Official 2022 NBA Draft thread

[ZeusWillJudge]

1)if the player is putting up big numbers but only showed up big in March, I’d be concerned that it was just a hot streak. See Johnny Juzang.

That isn't what you meant to say, is it? Juzang was pretty steady all season, but his numbers in the Tourney were really sub-standard. Sort of the opposite of what you said there.

I still like him as a late 1st or early 2nd pick, depending on how the earlier picks have gone. But he's not someone I would really be evaluating as a potential starter. I think he'll be getting rotation minutes in the NBA, and if he goes to some teams I think that could happen his rookie season. But he sure wasn't on a streak in March.

[Dejounte]

That isn't what you meant to say, is it? Juzang was pretty steady all season, but his numbers in the Tourney were really sub-standard. Sort of the opposite of what you said there.

I still like him as a late 1st or early 2nd pick, depending on how the earlier picks have gone. But he's not someone I would really be evaluating as a potential starter. I think he'll be getting rotation minutes in the NBA, and if he goes to some teams I think that could happen his rookie season. But he sure wasn't on a streak in March.

Maybe it was the wrong example

[Dejounte]

Opening up to the idea of Sochon more

Apparently he’s half Polish. Maybe the Spurs like that and the fact that he’s “woke”

But on the serious side,

If the Spurs are buying more and more into their developmental program, given the huge success of DJ and probably Keldon soon, then they will continue to draft young players they think they can mold into great ones

I don’t think this would apply to just any young player. For example, i think Griffin’s template isn’t great given his poor handles

The young prospect has to have a good enough starting point skills-wise. The Spurs can’t turn water into wine. They’re not miracle workers. People like to point to Kawhi as an example a lot. Kawhi was a ing skilled player in college and actually was handling the ball and taking it to the rack a lot. It’s nowhere close to these prospects that people fawn over like Griffin.

[Dejounte]

“Of course, it’s always a challenge physically,” Sochan said. “But it’s not always about physicality. Sometimes you have to use your brain and IQ to maneuver and things. I think positioning and trying to outsmart the opponent is important.”

If Sochan looks and sounds more mature than his 19 years, it’s because he’s lived and played basketball in four different countries.

He was born in Oklahoma, raised in England, and has played basketball in Germany and Poland. He speaks with a British accent, and has brought some of his English traditions to the Bears.


“On the plane, Dale Bonner sits with me, and I’ve influenced him to drink tea,” Sochan said. “I like to bring English chocolate too.”

Sochan’s love for the game comes naturally since his Polish-born mother, Aneta, and his American father, the late Ryan Williams, played basketball at Panhandle State in Goodwell, Okla.

“I always had a basketball around me since I was born since both of my parents did it,” Sochan said. “My mom coached me, and she said the biggest advice she could give me was to control only what I can control, be aggressive and use your skills.”

[D-Robinson 50 fan]

Opening up to the idea of Sochon more

Apparently he’s half Polish. Maybe the Spurs like that and the fact that he’s “woke”

But on the serious side,

If the Spurs are buying more and more into their developmental program, given the huge success of DJ and probably Keldon soon, then they will continue to draft young players they think they can mold into great ones

I don’t think this would apply to just any young player. For example, i think Griffin’s template isn’t great given his poor handles

The young prospect has to have a good enough starting point skills-wise. The Spurs can’t turn water into wine. They’re not miracle workers. People like to point to Kawhi as an example a lot. Kawhi was a ing skilled player in college and actually was handling the ball and taking it to the rack a lot. It’s nowhere close to these prospects that people fawn over like Griffin.

i am a big fan of him and Eason if we pick 9 or 10. Sochan reminds me a bit of Boris Diaw when he was with our SPURS. dude can handle the ball a little bit, pass, defend, and seems to know how to play the game. He has some warts but he is so young with a good basketball IQ.

I think (especially if he is a legit 6’9” with a plus wing span)he could fit in nicely on our team. He definitely has to work on his shooting but he isn’t afraid to shoot which is nice also.

[duncan2150]

Opening up to the idea of Sochon more

Apparently he’s half Polish. Maybe the Spurs like that and the fact that he’s “woke”

But on the serious side,

If the Spurs are buying more and more into their developmental program, given the huge success of DJ and probably Keldon soon, then they will continue to draft young players they think they can mold into great ones

I don’t think this would apply to just any young player. For example, i think Griffin’s template isn’t great given his poor handles

The young prospect has to have a good enough starting point skills-wise. The Spurs can’t turn water into wine. They’re not miracle workers. People like to point to Kawhi as an example a lot. Kawhi was a ing skilled player in college and actually was handling the ball and taking it to the rack a lot. It’s nowhere close to these prospects that people fawn over like Griffin.

I'm a fan of Sochan after watching him more closely during last months.

Can defend all positions, can develop into a complete offensive player tough he needs to work on his shoot ( FT% are low), like his mentality : he's a dog. I think he has a big upside. With a pick around the 10th he is one of my targets.

Really good size 6'9 230 lbs 7'0 wingspan, still 18 yrs old, will be fresh 19 on draft day.


Sochan D ( Not perfect but you can see the switchability)

[JPB]

It amazes me that these kids who grow up wanting to be in the NBA yet they can’t even hit a 3 ball and have terrible handles.

That's where you still see the difference with Europe (specially eastern Europe) where even most bigs can handle and pass the ball pretty well, which you have to with the way ball is played over there. Evey kid works early on their handle and dreams to be a PG, not just dunk the ball or force you way to the rim... Morphotypes differences may have something to do with it too.

Reason why college BB can be trash is that those kids want to replicate NBA play and try to play like the big dogs without having the abilities to do it, not as a team anyway where you may have one two guys who will actually make the NBA. They don't have yet the reactivity, instincts and BBIQ that gives you that tenth of a second or so that will make the difference in elite...

[exstatic]

It amazes me that these kids who grow up wanting to be in the NBA yet they can’t even hit a 3 ball and have terrible handles.

It’s not possible for everyone to be an NBA player, no matter how hard they work. All you have to do is lack one or two of hand eye coordination, speed, length, strength, or vertical.

[rascal]

Too bad the Spurs won too many games to have a realistic chance to get Ivey. Ivey will be a superstar in the league. The Spurs need a star talent on the roster.

[The Truth #6]

I'm intrigued by Sochan for sure, though he could easily be a riser and already gone, but definitely has Spur written all over him. He has Rodman's Demolition Man haircut, also spent time in Oklahoma, has some aggressiveness but none of the outlandish craziness that I can see, and his game, we hope, would be like Bobo, which would be incredible it that panned out. And he's a position of need. Would be tough to play him alongside Yak with such poor shooting, but I'm ok moving Yak if it helps the team overall.

[MultiTroll]

Do you remember what the clock read when that injury happened? I don't think the coach can ask for that timeout, except in the last 2:00. And the refs aren't supposed to call it except to protect the player. They'll go ahead and call it, but they won't break the momentum unless the player is in danger of being trampled. He was on the opposite end of the court, so not in danger of being hurt further. I thought Kansas was dumb for not pressing that 5-on-4 advantage they had for a few seconds.

44 seconds left when NC Center #5 Armondo Bacot seriously rolled his ankle. Correct you are the coach could not call a time out. KU, rather then taking advantage of the literal 4 on 5 had their #10 Jalen Wilson literally held the ball and waited for Bacot to limp up court. The humanity of Wilson waiting for Bacot to come up court is commendable. But FFS this is a compe ion game, Championship at that. Remy Martin the high IQ point for KU looked at Wilson and threw his arms out saying in effect saying Would You Move The F-cking Ball!!! KUs other two players stood on the total opposite side of the arc and clamored for the entire cross court pass (not feasable) instead of collapsing to the rim to take advantage of the 4 on 5. Soo much idiocy in this game.

Separately at 45-39 with 14:40 to go, Love seriously tweaked the ankle and was soo obviously limping around to the tune of it was 4 on 5. NC had the ball. Hubert Davis refused to pull him out even after he limped over to the NC bench. NC misses, KU fast breaks the other way. 45-41. Certainly not the play of the game as this one had plenty. However huge momentum play as it was the continuation of a Kansas run. Love was more or less standing around on O and D for the next several possessions. Love did have a driving layup that greased around the rim and fluked in to make it 48-45 NC. However in the next transition KU simply posted up Wonder Bread on Love for the easy spin around short layup. Davis didn't even take Love out after a timeout nor the rest of the game.
Even with Loves ankle sprain, the Selfoviches failed to take advantage and managed to lose their 5 point lead at one point 69-68 with 1:40 to go.

Oh well, Self will get glorified by the clueless and sniffing media and it goes in the books as a KU win. Super entertaining game nonetheless and many good plays.
I love the little point guard for KU Remy Martin. His 3 treys were huge.

[Drom John]

Piecing from a Reddit thread about the paywall Pelton stats from top 30 ESPN consensus NCAA/G-League players. Missing Pelton number rankings should be foreigners and NCAA players with much better numbers than the scout loved players.

1) Chet Holmgren
2) Walker Kessler
3) AJ Griffin
4) Keegan Murray
5) Tari Eason
6) Zach Edey
7) Dyson Daniels
8) Jabari Smith
9) Jeremy Sochan
10) Benedict Mathurin
11) Jalen Duren
12) Patrick Baldwin Jr.
13) Jacob Gilyard
14) Hyungjung Lee
15) Kennedy Chandler
16) Christian Braun
17) Jabari Walker
18) Trevor Keels
19) Marcus Bagley
21) Keon Ellis
26) Blake Wesley
39) Jaden Ivey
41) Kendall Brown
50) TyTy Washington Jr.
51) Paolo Banchero
53) Mark Williams
54) Malaki Branham
61) EJ Liddell
70) Ochai Agbaji
71) Johnny Davis

[exstatic]

Piecing from a Reddit thread about the paywall Pelton stats from top 30 ESPN consensus NCAA/G-League players. Missing Pelton number rankings should be foreigners and NCAA players with much better numbers than the scout loved players.

1) Chet Holmgren
2) Walker Kessler
3) AJ Griffin
4) Keegan Murray
5) Tari Eason
6) Zach Edey
7) Dyson Daniels
8) Jabari Smith
9) Jeremy Sochan
10) Benedict Mathurin
11) Jalen Duren
12) Patrick Baldwin Jr.
13) Jacob Gilyard
14) Hyungjung Lee
15) Kennedy Chandler
16) Christian Braun
17) Jabari Walker
18) Trevor Keels
19) Marcus Bagley
21) Keon Ellis
26) Blake Wesley
39) Jaden Ivey
41) Kendall Brown
50) TyTy Washington Jr.
51) Paolo Banchero
53) Mark Williams
54) Malaki Branham
61) EJ Liddell
70) Ochai Agbaji
71) Johnny Davis

You can’t go just by college performance. That’s a lower level of compe ion. NBA GMs have to try to project what they WILL BE. Not an easy task.

[Mr. Body]

I'm prett high on Sochan. He's pretty much what you want in a modern switchable defense. He's extremely active, energetic and relentless. He's basically the model for this, like an anti-Samanic. He even has some distribution skills. I may be going too far to compare him to Scottie Barnes -- less of a facilitator, a better defender, just as bad a shooter in college -- but there are slight similarities. He projects more as a role-player, of course, but character-wise seems to be good, the franchise and Pop love them some worldly guys. And he fills a massive need.

[emanueldavidginobili]

[Big Empty]

Piecing from a Reddit thread about the paywall Pelton stats from top 30 ESPN consensus NCAA/G-League players. Missing Pelton number rankings should be foreigners and NCAA players with much better numbers than the scout loved players.

1) Chet Holmgren
2) Walker Kessler
3) AJ Griffin
4) Keegan Murray
5) Tari Eason
6) Zach Edey
7) Dyson Daniels
8) Jabari Smith
9) Jeremy Sochan
10) Benedict Mathurin
11) Jalen Duren
12) Patrick Baldwin Jr.
13) Jacob Gilyard
14) Hyungjung Lee
15) Kennedy Chandler
16) Christian Braun
17) Jabari Walker
18) Trevor Keels
19) Marcus Bagley
21) Keon Ellis
26) Blake Wesley
39) Jaden Ivey
41) Kendall Brown
50) TyTy Washington Jr.
51) Paolo Banchero
53) Mark Williams
54) Malaki Branham
61) EJ Liddell
70) Ochai Agbaji
71) Johnny Davis

Mathurin looks like he has star potential

[BatManu20]

Lol at thinking Keegan Murray will still be available at 9. And I’m pretty confident Johnny Davis won’t be a Spur.

[duncan2150]

Lol at thinking Keegan Murray will still be available at 9. And I’m pretty confident Johnny Davis won’t be a Spur.

Why not ? Murray max pick range is 5, with the workouts ... he could totally be a pick 8 or 9. Agreed about Davis.

[Degoat]

I like Keegan Murray a lot, I was listening to the Ringer podcast and they compared him to Marcus Morris. While I like his game and would be thrilled if we could grabbed him I don’t want to use a lottery pick who ends like a player like Marcus Morris without the at ude lol

[exstatic]

Lol at thinking Keegan Murray will still be available at 9. And I’m pretty confident Johnny Davis won’t be a Spur.

Your biggest problem with that list is Keegan Murray available at 9 and not AJ Griffin still on the board at 8?

[Mr. Body]

I like Keegan Murray a lot, I was listening to the Ringer podcast and they compared him to Marcus Morris. While I like his game and would be thrilled if we could grabbed him I don’t want to use a lottery pick who ends like a player like Marcus Morris without the at ude lol

Hmm... he seems less beefy and much more fluid than Marcus Morris. Also not a nutcase of course.

[BatManu20]

Your biggest problem with that list is Keegan Murray available at 9 and not AJ Griffin still on the board at 8?

I didn’t say that but sure. Murray, who was the best & most versatile player in CBB this season, will not be available at 9. Don’t care that he’s 21. Griffin is currently trending downward. Pre-draft workouts & projection can change that, of course, since he’s only 19 this year. And I actually think he’ll make a good if not great role player at the next level. But it’d take some pretty poor GM’ing to take Griffin over Murray imo. He’s the much better player, despite his age advantage.

[exstatic]

I didn’t say that but sure. Murray, who was the best & most versatile player in CBB this season, will not be available at 9. Don’t care that he’s 21. Griffin is currently trending downward. Pre-draft workouts & projection can change that, of course, since he’s only 19 this year. And I actually think he’ll make a good if not great role player at the next level. But it’d take some pretty poor GM’ing to take Griffin over Murray imo. He’s the much better player, despite his age advantage.

The problem with Murray is that he’s been playing against younger and less physically mature kids all year. He’s a sop re, but he’ll be almost 22 on draft night. He’s older than Devin Vassell, by a smidge.

He may not have much of a development curve left. What you see in year 2 may be what you get.

[R. DeMurre]

I couldn't help noticing that after one prominent mock draft (https://nbadraftroom.com/) used Manu as a comp for Johnny Davis, the Davis-to-San-Antonio predictions started to multiply like crazy.

https://nbadraftroom.com/p/2022-nba-mock-draft/

[The Truth #6]

I don't know much about Davis but in general reports mention him as a scorer who isn't very athletic and doesn't shoot well, and he thrives in the mid range. Seems like someone who is going to drop and for us to avoid. But I haven't seen him much, and maybe he's really good in ways that elude all the simplified draft reports.