2022 NBA Draft to Be Held on June 23; Dates for Lottery, Scouting Combine Announced

The NBA announced the 2022 NBA draft will be held June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The league will hold the draft lottery May 17, with the scouting combine taking place from May 16 to May 22 in Chicago.

Brooklyn has hosted all but one draft since 2013. The lone exception came in 2020, when the draft was held via conference call amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren, Duke's Paolo Banchero and Auburn's Jalen Smith are widely regarded as the best three players in this class. Holmgren has been the favorite to go No. 1 overall since early in his high school career but has seen Smith close the gap over the course of the 2021-22 college basketball season.

Purdue's Jaden Ivey is considered the fourth player with All-Star potential in this class and could work his way into the No. 1 conversation with a strong run in the NCAA tournament. 

It's unlikely that any of that foursome is a participant in on-court drills at the scouting combine, which has increasingly become a place for players outside the top 10 to improve their draft stocks.

The Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder currently have the NBA's four worst records and would have an equal 14 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft if the season ended today.