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Ranking the top 5 second-round picks from the 2022 NBA Draft

By Holden Walter-Warner

NEW YORK, NY, USA - JUNE 23: (L-R) Blake Wesley, Walker Kessler, Jaden Hardy, Tari Eason, Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, AJ Griffen, Dyson Daniels, Johnny Davis, Jabari Smith, Bennedict Mathurin, Chet Holmgren, Jaden Ivy, Paulo Banchero, Shaedon Sharpe, Jeremy Sochan, TyTy Washington, Keegan Murray, Ochai Agbaji, Ousmane Dieng, Malaki Branham, Mark Williams, Marjon Beauchamp, Nikola Jovic pose for a group onstage during the 2022 NBA Draft on June 23, 2022 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY, USA - JUNE 23: (L-R) Blake Wesley, Walker Kessler, Jaden Hardy, Tari Eason, Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, AJ Griffen, Dyson Daniels, Johnny Davis, Jabari Smith, Bennedict Mathurin, Chet Holmgren, Jaden Ivy, Paulo Banchero, Shaedon Sharpe, Jeremy Sochan, TyTy Washington, Keegan Murray, Ochai Agbaji, Ousmane Dieng, Malaki Branham, Mark Williams, Marjon Beauchamp, Nikola Jovic pose for a group onstage during the 2022 NBA Draft on June 23, 2022 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /
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2022 NBA Draft
NEW YORK, NY, USA – JUNE 23: (L-R) Blake Wesley, Walker Kessler, Jaden Hardy, Tari Eason, Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, AJ Griffen, Dyson Daniels, Johnny Davis, Jabari Smith, Bennedict Mathurin, Chet Holmgren, Jaden Ivy, Paulo Banchero, Shaedon Sharpe, Jeremy Sochan, TyTy Washington, Keegan Murray, Ochai Agbaji, Ousmane Dieng, Malaki Branham, Mark Williams, Marjon Beauchamp, Nikola Jovic pose for a group onstage during the 2022 NBA Draft on June 23, 2022 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /

The 2022 NBA Draft is officially in the books. While 58 players were selected to join the professional ranks, there weren’t a ton of surprises at the top of the draft.

The Orlando Magic took Paolo Banchero with the first-overall pick. Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith followed, heading to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, respectively. Jaden Ivey and Keegan Murray rounded out the top five picks, though in the opposite order.

The lottery selections are the ones most likely to make a big impact next season – that’s why they were lottery picks, after all. But a few second-round draft selections always hit, whether that’s immediate or more long-term.

Take last year’s draft. Herbert Jones and Ayo Dosunmu both played big roles for their teams after being selected in the first half of the second round. Both made the All-Rookie Second Team.

Who are the second-round selections from the 2022 NBA Draft who will prove to be the best picks down the line?

To determine the best second-round selections, we didn’t simply look at the first five picks in the round, as those players, hypothetically, should be the best. Instead, we looked at who will bring the most value to their team, considering where they were specifically taken.

Not all of these players are going to emerge as immediate rotation players for a championship contender, but at some point, they’ll all validate being selected at all in the NBA Draft and warrant questions as to why they weren’t picked earlier.

Here are the five best second-round selections from Thursday night.