It’s that time of year again!
The NBA wastes little time transitioning from the end of one season to the start of the next, and that process begins with their annual draft.
This year, the Big Apple is hosting the big affair, and 58 prospects have never had a bigger night in their young lives.
Let’s look at the 2022 NBA draft numbers.
2022 NBA Draft Preview: What prospects are faltering?
Mark Titus and Tate Frazier discuss whose stocks will rise and whose stocks will fall en route to the 2022 NBA Draft.
When: Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn will be home to the NBA draft for the ninth straight year (except for the 2020 draft, which was virtual). It will air on ABC and ESPN.
58: There are only 58 picks in this year’s draft instead of the usual 60. Milwaukee and Miami both lost second-round picks to free-hand manipulation.
4: There are two teams with a whopping four picks in the draft: San Antonio (Nos. 9, 20, 25, 38) and Minnesota (Nos. 19, 40, 48, 50). Nine teams have three selections while six have two selections. Eight franchises have a choice.
0: Unless active in the trade market, four teams will be idly watching the draft with no actual tips to their name. They are Brooklyn, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix and Utah.
6: John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats are known to be frequent draft picks each year. Two different Wildcats teams hold the record for most draft picks by a single school in a draft, with six selections each in 2012 and 2015. They tied with the 1977 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in this category.
In fact, another Calipari-led squad holds the record for most first-round picks in a single draft. At the 2010 ‘Cats, five players went in the first round.
4: Kentucky isn’t the only school with a rich drafting history. Duke claims most No. 1 picks in draft history (Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving, Elton Brand, Art Heyman). Unsurprisingly, however, Kentucky is a close second with three. UNC and Kentucky share the record for most lottery picks in a draft (four) since the lottery expanded to 14 teams in 2004.
Five Blue Devils (Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin, Trevor Keels, Wendell Moore Jr. and Mark Williams) have a chance of being drafted this year, while the school has entered at least two players in the lottery in four of the past seven years.
43: Kentucky leads all college programs with a staggering 43 first-round picks. Duke is just behind at 40.
2004: The last time the Orlando Magic took first place overall, they landed Dwight Howard, a future Hall of Famer. They want to capture a similar magic this year.
12: For the past 12 years, a college freshman has been drafted first. The last non-rookie to be selected first overall was Blake Griffin in 2009.
5: If Auburn’s Jabari Smith hears his name in spots 1-5, he will become the school’s fifth top 5 pick in school history, joining Charles Barkley (1984), Chuck Person (1986), Chris Morris (1988) and Isaac Okoro (2020).
Chet Holmgren has a chance to become Gonzaga’s top draft pick since Adam Morrison finished third overall in 2006, while Purdue’s Jaden Ivey will likely be the first Boilermaker to be included in the lottery since Glenn Robinson drafted first overall in 1994 became.
5: The college route isn’t the only one that can take a player to the big show. Five NBA G League Ignite players – MarJon Beauchamp, Dyson Daniels, Michael Foster Jr., Jaden Hardy and Fanbo Zeng – have a chance to be drafted.
There is also a bevy of international prospects including Hugo Besson (France), Dyson Daniels (Australia), Ousmane Dieng (France), Khalifa Diop (Senegal), Nikola Jović (Serbia), Ismael Kamagate (France) and Jean Montero (Dominican) . Republic).
11: At least 11 prospects have family ties in the NBA or WNBA, including:
— Jaden Ivey of Purdue (mother Niele played five seasons in the WNBA, was an assistant coach with the Grizzlies and now coaches the Notre Dame women’s team)
– Duke’s AJ Griffin (dad Adrian is an assistant at Toronto, played nine NBA seasons)
– Duke’s Mark Williams (sister Elizabeth was a 2017 WNBA All-Star)
— Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers (father played 15 seasons in the NBA and won five titles)
— Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. (father won six titles with Chicago, member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team)
— St. John’s Julian Champagnie (identical twin brother Justin plays for Toronto)
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