NBA Draft Results 2022: Team-by-Team List of Grades and Picks
The Houston Rockets were always going to come away from the 2022 NBA draft with one of the top three prospects.
With the way things fell on Thursday night, the Rockets may end up with the best player in the talent pool without having to make a significant move.
Houston ended up with Auburn forward Jabari Smith, who was widely rumored to be the top pick, after the Orlando Magic delivered a surprise by taking Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick.
Smith was viewed as potentially unavailable to the Rockets as late as Thursday afternoon, but now they have a terrific complement to Jalen Green and can build the franchise around their last two first-round picks.
The Detroit Pistons were the other beneficiary of a top-five selection made in front of them. They had Purdue guard Jaden Ivey fall to them at No. 5 following the Sacramento Kings' pick of Keegan Murray.
The Ivey selection was just the start of an impressive night for the Pistons, as they worked a deal for Memphis center Jalen Duren, who was originally selected by the Charlotte Hornets.
None of the teams in the top five were as active as the San Antonio Spurs, who came away with three players to add to their young core. San Antonio selected Baylor's Jeremy Sochan, Ohio State's Malaki Branham and Notre Dame's Blake Wesley to rework its backcourt.
2022 NBA Draft Picks and Team Grades
1 of 4Atlanta: C
Brooklyn: N/A
Boston: C
Charlotte: B-
Chicago: B
Cleveland: B
Dallas: C
Denver: B
Detroit: A
Golden State: C
Houston: A
Indiana: A-
LA Clippers: C
LA Lakers: C
Memphis: B
Miami: C+
Minnesota: B-
New Orleans: B-
New York: C
Oklahoma City: A-
Orlando: B
Philadelphia: N/A
Phoenix: N/A
Portland: B
San Antonio: B+
Sacramento: B-
Toronto: B+
Utah: N/A
Washington: B
Houston Rockets: A
2 of 4
The majority of NBA mock drafts over the last month had Jabari Smith pinpointed as the No. 1 overall pick.
Smith landed with the Houston Rockets at No. 3 after Paolo Banchero landed first with the Orlando Magic to the surprise of some.
Houston should welcome the late change in the top three order because Smith could end up as the best player in the draft class.
Smith comes made ready for the NBA game on both ends of the floor, and he is a more complete three-point shooter at this point in his career compared to Banchero.
Smith hit the most three-point field goals of any college basketball player listed at 6'10" or above in the last 25 years, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The Auburn product will play inside in some capacity on offense, but the added ability to move beyond the arc and knock down shots will help him ease into the NBA.
An argument can be made that Smith ended up in a better situation in Houston compared to Orlando because there is a wide-open path to playing time with Christian Wood being traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Orlando possesses a ton of young talent, and it might be difficult for Banchero to put up a ton of shots with Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner in the starting lineup. Banchero may have a tougher time adjusting to three-point shooting in the NBA since he shot 33.8 percent from three-point range and averaged 1.1 threes per game at Duke.
Houston also gets the benefit of landing an extra motivated Smith, who may play with a little extra behind him since he was passed up for the No. 1 overall pick.
The Rockets landed LSU's Tari Eason with the No. 17 selection. Eason can be a solid addition to the team's defense, and whatever he does will be an extra boost to the team's draft class.
The Rockets finished off their first-round haul by selecting Kentucky guard TyTy Washington with the No. 29 pick. They moved back three picks in a trade with Minnesota that involved the No. 26 pick earned in the Christian Wood deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
However, the Rockets draft class will be judged solely on Smith's success, and they could end up as the biggest winner if he turns out to be better than Banchero.
Detroit Pistons: A
3 of 4
The Detroit Pistons added a backcourt complement for Cade Cunningham and their potential big man of the future on Thursday night.
Detroit landed in its best-case scenario at No. 5, as it secured Jaden Ivey from Purdue. Ivey could have been the No. 4 pick, but the Sacramento Kings chose Keegan Murray over him.
Ivey gives the Pistons a second high-volume backcourt scorer who can also handle the ball well.
A Cunningham-Ivey backcourt could propel Detroit from the depths of the Eastern Conference to the fringe of the play-in places. That is also dependent on the moves made elsewhere in the East throughout the rest of the offseason.
Detroit's ceiling was raised by Ivey's selection, and it got even higher when it landed Memphis center Jalen Duren as part of a three-way deal that involved the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.
Duren was one of the two premier centers in the 2022 draft class along with Duke's Mark Williams. He averaged 12 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game at Memphis.
Duren gives the Pistons a potential top-tier center to partner with Cunningham and Ivey for the years to come.
The Pistons used the first-round pick gained from the Jerami Grant trade to the Portland Trail Blazers to obtain Duren on Thursday night, so they did not give up any of their original assets in the deal.
Detroit had one of the most successful draft nights, and it could still add a free agent to speed up the rebuild even more.
San Antonio Spurs: B+
4 of 4
The San Antonio Spurs loaded up on their young core with three first-round draft picks.
The Spurs hope that Jeremy Sochan becomes the next iteration of Davion Mitchell coming from the Baylor Bears.
Mitchell was a tenacious defender and an improved three-point shooter in his rookie season with the Kings. A similar return from Sochan in San Antonio would be a welcome sight for Gregg Popovich and his staff.
The Spurs added to their guard depth with Malaki Branham out of Ohio State at No. 20 and Blake Wesley from Notre Dame at No. 25.
Branham was viewed as a lottery pick in some mock drafts. His game blossomed as his freshman season went on. He finished with 13.7 points per game and a 41.6 three-point percentage.
Wesley is one of the more underrated scorers in the draft class. He averaged 14.4 points per game in his lone season at Notre Dame.
The No. 25 pick needs to work on his three-point shooting. He shot 30.3 percent from deep in the ACC last season, but he has the perfect setup in place to improve that aspect of his game.
Popovich added three players with a lot of potential from three strong college basketball programs, and that has to excite the long-time Spurs head coach.
San Antonio may not end up with the stars of the draft class, but it could have three productive NBA players added to its stable of young players.
.jpg?w=600 "Top Players Still Available 🔢")
.jpg?w=600 "Cards Had Wrong Love Number 😅")
.jpg?w=600 "Eagles Stole WR Lemon from Steelers")
