The numbers for the 2022 NBA Draft
The annual NBA Rookie Draft will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, June 24 (Philippine time).
Here’s a look at the 2022 NBA Draft by the numbers:
History
Table of Contents
Duke and Kentucky have had three No. 1 overall picks each, which is the most of any U.S. college since the NBA Draft began in 1966. The Blue Devils have picked Elton Brand (1999), Kyrie Irving (2011), and Zion Williamson as their No. 1 pick (2019). John Wall (2010), Anthony Davis (2012), and Karl-Anthony Towns (2013) have been the first picks for the Wildcats (2015).
The NBA Draft will be held at Barclays Center for the ninth time.
In each of the last 12 years, the first overall pick was a college freshman. Blake Griffin, a sophomore from Oklahoma, was the last player who wasn’t a freshman to be chosen with the first pick in 2009.
- All 30 first-round picks from the 2021 NBA Draft played at least one game during the 2020-21 NBA season.
36 – The 2016-1 NBA Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, who was picked 36th overall in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft, is the only player not picked in the first round to win the award since the common draft began in 1976.
Nikola Jokic, the two-time reigning NBA MVP, was picked by the Denver Nuggets with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. This makes him the lowest-drafted MVP since Moses Malone, who won three times but was not drafted.
1989 was the first year that the NBA Draft had two rounds.
Teams
1: The Orlando Magic will pick first in the NBA Draft for the fourth time in franchise history. Orlando has chosen Shaquille O’Neal (1992), Chris Webber (1993), and Dwight Howard (2004) with the first pick in the draft.
2: The Oklahoma City Thunder, which has the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, is going to pick in the top five for the first time since 2009.
The fifth pick in the NBA Draft will be made by the Detroit Pistons for the first time.
The Portland Trail Blazers will make the highest pick since the 2012 NBA Draft, when they took Damian Lillard with the sixth pick.
1988: The Indiana Pacers (sixth pick) are about to make their highest pick since the 1988 NBA Draft, when they picked Rik Smits with the No. 2 pick.
Prospect Features
Chet Holmgren, a forward and center for Gonzaga, blocked 3.66 shots per game on average in 2021-22, which was fourth in NCAA Division I.
This past season, Iowa forward Keegan Murray increased his average points scored from 7.2 to 23.5. This was the biggest increase by a Big Ten player in 49 years.
In 2021-22, Paulo Banchero, a forward for Duke, averaged 17.2 points per game, which was the best mark in the country for a true freshman.
Ochai Agbaji, a guard for the Kansas Jayhawks, made a three-pointer in a school record 53 straight games.
- Auburn forward Jabari Smith made 79 three-pointers as a freshman, which is a school record.
In the 2021-22 season, Auburn center Walker Kessler blocked 155 shots, which was the most in the country and a school record for a single season.
Basketball Bonds
5: Ron Harper Jr. is the son of Ron Harper, who played in the NBA for 15 years and won five championships.
9: Duke forward AJ Griffin is the son of Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin, who played in the NBA for nine seasons.
10: Jabari Walker, a forward for Colorado, is the son of Samaki Walker, who played in the NBA for 10 years and won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001-02.
75: Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. is the son of six-time NBA champion and NBA 75th Anniversary Team member Scottie Pippen.
Julian Champagnie, a forward for St. John’s, is the identical twin brother of Toronto Raptors forward Justin Champagnie, who played for Toronto’s NBA G League affiliate, Raptors 905, during part of his rookie season in 2021-22.
2001: Purdue guard Jaden Ivey is the son of Niele Ivey, who was the head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team and helped them win the 2001 NCAA championship. She later played in the WNBA and was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.
2017 – Duke center Mark Williams is the brother of WNBA All-Star and former Blue Devils star Elizabeth Williams, who plays center forward for the Washington Mystics.
Global Game
Guards Dyson Daniels (Australia; NBA Global Academy; NBA G League Ignite), Bennedict Mathurin (Canada; NBA Academy Latin America; University of Arizona), and Hyunjung Lee (South Korea; NBA Global Academy; Davidson College) could become the second, third, and fourth graduates of the NBA Academy program to be drafted into the NBA. Last year, 2021-22 NBA All-Rookie Second Team member Josh Giddey (Australia; Oklahoma City Thunder; NBA Global Academy) was the first. Ibou Dianko Badji from Senegal (NBA Academy Africa) and Jean Montero from the Dominican Republic (NBA Academy Latin America) are also candidates for the 2022 NBA Draft. Both played in the NBA Academy program before going pro.
4: Ousmane Dieng, a forward for the New Zealand Breakers from France, used to train at the same academy in Paris as Tony Parker, a four-time NBA champion, and several other NBA stars.
10–Each NBA Draft since 2000 has picked at least 10 international players, and at least two international players have been picked in the top 10 in each of the last nine NBA Drafts.
Nikola Jovi, a guard-forward for Mega Mozzart from Serbia who turned 19 on June 3, was named the ABA League’s 2021-22 Top Prospect. The ABA League is a European regional basketball league.
27 – A record In the 2016 NBA Draft, 27 international players were chosen, including a record 15 in the first round and a record-tying 12 in the second.
NBA Development League
Three players from the NBA G League Ignite were picked in the 2021 NBA Draft: Jalen Green (Houston Rockets), Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors), and Isaiah Todd (Los Angeles Lakers) (Washington Wizards).
5: MarJon Beauchamp, Dyson Daniels, Jaden Hardy, Michael Foster Jr., and Fanbo Zeng are all candidates for the 2022 NBA Draft and play for NBA G League Ignite.
- Thirty-seven of the sixty players picked in the NBA Draft of 2021 played in the NBA G League during the 2021-22 season. This included 16 first-round picks.
The NBA cares and Jr.
2: Two top prospects will attend today’s graduation at Dual Language Middle School in New York. They will speak to the graduating class and give them advice and congratulations.
11: The Jr. NBA Skills Challenge National Finals are held in New York during draft week, which is part of the draft experience. Top scorers from 11 regionals across the country are competing for a chance to win their respective divisions (Boys 13U, Girls 13U, Boys 11U and Girls 11U).
- Today, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association will host a basketball combine for 30 local kids and an NBA Cares packing project with New Era to help people in New York.