Everyone thought they knew. In the weeks leading up to the 2022 NBA Draft, the consensus was a brick wall: Jabari Smith Jr. was going to Orlando. It was a lock. Vegas had the odds so skewed it wasn't even worth betting. Then, about ten minutes before Adam Silver walked onto the stage at Barclays Center, the wall crumbled.
Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a tweet that sent the entire basketball world into a tailspin. Suddenly, Paolo Banchero was the guy.
That moment perfectly encapsulates why the 2022 NBA Draft was one of the most chaotic, nerve-wracking, and ultimately franchise-altering nights in recent memory. It wasn't just about the top pick. It was about a massive shift in how teams valued "unicorns" versus "sure things." We saw teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder gamble on height and wingspan, while others like the Detroit Pistons tried to find a backcourt savior.
Honestly? It was a mess. A beautiful, high-stakes mess.
The Paolo Banchero Shift and the Top Three Drama
For months, the debate was localized between three names: Jabari Smith Jr., Chet Holmgren, and Paolo Banchero. Most scouts loved Jabari’s shooting stroke. It was pure. It was 6'10" and unblockable. Chet was the mystery—a spindly, 7-foot shot-blocker who played like a point guard but looked like he might snap in half if a stiff breeze hit him.
But the Magic saw something in Banchero that the public missed until the final hour. They saw a 250-pound engine.
Banchero wasn't just a scorer; he was a playmaker. While Jabari relied on others to get him the ball, Paolo just took it. That decision changed the trajectory of three franchises instantly. Orlando got their alpha. OKC got their defensive anchor in Holmgren. Houston, picking third, "settled" for Jabari Smith Jr., a move that felt like a win at the time but has required a lot of patience since.
People forget how much pressure was on Orlando. They hadn't had a number one pick since Dwight Howard. If they missed, they were looking at another decade of irrelevance. By picking Banchero, they prioritized shot creation over floor spacing. It was a gutsy call that paid off almost immediately when he took home Rookie of the Year honors.
Why the 2022 NBA Draft Was the Year of the "Wingspan Gamblers"
If you look at the mid-lottery of the 2022 NBA Draft, you see a recurring theme. Length. Absolute, ridiculous length.
Take the Oklahoma City Thunder at pick number eleven. They took Ousmane Dieng. He was a project in every sense of the word—playing in the NBL, showing flashes of brilliance but zero consistency. Why take him? Because he’s 6'10" and moves like a shooting guard. Sam Presti is obsessed with this archetype. It's a high-variance strategy that makes some fans want to pull their hair out.
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Then you have Shaedon Sharpe.
Sharpe was the ultimate enigma of the 2022 NBA Draft. He didn't play a single minute for Kentucky. Not one. He sat on the bench, practiced, and entered the draft based on high school highlights and "pro day" workouts in empty gyms. The Portland Trail Blazers took him at seven. Think about the guts that takes. You're betting a top-ten pick on a kid you haven't seen play competitive basketball in over a year.
It was a draft defined by the "what if."
- What if Chet Holmgren’s frame holds up? (It did, mostly, after a scary foot injury).
- What if Jaden Ivey is the next Ja Morant?
- What if Dyson Daniels is the best perimeter defender in the league?
These weren't safe picks. They were swings for the fences. Even the San Antonio Spurs, usually the bastions of "solid and fundamental," went for Jeremy Sochan at nine. A guy with neon hair who shoots one-handed free throws and defends one through five.
The Mid-First Round Steals That No One Predicted
Usually, by the time you get to pick 15 or 20, the "stars" are gone. The 2022 NBA Draft laughed at that notion.
Look at Jalen Williams. Taken 12th by OKC. He came from Santa Clara. Not Duke, not Kentucky, not Kansas. Santa Clara. Most casual fans didn't even know where that was. Within a year, he was arguably the second-best player in the entire class. He was efficient, he was long, and he played with a maturity that made the guys picked ahead of him look like teenagers.
And don't get me started on Walker Kessler.
Kessler was the 22nd pick. He was traded before he even put on a jersey (part of the massive Rudy Gobert haul). All he did in his first year was become one of the most impactful rim protectors in the NBA. It’s wild. You have teams spending top-five picks on "defensive anchors" and the Jazz just find one in the twenties.
Bennedict Mathurin and the "Dog" Mentality
Every draft has a guy who thinks he’s the best player on the planet. In the 2022 NBA Draft, that was Bennedict Mathurin.
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Selected 6th by the Indiana Pacers, Mathurin didn't just want to be good; he wanted to be a problem. Before he even played a game, he famously said LeBron James would have to show him how good he was. People called him arrogant. Maybe he was. But that's exactly what the Pacers needed.
The Pacers were in a weird spot. They had just moved on from Domantas Sabonis and were trying to build around Tyrese Haliburton. Mathurin provided the scoring punch and the "I don't care who you are" attitude that changed their locker room culture. It’s easy to look at stats, but the 2022 NBA Draft was also about personalities. It was about finding guys who weren't afraid of the bright lights.
Misconceptions About the 2022 Class
A lot of people called this a "weak" draft at the time. They said there was no LeBron, no Zion, no "generational" talent.
They were wrong.
While the 2022 NBA Draft might not have a singular, Earth-shattering superstar (though Banchero and Holmgren are knocking on that door), the depth has been staggering. Usually, half of the first round is out of the league or in the G-League within three years. That hasn't happened here. Jalen Duren (Detroit) looks like a physical marvel. Keegan Murray (Sacramento) is a deadeye shooter who helped break the longest playoff drought in sports.
Even the late picks have stuck. Christian Braun won a ring with Denver in his rookie year. He wasn't just a bench warmer; he played meaningful minutes in the Finals. Andrew Nembhard (31st pick) has become a legitimate starting-caliber guard.
The misconception was that "no consensus number one" meant "no talent." In reality, it just meant the talent was spread out across different skill sets. It forced front offices to actually scout, rather than just reading the mock drafts on ESPN.
The International Impact
We have to talk about the international guys. Nikola Jović, Ousmane Dieng, Ismaël Kamagate. The 2022 NBA Draft continued the trend of the league becoming a global scouting hunt. But unlike previous years where international players were "stashed" overseas for years, these guys were expected to come in and compete.
Jović, for example, went to the Heat at 27. Erik Spoelstra is notorious for not playing rookies. Yet, Jović’s size and passing ability were too good to ignore. It’s a testament to how far international scouting has come. You aren't just looking for the "next Dirk" anymore; you're looking for versatile pieces that fit a specific system.
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Actionable Insights: Lessons from the 2022 Draft
If you're a fan, a bettor, or just someone trying to understand how NBA rosters are built, the 2022 NBA Draft offers some massive takeaways.
1. Don't fall for the "Lock" at Number One. The Jabari Smith Jr. saga proved that until the card is handed to the Commissioner, nothing is real. Information in the NBA is a weapon, and teams like Orlando are masters of the smoke screen.
2. Bet on "Scalability." The reason Jalen Williams and Keegan Murray succeeded so fast is that their games "scale." They don't need the ball 24/7 to be effective. They can shoot, defend, and move. When evaluating young talent, look for players who can contribute without being the primary option.
3. Height is still king, but only with mobility. Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith represent the new era. It’s not enough to be tall; you have to be able to switch onto a point guard at the perimeter. If a big man can’t move his feet, he’s a liability, regardless of how many blocks he gets.
4. The "Second Round" is a gold mine. With guys like Andrew Nembhard and Jaylin Williams coming out of the late stages of the 2022 NBA Draft, it's clear that the gap between pick 25 and pick 35 is almost non-existent. Smart teams are trading down to get more bites at the apple in this range.
The 2022 NBA Draft changed the league. It brought in a wave of versatile, long, and incredibly confident players who didn't care about the "weak draft" labels. Whether it's Paolo Banchero leading a playoff charge or Walker Kessler swatting shots into the third row, the fingerprints of this draft class are all over the modern NBA.
If you want to understand where the league is going, you have to look at the risks taken on that night in June. The "safe" picks aren't always the winners, and the guys no one talked about often end up being the ones we can't stop watching.
To keep track of how these players continue to evolve, watch the win-shares and defensive rating metrics over the next two seasons. That’s where the real story of the 2022 class will be written—not on draft night, but in the grueling reality of the mid-career grind. Monitor how teams like OKC and Orlando manage their cap space as these "cheap" rookie contracts turn into massive extensions. That will be the next great challenge for the architects of the 2022 NBA Draft success stories.