First-round mock in alphabetical ordered tiers (first choices with our pick) Holmgren Smith (guys I'd take after ^ those 2 are gone) Banchero Griffin Ivey Mathurin Murray Sharpe (guys I'd excited for with our #17) Branham Brown Daniels Duren Eason Liddell Sochan M.Williams Wessler (Guys I'd be okay with at #17) Abagji Davis Moore Jovic Washington Wesley Keels (I'd buy a second for) Baldwin Braun Davison Dieng Roddy J.Williams
I see Keegan Murray moving up a lot of boards. Watching him and he reminds me a lot of one Jabari Smith. Is there that much of a difference in the two? Looking at the other 3 prospects, Jabari highlights are 10 minutes of him hitting 3s or mid range jump shots. Same with Murray except Murray has a bit more polished game down low. What makes Jabari such a superior prospect? This isn't to say I'd draft Murray in the Top 5 but more why would I take Smith over say Ivey or Sharpe?
While Murray has developed into a legit shooter, Jabari is that much better. Slightly higher volume, higher degree of difficulty, and he's still shooting a better percentage. Murray is more well rounded right now, but the draft is about potential, and there's a significant gap in perceived potential. People think Murray is pretty close to his ceiling, while Jabari has more room to develop and is a better mover. I personally think Murray is a bit underrated in that regard, but I do agree Jabari has special skill and movement for a 6'10 guy. I think the hype as a potential #1 prospect might portray Jabari as some out-of-the box star, when in reality there are definite areas of improvement and noticeable holes in his game (handles, paint finishing, playmaking). That being said he's still a freshman, agile and athletic at 6'10, an elite jumpshooter and difficult shot maker, flashes strong all around defense, and is by all accounts a smart dude with good work ethic. That makes him one of the safest picks in the draft while having one of the highest ceilings.
Jabari Smith's healthy worst case scenario is basically Ryan Anderson with great defense, which would be an amazing player.
Bumping enormous, boney, guys isn’t easy. Don’t care who you are, Chet would suck to play against. Running around his boney elbow screens would suck too. Plus, he is tough and smart. Don’t think he’ll have a problem with the pick and roll/pop.
For one thing Murray is 21 and Jabari is 18. Secondly Jabari is 6'10 and Murray is 6'8. We dont know if Murray's high scoring sbility will translate to the NBA 6'8 for s PF is damn small so he'll have to play sf almost exclusively. Jabari is a lot better prospect than Murray it would take another top 10 pick in addition to Murray just for me to think about trading down and even then I prob wont do it.
And Keegan is more comparable offensively to Banchero, both are 3 level scorers. Keegan is just better 3ball shooter and overall scorer than Banchero this past season. But he is not nearly as good 3P sniper as Jabari. Jabari not just younger but also longer than Keegan as well. Jabari's ability to make shots when opposing defenders are flying at him is really underrated and/or unappreciated on CF.
UPDATED 1. Holmgren 2. Smith 3. Sharpe 4. Banchero 5. Ivey 6. Murray 7. Daniels 8. Griffin 9. Mathurin 10. Dieng 11. Sochan 12. Davis 13. Eason 14. Duren 15. Washington 16. Williams 17. Hardy 18. Agbaji 19. Brown 20.Jovic 21. Branham 22. Wesley 23. Kessler 24. Keels 25. Montero 26. Beauchamp 27. Liddel 28. Chandler 29. Davison 30. Moore As the draft gets closer, the 1st and 2nd tier talent is increasing. The reports on Sharpe are very strong and players like Mathurin, Dieng, Daniels and Sochan have moved up as a group as possible long term starters on good teams. The measurables in this draft are going to be strong.
As of 4/18, draft prospects status entering the draft - Who has declared for the 2022 NBA Draft? | RSN (nbcsports.com) Prospects who have declared for the draft are bolded: Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn: potential No. 1 overall pick Chet Holmgren, C, Gonzaga: not yet declared Paolo Banchero, F, Duke: not yet declared Jaden Ivey, G, Purdue: potential top-five pick Keegan Murray, F, Iowa: potential top-five pick AJ Griffin, G/F, Duke: Not yet declared Shaedon Sharpe, G, Kentucky: not yet declared Bennedict Mathurin, G/F, Arizona: projected top-10 pick Jalen Duren, C, Memphis: projected top-10 pick Jeremy Sochan, F, Baylor: projected top-10 pick Dyson Daniels, G/F, G League Ignite: potential top-10 pick Johnny Davis, G, Wisconsin: projected lottery pick Ochai Agbaji, G/F, Kansas: not yet declared Tari Eason, F, LSU: potential lottery pick TyTy Washington Jr., G, Kentucky: potential lottery pick Mark Williams, C, Duke: potential lottery pick Malaki Branham, G/F, Ohio State: not yet declared MarJon Beauchamp, F, G League Ignite: not yet declared Kennedy Chandler, G, Tennessee: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Jaden Hardy, G, G League Ignite: not yet declared Bryce McGowens, F, Nebraska: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Kendall Brown, F, Baylor: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Ousmane Dieng, F, New Zealand Breaker: potential late lottery pick E.J. Liddell, F, Ohio State: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Nikola Jovic, F, Mega Basket: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Blake Wesley, G, Notre Dame: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Christian Braun, F, Kansas: not yet declared Walker Kessler, C, Auburn: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Wendell Moore Jr., G/F, Duke: not yet declared Patrick Baldwin Jr., F, Milwaukee: not yet declared Christian Koloko, C, Arizona: projected mid-to-late first-round pick Jean Montero, G, Overtime Elite: not yet declared Trevor Keels, G/F, Duke: not yet declared Jaylin Williams, F, Arkansas: projected late first-round or early second-round pick JD Davison, G, Alabama: projected late first-round or early second-round pick Harrison Ingram, F, Stanford: projected late first-round or early second-round pick David Roddy, G/F, Colorado State: projected late first-round or early second-round pick Caleb Houstan, F, Michigan: Not yet declared Justin Lewis, F, Marquette: projected second-round pick Keon Ellis, G/F, Alabama: projected second-round pick Jabari Walker, F, Colorado: projected second-round pick Julian Strawther, F, Gonzaga: projected second-round pick Julian Champagnie, F, St. John’s: projected second-round pick Gabe Brown, F, Michigan State: projected second-round pick Josh Minott, F, Memphis: projected second-round pick Ron Harper Jr., G/F, Rutgers: projected second-round pick Jordan Hall, G/F, St. Joseph’s: projected second-round pick Caleb Love, G, UNC: not yet declared Jake LaRavia, F, Wake Forest: potential late second-round pick Drew Timme, F, Gonzaga: potential late second-round pick Isaiah Mobley, F/C, USC: potential late second-round pick Izaiah Brockington, G, Iowa State: potential late second-round pick Marcus Bingham Jr., C, Michigan State: potential late second-round pick Peter Kiss, G/F, Bryant: potential late second-round pick
Shams Charania @ShamsCharania · 15m Kentucky freshman Shaedon Sharpe will declare for the 2022 NBA Draft, and stay in, team sources tell me and @KyleTucker_ATH . NBA teams project Sharpe as a potential high draft lottery pick.
So glad Sharpe has declared. Now there are five guys I feel really good about. I'd put them: 1. Banchero 2. Smith 3. Sharpe 4. Holmgren 5. Ivey All great prospects though.
Yep. It's not a bad floor at all. Banchero is the one I feel the most sure about being a "star" level player (as in, likely multi-time all-star), but is also the trickiest fit with Green in simultaneously building a high level defense. Information level is of course low with Sharpe, and he probably has the lowest short term impact, but having multiple gamebreaker athletes who can shoot creates a lot of pressure.
Interesting to see Ivey move from 2 to 5 in just a short time in your rankings. Sharpe jumping to 3 is also another one that keens my interest. To a lesser extent Eason has dropped as well. I'm imagining your getting some solid feedback from scouts and yourself getting more familiar with the intricasies of the prospects. I appreciate this insight.
At the top there isn’t much separating them so fit and upside have to be weighed. I love Ivey but Sharpe is younger and has an even higher ceiling. Sharpe is a more developed passer and has the better body and has a level of creativity in one on one situations that very few players have. Ivey is quicker and better to the corner. The early reports on Sharpe from an ability stand point are even higher than I expected and I was expecting him to be impressive. From what I have heard he physically and skill wise has what is needed to be a top 5-10 player in the league. The question is his drive and work ethic and no one seems to have a solid idea on that yet. I have heard he can be soft or slow in workouts, but based on shoot arounds? Let’s wait and see when the private workouts happen. Every guy in this draft has genuine question marks, but there is also a lot of high end potential as well. I had a couple of people tell me that Eason is a lot like Wilson Chandler. He can do something’s but not elite at anything. So I thought about it and decided there were a few guys that had higher likely ceilings.
I have heard recently from several people around the game that a number of teams feel they have enough tape and information to competently and confidently evaluate him and possibly spend a top pick on him. Some discussion that his handlers may try to steer him to or away from particular teams.