Since my last mock draft, the NBA trade deadline has passed, so we have a decent amount of movement with the order of both rounds for the upcoming draft.
The Spurs landed two additional first-round picks by trading away Derrick White and Thaddeus Young. The Trail Blazers may have landed a lottery pick from the Pelicans by sending out CJ McCollum. The Nets also moved into the first round as part of the James Harden-Ben Simmons deal.
Amidst the chaos, however, we have seen a decent amount of movement from draft prospects as well. Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren has leveled up his play of late, taking over for Auburn’s Jabari Smith as the projected No. 1 overall pick in these predictions.
Note that there are 58 selections, not 60, because the Bucks and Heat had to surrender picks due to tampering violations.
My decision to exclude some notable freshmen (e.g. Michigan State’s Max Christie, Michigan’s Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate, UCLA, Peyton Watson, Kentucky’s Daimion Collins, LSU’s Alex Fudge, Memphis’ Josh Minott, Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland and John Butler, etc.) does not mean I expect them to go undrafted.
However, based on how past drafts have played out, there are typically around sixteen one-and-done prospects in each class. Some of those one-and-done spots are now going to players in the G League Ignite or Overtime Elite systems. I try to keep that in mind when assembling my projections.
Underclassmen not included could very well have similar fates to projected lottery picks like Jaden Ivey, Johnny Davis, or Bennedict Mathurin. All were able to drastically improve their draft stock, thus also earning more long-term money with a higher draft placement.
It is impossible to know who will actually remain in the draft pool, though this is the best guess I can provide at this point in the season.
The draft order is pulled from Tankathon and accurate as of Feb. 16, 2022. All stats are from Sports-Reference or Bart-Torvin unless noted otherwise.
