NBA Draft 2022: Updated Selection Order After Tiebreaker Drawings
April 18, 2022
As the NBA draft lottery is less than a month away on May 17, the league finalized the bottom half of the order.
According to NBA.com's Mark Medina, a draw was held Monday to break four ties in the draft order:
Mark Medina @MarkG_MedinaThe NBA announced that drawings were done to determine four tiebreakers for draft order purposes<br>1. Bulls (46-36) over T-Wolves<br>2. Raptors (48-34) over Nuggets<br>3. Sixers (51-31) over Celtics & Bucks<br>4. Heat (53-29) over Warriors <a href="https://t.co/KYKvg7azLY">pic.twitter.com/KYKvg7azLY</a>
While the winners of Monday's drawings will obviously pick ahead of the teams that shared the same regular-season record, it's balanced out by those orders flipping in the second round. For instance, the Chicago Bulls' second-rounder, which was traded to the Sacramento Kings, will be 49th, one spot behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Brooklyn Nets face an interesting decision after the Philadelphia 76ers won a three-way tiebreaker over the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics (whose pick was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in the deal for Derrick White) to be slated at No. 23.
The Nets acquired the pick in the Ben Simmons trade that sent James Harden to Philadelphia, but they have the option of deferring the pick in order to receive the Sixers' unprotected first-rounder in 2023. Marks noted that Brooklyn has until June 1 to make its decision regarding the pick.
It would be a risk for the Nets to defer the pick, considering Philadelphia is expected to have a full year of Harden and be even better next season. But nothing is guaranteed in the NBA, and Brooklyn might be willing to gamble on the potential of earning a pick next year higher than No. 23 this year.
