisled muscle at only 18 years of age is rare enough to possibly be some kind of record.

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

ayton was so much more advanced offensive, but wasn't a defender. honestly an 18 year old dwight is the best comp - no need to overthink it. both very athletic, chiseled, 6'11 rim protectors.

I'm not struggling for a comp. I can clearly see his skills. There are decades worth of 6'10" ish prospects to draw comparisons. You have to judge the prospect by what they actually can do, not by what they most likely will be asked/allowed to do. So many people remark about how skilled Bam Adebayo is as an NBA player in comparison to what they seen from him at Kentucky, but are capable of recognizing that very same Kentucky head coach similarly restricted the games of Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns. Bam is usually separated from those two and not widely acknowledged as being restricted by his college head coach, most likely because people want to justify being wrong about limiting his NBA potential and draft value.

[JRoy]

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

ayton was so much more advanced offensive, but wasn't a defender. honestly an 18 year old dwight is the best comp - no need to overthink it. both very athletic, chiseled, 6'11 rim protectors.

I'm not struggling for a comp. I can clearly see his skills. There are decades worth of 6'10" ish prospects to draw comparisons. You have to judge the prospect by what they actually can do, not by what they most likely will be asked/allowed to do. So many people remark about how skilled Bam Adebayo is as an NBA player in comparison to what they seen from him at Kentucky, but are capable of recognizing that very same Kentucky head coach similarly restricted the games of Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns. Bam is usually separated from those two and not widely acknowledged as being restricted by his college head coach, most likely because people want to justify being wrong about limiting his NBA potential and draft value.

I was wrong about Adebayo, based on what I saw in ncaa

[BlazersBroncos]

I dont think skill wise AD or KAT have surprised much. Bam on the other hand has has developed things that really were not expected IMO.

[SelfishPlayer]

I dont think skill wise AD or KAT have surprised much. Bam on the other hand has has developed things that really were not expected IMO.

Bam has certainly developed. But he never was as unskilled as what most people thought as a prospect. Most people tend to measure his NBA development from the wrong perception they had of his skill level as a prospect rather than judging his skill level development from the actual skills he had BEFORE Kentucky. Towns and Davis could shoot before Kentucky. Jamal Murray looked like a catch and shoot sniper while at Kentucky while sometimes playing a floor general style PG in international basketball. It's like people observe prospects with blinders on while trying to project them to fit inside of a box.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

ayton was so much more advanced offensive, but wasn't a defender. honestly an 18 year old dwight is the best comp - no need to overthink it. both very athletic, chiseled, 6'11 rim protectors.

I'm not struggling for a comp. I can clearly see his skills. There are decades worth of 6'10" ish prospects to draw comparisons. You have to judge the prospect by what they actually can do, not by what they most likely will be asked/allowed to do. So many people remark about how skilled Bam Adebayo is as an NBA player in comparison to what they seen from him at Kentucky, but are capable of recognizing that very same Kentucky head coach similarly restricted the games of Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns. Bam is usually separated from those two and not widely acknowledged as being restricted by his college head coach, most likely because people want to justify being wrong about limiting his NBA potential and draft value.

not sure i understand your point exactly here, but i do think bam is a pretty solid comp as well. sometimes it's hard to tell when a college coach is restricting a guy's potential and when the guy legitimately has limitations. i do think the college game (i have no idea how much if any blame hardaway deserves) in itself restricted what duren can do and show off. i can see him developing some similar skills to what we've seen from Bam.

[Hal14]

Jalen Duren actually played some college basketball games as a 17 year old. He's getting sucked into the "rim runner" only projection when in reality he probably compares favorably to past power forward prospects like Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal. Jalen Duren weighing 250lbs of chisled muscle at only 18 years of age is rare enough to possibly be some kind of record.

Those are odd comps because Wallace and O'Neal were twigs coming into the NBA.

Duren might develop a shot, but right now he is a guy you project as a great rim protector with quick enough feet to be decent in switches (Or, for his size, great on switches) and ideally a guy that can set monster screens and roll with ease due to his mass and quickness for his size.

I think the best comp is staring us in the face, Ayton.

ayton was so much more advanced offensive, but wasn't a defender. honestly an 18 year old dwight is the best comp - no need to overthink it. both very athletic, chiseled, 6'11 rim protectors.

Question is...

a) how valuable would a prime dwight howard be in today's NBA? he was a superstar in his era but in this era you're not a superstar unless you can shoot from 3 or you're a 7'1" dude who's by far the greatest defensive player of the past 10 years (Gobert)

b) if your comp is dwight howard, is that perhaps an unfair/unrealistic comp given the fact that dwight is a future hall of famer and 3x DPOY? Probably not realistic to project Duren as a 3x DPOY

Let's not get too carried away just because he's big, strong, athletic and can dunk and block shots. If that's all you're looking for, wait till the 2nd round and grab Hukporti, Koloko or even Jackson-Davis. Or take kamagate in the 25-35 range.

[SelfishPlayer]

Look at Jalen Duran learn a new move before the college season (at 10:04 minute mark)(Olajuwon, Rondo, Embiid move), question why he would utilize it, then watch him use the move (at the 1:52 minute mark of the tweet) against Chet Holmgren.

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Interesting that he didn't question his trainer up until that point. He was only 17 years old in the video so he probably never imagined training to score on a taller player, so the move probably seemed superfluous until college...