Tari Eason played all 82 games of the 2022-23 NBA regular season. Christian Braun played 95 when you include the playoffs. Chet Holmgren, the second-overall pick, didn’t play a single minute. These are the sample sizes on which to judge an entire draft class a year after the 2022 NBA Draft.
In one sense, it’s crazy to think you can determine a player’s eventual outcome after a season’s worth of games. Yet NBA teams have to try their best to do exactly that, evaluating each draft pick to understand their value. Is this player certain enough to be a starter that a team passes over a player at their position in the 2023 draft? Who will get traded this summer from this draft class?
How does the 2022 NBA Draft class look a year later?
Evaluating the production and upside of each prospect also allows you to look back to last June’s draft. How did each team do in the 2022 NBA Draft? Did they take a player who would have gone much higher this time around, or are they stuck hoping the terribly slow start doesn’t turn into a terribly short career? What looked positive a year ago may look differently now.
With that in mind, we’ve gone back to grade all 30 picks in the first round of last year’s draft. How did teams do? Who did they miss out on? We’ll try to grade each team based on their position in the draft; the Orlando Magic can’t outperform their draft position picking first, but they can underperform if they took a player who isn’t cut out to be the best player in this class.
Let’s dive in at No. 1 and see how each team in the association did in the 2022 NBA Draft.
1. Orlando Magic – Paolo Banchero, Duke Blue Devils
The days leading up to the 2022 NBA Draft were chaotic as teams tried to predict who would go first overall. The prevailing opinion leading into draft day was that Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. would go first to the Orlando Magic, but then the prestige came and Paolo Banchero was suddenly wearing a Magic uniform.
Banchero had a standout rookie season, exactly the sort of year you would want from a No. 1 pick. He became the Magic’s top offensive option, averaging 20 points per game on the dot and showing off passing chops with 3.7 assists as he manned the point forward role. He was relatively inefficient trying to be the offensive engine as a rookie, shooting just 42.7 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from deep, but most rookies in large roles are.
The best part of the past year is that the Magic’s choice has only been affirmed. Banchero won Rookie of the Year and looks to have the best ceiling and certainly the best floor of any prospect in the draft. He would go first overall in a redraft, which is all you can ask.
Grade: A
2. Oklahoma City Thunder – Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
The Oklahoma City Thunder got their guy on draft night a year ago, taking Chet Holmgren second overall. The lanky big was a star at Gonzaga in his one year in college and looked to fit right in on a Thunder team that valued skill and positional size. At 7’1″ Holmgren fit like a glove.
Unfortunately, the Thunder never got to see their pick in action. Playing in a Pro-am game, Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc injury in his foot and was forced to have season-ending surgery well before the season ever began. 10 months out from the injury, Holmgren is close to 100 percent and is even expected to play in Summer League next month.
The play of Jalen Williams, his teammate on the Thunder, calls into question whether Holmgren would go second in a redraft, but that’s obviously an amazing problem for OKC to have. If Holmgren delivers on his potential they are going to have an absolutely nasty young core.
Grade: Incomplete
3. Houston Rockets – Jabari Smith Jr., Auburn
Jabari Smith Jr. was on track to go first overall according to many draft prognosticators, even as late into the process as the day of the draft itself. When the Magic made a sudden pivot, however, that dropped Smith down to third overall, where he was drafted by the Houston Rockets.
Playing on a team with shaky guard play and no defensive strength, Smith had a shaky start to his career. As the season went on, however, his shot started to fall and he played a much tighter game on each end. The Jabari Smith of the last two months looked light-years different than the one who played in October and November.
Smith would likely drop in a redraft, as even with a more efficient showing down the stretch he wasn’t exactly a superstar. How much of that was his environment? That’s a good question that should be answered in part this season as Houston upgrades its talent and with a new head coach in Ime Udoka.
Grade: C+
4. Sacramento Kings – Keegan Murray, Iowa
Exactly one lottery pick made the NBA playoffs this past season, and he did it as a starter: Keegan Murray. The Sacramento Kings were roundly panned on draft night for taking Murray over the “high-upside” of Jaden Ivey. A year later it’s still a hotly-contested debate, as Murray had an excellent rookie season.
Murray played in 80 games for the Kings as a rookie, starting 78 of them and averaging 12.2 points per game on 59.7 percent true shooting. He hit 41.1 percent of his 3-pointers, leading the rookie class and blowing away Donovan Mitchell’s rookie record with 206 threes. He played a key role in the Kings’ playoff series, not being played off the court despite facing the defending champions.
Comparing Murray to his compatriots, it doesn’t seem like he has superstar upside, but he is already a plus starter and could become a fringe All-Star player if his offensive game develops outside of the shooting, which is already top-notch. Jalen Williams, originally selected 12th, would leap him in a redraft, but I still have Murray ranked fifth in this class behind Williams, Banchero , Shaedon Sharpe and Holmgren.
Grade: A-
5. Detroit Pistons – Jaden Ivey, Purdue
Heading into the 2022 NBA Draft, there was a clear top tier of three players, and they indeed went 1-2-3 on draft night. After that, it was a hot discussion as to which player deserved to be next, but the clubhouse winner was Jaden Ivey, an athletic high-scoring point guard from Purdue. The Kings passed on Ivey at 4, letting him fall to the Detroit Pistons at pick No. 5.
Ivey still shows all of the flashes his supporters pointed to coming into the draft, with bursts of speed and athleticism that drop your chin to the floor. He also shot just 41.6 percent from the field and averaged 3.2 turnovers; that’s natural for a young guard, but it obviously has to improve for him to be anything other than a negative. Such is the path for most guard prospects.
If you believed in Ivey a year ago, nothing has changed to crack that belief. If you were enough of a skeptic to have him in the back half of the top 10, that also seems fair. The Pistons are probably quite happy with their selection, and seeing him play alongside Cade Cunningham for a full season is the next major step.
Grade: B+
6. Indiana Pacers – Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona
Bennedict Mathurin was linked to the Indiana Pacers often during the pre-draft process, as they needed wings and forwards and his offensive pop would be a great fit next to Tyrese Haliburton. It was no surprise when he went sixth overall to the Pacers, the first Arizona Wildcats player to go in the lottery since Deandre Ayton went first overall in 2018.
Mathurin got out to a scorching start to the season, and while he cooled off he still ended the year having averaged 16.7 points per game, finishing as a First-Team All-Rookie. He can get his shot off in most situations, but the problem is that it doesn’t go in as much as you might like. Add in some really shaky defense and it was a mixed bag for the season.
Looking back, the Pacers would obviously be much better off with Jalen Williams instead of Mathurin, although no one was mocking Williams that high pre-draft. I would slot him 10th now, so Shaedon Sharpe and Jeremy Sochan also would have been better selections for the Pacers to add to their 2-4 positions.
Grade: B-
7. Portland Trail Blazers – Shaedon Sharpe, Kentucky
Shaedon Sharpe was one of the biggest unknowns heading into the 2022 NBA Draft. He enrolled at Kentucky but never played a game, leaving only his high school and AAU tape to be evaluated ad nauseum. He checked in as high as two or three for some analysts, and outside the lottery altogether for others.
It made sense when the Portland Trail Blazers took him with the seventh pick, as they have been shooting-guard-whisperers over the past decade. Sharpe was no exception, showing some explosive potential during his rookie season. When it was clear the Blazers weren’t going to make the playoffs the team handed him the keys, and he was electric to watch running the show down the stretch. Over his final 10 games, he averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
He’s still somewhat raw, so where he would land in a redraft is up in the air. His potential is immense, however, and what he has shown already is enough for him to be planted firmly in the top five. Another leap this season could see him push his way up even further; his talent level is that high.
Grade: B+
8. New Orleans Pelicans – Dyson Daniels, G League Ignite
After producing two top-10 picks in 2021 (Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga) the class for the G-League Ignite in 2022 was underwhelming. Jaden Hardy had a shaky season that saw him fall out of the first round entirely, while MarJon Beauchamp landed at 24. Dyson Daniels was, perhaps unexpectedly, the one player to build top value and end up in the Top 10, going eighth overall to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Daniels joined a Pelicans team that is already flush with rotation players, including long-limbed defenders, so even though he has an elite skill it wasn’t needed overly much. He is absolutely nasty as an on-ball defender, with a wingspan – footspeed combination that makes it nearly impossible for opposing guards and even most wings to get past him.
The offense is what pulls Daniels’ value down a bit, as he averaged just 3.8 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting, including just 31.4 percent from 3-point range. He is worth a rotation role even with the shaky offense, but for him to realize anything close to his potential he needs to be a good shooter, a scoring threat with the ball in his hands, or both. He would likely go a few picks later in a redraft, with Jeremy Sochan a better defensive archetype and Jalen Williams a better perimeter player.
Grade: B
9. San Antonio Spurs – Jeremy Sochan, Baylor
Jeremy Sochan was a popular sleeper pick to go in the Top 10 on draft night, until the days right before the draft when suddenly that seemed like an eventuality as teams fell in love with his defensive and playmaking upside. It was the San Antonio Spurs who took the plunge, taking him off the board with the ninth pick.
All of that love was absolutely warranted, as Sochan looks like a special player. At 6’9″ with a 100-foot wingspan (measurement approximate) he profiles as an elite perimeter defender as well as a weakside shot-blocker. If that was the entire report he would be an intriguing player, but he also showed off even more offensive upside than expected.
The Spurs gave him plenty of on-ball opportunities and Sochan showed tremendous growth over the course of the season as a scorer and playmaker. If the shot ever comes around, he’ll be an All-Star; he might get there anyway, and jumping head in the timeline, his fit next to Victor Wembanyama is imminently exciting. With the exception of Jalen Williams, no one who went later in the draft would deserve to leap Sochan in a redraft. Excellent pick by the Spurs.
Grade: A
10. Washington Wizards – Johnny Davis, Wisconsin
Johnny Davis had a lot of supporters in the predraft process, teams and analysts that believed in his shot-making, playmaking and defense after a standout college season. There were legitimate reasons to explain away the red flags, from a lack of efficiency late in his college season (dealing with injuries) to subpar efficiency (he was crafty enough to gain separation). The Washington Wizards didn’t look out of place taking him 10th.
Then Summer League happened, and Davis looked terrible. He couldn’t find enough space to even get shots up, and when he did they didn’t come close to going in. The season wasn’t any better, as Davis didn’t look the part of an NBA player except for a small handful of games during the year. He was even mediocre in the G League! It was about as terrible as a rookie season as a top-10 pick could have.
It gets much worse when you factor in the opportunity cost. Jalen Williams went just two picks later, and would be the foundational piece to a Washington rebuild right now. Instead, Davis will need to show significant strides in his second season just to have his fourth-year option picked up. Sorry to spoil the rest of the rankings, but this is the worst grade of the bunch.
Grade: F
11. Oklahoma City Thunder – Ousmane Dieng, New Zealand Breakers
Every year there is a player or two who profiles as a complete project, but who rises up draft boards late in the process as teams begin to get excited about the possibilities their physical tools present. It’s the “Giannis Antetokounmpo Corollary” that one such player will rise up the board to land higher than expected, in hopes of finding the next Giannis. Aleksej Pokuševski in 2020, Bilal Coulabily in the 2023 Draft…and Ousmane Dieng in 2022.
It was the Oklahoma City Thunder who finally took the plunge at pick No. 11, trading their way into a pair of late-lottery picks to get in front of the Cleveland Cavaliers, rumored to want Dieng at 14. The long-limbed teenager who played in Australia’s NBL was always going to be a project, and that’s just what he was for the Thunder.
Dieng made it on the court for just 39 games, with a shot that was all over the place and some truly clueless moments defensively. That was the plan; Dieng’s upside, if it comes to rest, is still multiple seasons away. Even so, there weren’t enough flashes of the player the Thunder want him to become to give them top marks for this pick. We won’t ding them for Jalen Williams, as the order of their back-to-back picks don’t matter, but they would have been much better off with Walker Kessler, AJ Griffin or Tari Eason here.
Grade: C
12. Oklahoma City Thunder – Jalen Williams, Santa Clara
The Thunder made two bets on players in the 2022 NBA Draft who rose up draft boards quickly, and they appear to have gone 1-for-2. In Ousmane Dieng, they drafted a player oozing in potential but still years away, and in Jalen Williams, they drafted a player who stepped onto an NBA court and produced immediately.
Williams has elite measurements, standing 6’6″ with a 7’2″ wingspan, which helps him defensively and is a tool he uses to score inside, going up and around opposing defenders. Over the course of the season, he developed into a plus starter for a team in the Play-In mix. He can score from all three levels, was a solid passer and top-notch decision-maker.
At this point, it would be a surprise if Jalen Williams wasn’t a future All-Star. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander an All-NBA player, and both Josh Giddey and Chet Homgren boasting top-flight upside, the Thunder appear to have a truly elite core of young talent to build a contender out of. Williams would go second overall if the draft was done again, putting egg on a lot of faces and making him the best value from the 2022 first round.
Grade: A+
13. Detroit Pistons – Jalen Duren, Memphis
The first player who fell a bit on draft night compared to projections was Jalen Duren, who was one of the top players in his draft class and incredibly young compared to his peers. The Detroit Pistons, rumored to be considering Duren with the fifth pick, traded back into the lottery to take the Memphis center with the 13th pick.
Duren has ideal size as a center, standing 6’11” with a 7’5″ wingspan and mountains of athleticism. He was an instant weapon on the glass, averaging 8.9 rebounds in just 24.9 minutes per game, including 3.4 offensive rebounds per game. He was 10th in offensive rebounds this season in the entire league! Add in his efficient finishing ability, helped in large part by that offensive rebounding and his ability to dunk nearly everything he touches.
Unfortunately, Duren also failed to put things together defensively, which is crucial for a player in his role. There is still plenty of time, but when another rookie like Walker Kessler steps into the league as a top-10 rim protector, Duren’s struggles in that area look even starker. The Pistons may still have hit on a future starter here, but he has some work to do.
Grade: B
14. Cleveland Cavaliers – Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
From the moment the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Ochai Agbaji to the moment he was included in the trade for Donovan Mitchell some weeks later, he appeared to be the perfect fit for what the Cavs needed. Agbaji was a college role player who blossomed into a star and led the Kansas Jayhawks to a national title in his final season. He then came out in Summer League and flashed legitimate movement shooting, and his combination of shooting, scoring and defense made him the wing the team needed.
That went out the window when they traded him to the Jazz, but now he looks like a solid rotation player for Utah. Agbaji didn’t shoot particularly well as a rookie, but he has the skillset to fit the 3-and-D role well, and as the year went on he showed a natural inclination on cuts that should open up space for him to get open perimeter shots. Ideally, he will be a high-gravity player that defenders have to mark anywhere on the court.
Agbaji is still a mid-first-round pick, but a few players likely showed more as rookies to leapfrog him. AJ Griffin looks to be a better version of a shooting wing, and he has more on-ball pop as well. Agbaji’s college teammate Christian Braun would also be in the conversation, with more defensive impact but less shooting upside.
Grade: B-
15. Charlotte Hornets – Mark Williams, Duke
The Charlotte Hornets were going to draft a center. That was the intel leading up to the draft for weeks, and it would have been a shock to see the Hornets do anything else. True to form, the team came through and took Duke center Mark Williams with the 15th pick.
Williams was a defensive anchor for the Blue Devils en route to a Final Four run in Williams’ sophomore season, and that is where he will butter his bread in the NBA. True to form, after early-season injuries and Charlotte’s weird commitment to Mason Plumlee phased out, Williams showed some strong defensive chops during the second half of the season.
More surprising was his offensive repertoire, as Williams was dynamic as a roller and finisher at the rim, shooting 63.7 percent from the field for the season. He was also an excellent rebounder, essentially filling perfectly the role he will play in the league for the next decade. The Hornets get dinged slightly here because Walker Kessler looks like the better center prospect, but Williams should be a long-term starter for them.
Grade: B
16. Atlanta Hawks – AJ Griffin, Duke
Duke Blue Devils went back-to-back in the 2022 NBA Draft, with the Atlanta Hawks taking the plunge with AJ Griffin at pick No. 16. A top-heralded recruit, Griffin suffered a knee injury heading into his freshman season that seemed to have a major effect on him. NBA evaluators had to determine how much better a healthy Griffin would be, and at the same time whether his multiple injuries portended a career of battling injuries.
It looks like the answer to the first question was “a lot” because Griffin was excellent as a rookie. He was highly efficient as a shooter, shooting 39 percent from 3-point range and a highly-supportive 89 percent from the free-throw line. His athleticism also came back, with Griffin able to sky for rebounds or finish with pop at the rim.
NBA teams want athletic wings who can shoot and play defense, making Griffin a hot commodity. Walker Kessler would go higher than Griffin in a redraft, but given the Hawks’ depth there, it doesn’t make sense to ding them for taking Griffin instead. He was the absolute right pick; the Hawks nailed it.
Grade: A
17. Houston Rockets – Tari Eason, LSU
Tari Eason was one of the draft’s most polarizing players in the pre-draft process. His supporters saw a high-energy do-it-all forward at LSU with excellent defensive playmaking. His skeptics saw an inefficient scorer who was in-between positions and didn’t have enough offensive upside to be a long-term starter.
Well, everyone gets to take a victory lap, although Eason certainly does look like he can start in the league. He was everywhere on the court as a rookie, racking up steals, blocks and rebounds like he was gathering candy after a pinata burst. His motor is tremendous, and few players in the entire league could ever hope to outwork him.
That motor is necessary, because Eason was also a terrible shooter and finisher; being inefficient on layups, mid-range shots and 3-pointers is not a great place to be. He has all of the tools to be the kind of player any team wants to have, but he’ll need to either finish at a high level or improve as a shooter. The Rockets could have taken Walker Kessler here, but otherwise landed on an exciting player that they would likely take again in a redraft.
Grade: B+
18. Chicago Bulls – Dalen Terry, Arizona
Dalen Terry got the “teammate bump” in the 2022 NBA Draft, rising up draft boards because he looked good on tape when teams tuned in to watch his highly-ranked teammate. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but Terry’s rise was late in the process and looks a little bit shaky a year later.
The Bulls’ rookie was very raw as a rookie, with a slight frame that caused him to get roasted by NBA players, undercutting his profile as a defensive wing. As he adds weight and strength that should improve, but Terry will need to shoot to make that matter. He hit only 25.9 percent of his 3-pointers with the Bulls. He did hit around 40 percent of his threes in the G League, and if he can translate that to the NBA when spacing is tighter, he can start to deliver on some of that upside.
Terry is probably still a first-round pick a year later, but multiple players who went later than he did would certainly take his spot at 18. That includes shot-blocking monster Walker Kessler, but it also includes players like Christian Braun who can better fill the role Terry hopes to get to.
Grade: C-
19. Memphis Grizzlies – Jake LaRavia, Wake Forest
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons had something of a surprise season in 2021-22, with senior Alondes Williams and junior Jake LaRavia having standout years. Williams went undrafted and got a two-way deal, while LaRavia shot up draft boards to ultimately go 19th overall, one of the biggest surprises on draft night.
The book is yet to be written on LaRavia, but consider me skeptical that he makes it as a playoff-level rotation player. He’s a stretch-4 who is supposed to be enough of a passer to run offense through, while also spacing the court in pick-and-pop or spot-up actions. He rarely saw the court as a rookie on a Grizzlies team that could have used him, and his lack of athleticism or defensive impact erode his potential.
LaRavia may still put things together and become a knockdown shooter to the point that he makes it into a rotation, but right now he would drop out of the first round in a redraft. Walker Kessler would be a better big selection, and even Patrick Baldwin Jr. looks like a better bet to be a stretch-big with enough accompanying ability to make it in the NBA.
Grade: D+
20. San Antonio Spurs – Malaki Branham, Ohio State
The San Antonio Spurs used their first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft on a do-it-all forward defender, and they promptly used their next two picks on small guards to try and juice the offense. Malaki Branham was frequently mocked to go in the lottery, so when he fell to pick No. 20 it looked like the Spurs may have gotten excellent value.
One year later, the jury is still out, but it certainly doesn’t look like they ended up with a bust. The Spurs need shot creators, and Branham showed plenty of flashes in that area, using creativity as a ball-handler to gain separation. His jumpshot looks smooth, but he was too confident in it, settling for midrangers instead of getting to the rim. When you factor in that he was shooting just 30.2 percent from 3-point range and 44 percent from the field overall, and Branham needs to attack the rim more and step back and pull less often.
When you factor in shaky passing and terrible defense, it’s clear Branham has a lot of work to do to become a long-term starting guard. Still, on-ball shot creation is the league’s most valuable skill, and he should have time with the Spurs to see if he can bring the rest of his skillset along. Jaden Hardy looks like a better option in that role as a player the Spurs could have taken here instead, but we’ll hit them harder at pick No. 25 for not taking him there. Here, the Spurs would have been well-served taking Walker Kessler.
Grade: B
21. Denver Nuggets – Christian Braun, Kansas Jayhawks
The Denver Nuggets entered the 2022 offseason with their sites set on contending for a championship, and clearly they executed that vision. Part of that process included drafting two players in the first round, and their first pick when to a player coming off of a championship himself, Kansas wing Christian Braun.
He was a perfect fit for the Nuggets, as he is a cutter and slasher who excels moving off-ball; Nikola Jokic loves to hit those kinds of players with pinpoint passes, and Braun’s role only grew as the season went on. When you factor in his defensive intensity and the probability of league-average shooting or better, he looks like a future starter and longtime rotation player for winning teams.
Braun would probably leapfrog his college teammate Ochai Agbaji in a redraft, and it’s hard to point to a player who went later who should have gone higher than Braun in a redraft; the Nuggets are the team most excused for not taking Walker Kessler. This was an excellent selection that helped them to win a title this season. At pick No. 21, it’s hard to do much better.
Grade: B+
22. Minnesota Timberwolves – Walker Kessler, Auburn
Finally, we come to the draft’s other big steal, Auburn center Walker Kessler. Statistical models pegged Kessler as a top-10 prospect due to his insane defensive impact, but as a big man with little offensive game he looked like a questionable long-term value for teams, and he fell to pick No. 22, where the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted him before sending him to Utah a week later in the Rudy Gobert trade.
Whether you give credit to the Timberwolves or the Jazz, this was a slam-dunk pick. Kessler was an absolute beast as a rim protector as a rookie, averaging 2.3 blocks per game in just 23 minutes. He wasn’t simply planting in the paint and putting his hands up; he moved well in space and could come over from the weakside and truly destroy attacking players.
On offense, he does have a more limited skill set, but he can finish well and cleans up offensive rebounds, of which he collected many. He would go in the Top 10 of a redraft, and many teams would place him even higher after his top-3 Rookie of the Year finish. He looks like a lock to make All-Defense teams in the future, and he isn’t unreasonable as a future Defensive Player of the Year.
Grade: A
23. Memphis Grizzlies – David Roddy, Colorado State
The Memphis Grizzlies took two players in the 2022 NBA Draft, trading up to take Wake Forest’s Jake LaRavia and then sending De’Anthony Melton to the Philadelphia 76ers to select David Roddy out of Colorado State. A shorter, powerful forward with decent playmaking chops, Roddy was a popular prospect on “draft Twitter” and the Grizzlies have always seemed to line up the most of any front office with that subset of draft analysts.
That’s often paid off in a major way, from Desmond Bane to Brandon Clarke to John Konchar, but in this case the jury is still out. The plus side is that he carved out a rotation role on a playoff team, playing hard and defending his butt off. On the other hand, it’s hard to see what he will do well long-term in the NBA; he’s a poor shooter, too short to be an elite finisher, not fast enough to be a lockdown guy on the perimeter. He seems incredibly replaceable for the Grizzlies.
Roddy is a smart player, and perhaps he continues improving his game and provides enough intangibles to latch on long-term in Memphis or even for another team. For now, however, a number of other players seem like better bets at this pick a year later, from Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Christian Koloko in the frontcourt or Jaden Hardy and Andrew Nembhard in the backcourt.
Grade: C-
24. Milwaukee Bucks – MarJon Beauchamp, G League Ignite
The Milwaukee Bucks have been in “title or bust’ mode for years now, no matter how much Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to view his life in a more healthy way. As an organization, when you have a top-3 player in the world, you go for it. That made the selection of MarJon Beauchamp something of a surprise a year ago, as the G League Ignire forward was viewed as a very raw prospect.
Beauchamp wasn’t particularly good as a rookie, shooting a fine 33.1 percent from deep but otherwise hitting just 39.5 percent of his shots overall and averaging more turnovers than assists. He was similarly inefficient in the G League. It’s hard to take much from his rookie year, as the book on Beauchamp will be written in another couple of seasons as he develops, but there wasn’t a ton to love early on.
That doesn’t mean there was a plethora of better options available to the Bucks at 24, either. The rest of this draft is still heavy on potential without many successes popping up in the late-first and second rounds. Peyton Watson is probably ahead of Beauchamp as a similar player archetype, while the Bucks likely would have benefited from drafting a player like Andrew Nembhard instead.
Grade: C+
25. San Antonio Spurs – Blake Wesley, Notre Dame
With their first pick, the San Antonio Spurs took a young but multi-skilled wing in Jeremy Sochan. With their second pick they took Malaki Branham, who had a great scoring year in college. They went all-out project with their third pick, taking a guard in Blake Wesley who wasn’t particularly good in college.
Could the Spurs mold Wesley into a future contributor? That question is yet to be answered, in large part because Wesley tore his meniscus in the second game of his career and missed months of playing time and developmental opportunities. When he did return, Wesley both showed off his insane speed and his complete inability to finish, either at the rim or on jumpers. When you factor in his lack of athletic pop, his slim frame and his poor playmaking for others, you get a player who doesn’t particularly seem to have a long NBA career in the cards.
There’s still plenty of time for him to put things together, but the early returns are brutal. He joins Johnny Davis as the biggest disappointments among the first-round draft class. The Spurs would be much better off with Andrew Nembhard or Jaden Hardy instead.
Grade: D
26. Minnesota Timberwolves – Wendell Moore Jr.
The third Duke Blue Devils player to land in the first round, Wendell Moore Jr. entered the league as something of a jack-of-all-trades, a player who didn’t do one thing particularly well but who could score, shoot, pass, defend and rebound. For a Minnesota Timberwolves team clearly wanting to take a big step forward, the selection made sense.
Unfortunately, Moore wasn’t able to find a lot of minutes on the Timberwolves as a rookie, playing just 153 minutes total across 29 games and taking only 43 shots; Kobe Bryant took more shots in his final game than Moore took this entire season. Where Moore did show impact was on defense, averaging 1.9 steals and 1.2 blocks per 36 minutes. Only 25 players in league history ever hit those marks as a rookie (minimum 25 games played), so there is something to hang his hat on.
Moore will need to translate that intensity to the offensive end to get a chance for a larger role. His free-throw shooting in the G League suggests he may have more shooting potential than he has shown, and if he can improve in that area he should be able to earn a rotation spot. He looks like the kind of player a good team wants to have; he just needs to get there.
Grade: C-
27. Miami Heat – Nikola Jovic, Serbia
In one of the best name-game moments, the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets faced off in the NBA Finals, allowing plenty of jokes to be made comparing Nikola Jokic and Nikola Jovic; the first is a two-time MVP, while the second was a very raw first-round rookie.
Rebound totals for 5 NBA Finals MVPs and the people with the same name as them except with a "v" in it. pic.twitter.com/vQTip3p5qj
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 13, 2023
Many assumed that the Miami Heat were playing three-dimensional chess when they took Nikola Jovic at pick No. 27, that there was some unrealized potential waiting within. That potential is still unrealized if it’s still there, as Jovic showed very little as a rookie. That was to be expected given his slim frame and raw game, and as the Heat were battling just to make the Play-In Tournament they didn’t have a lot of free minutes to pass around.
The theory behind Jovic is intriguing, and the Heat certainly have a good developmental track record. If the 6’10” Jovic can add strength and hone his shot, there is a rotation role in the NBA for him. For now, that’s all a bunch of maybes, and the Heat may have been better served adding a player more likely to hit than spending a roster spot on a project.
Grade: C
28. Golden State Warriors – Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee
The Golden State Warriors appear to heavily weigh high school tape when evaluating prospects, frequently taking top-ranked players like Nico Mannion and Patrick Baldwin Jr. who tumble down draft boards after a shaky college season. Baldwin was as bad as you get playing for Milwaukee in the Horizon League, but he also battled injuries and had an elite profile coming out of high school.
The Warriors don’t offer a ton of studio space for teenagers to get playing time, but when Baldwin did play as a rookie he looked good. He is big and can absolutely shoot the ball, and at a minimum, he looks like a longtime rotation player as a stretch big. How his rebounding and defense come around will determine how much of a role he can earn as a sophomore, and how much his ball-handling game comes around will dictate his long-term upside to be more than just a shooter.
For now, I’m a believer in what he showed already as a rookie, and if he can stay healthy there is plenty of unrealized potential. Look for the Warriors to use him more this year if they don’t bring back JaMychal Green. Only Jaden Hardy has a higher redraft grade than Baldwin of the available players here.
Grade: B-
29. Houston Rockets – TyTy Washington, Kentucky
With their third first-round pick of the 2022 Draft, the Houston Rockets traded around before landing at 29 and selecting TyTy Washington, the latest “Kentucky guard” to enter the draft and a sleeper prospect that many draft analysts had pegged much higher, some as high as the lottery.
Washington didn’t get a ton of run in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, which is somewhat surprising given their all-out tanking philosophy this season to chase Victor Wembanyama. Yet his time in the G League was quite productive, as he averaged 23 points and six assists. When he did see minutes for the Rockets, however, he struggled to score and was abysmal defensively.
Washington has some work to do, but he still has plenty of runway to become a rotation point guard. The Rockets would love for him to start contributing and lock him in as their long-term backup at the position. It will be interesting to look back in a couple of years and compare Washington, Andrew Nembhard (31st pick), Kennedy Chandler (39th) and Ryan Rollins (44th).
Grade: C
30. Denver Nuggets – Peyton Watson, UCLA
The final pick of the first round went to the Denver Nuggets, picking for the second time and taking a raw wing in Peyton Watson who couldn’t get onto the court as a freshman for a UCLA program flush with talent and trying to win a championship. That lack of minutes didn’t change for Watson as a rookie on a contending team, but behind the scenes, he showed off a ton of potential.
At 6’8″ with a huge wingspan, Watson has the frame to be an impact perimeter defender and showed that off in his limited minutes for the Nuggets. Intel from coaches and other sources scream that he was killing it in practice; that’s unsubstantiated and needs to be proven out, but there is an unusually high amount of buzz around him. He looks like a potential breakout player for next season.
The second round was not flush with players who obviously should have gone higher than Watson, and certainly not for a team like the Nuggets needing high-level role players to slot around their stars. The best names from the second round include Andrew Nembhard (31), Christian Koloko (33), Jaylin Williams (34), Jaden Hardy (37), Ryan Rollins (44) and Jabari Walker (57), with plenty of projects mixed in with upside to pop in the coming years.
Grade: B