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2022 NBA Draft

And-Ones: Freedom, Buyout Market, Sharpe, Salary Cap

February 15th, 2022 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

Enes Freedom, who was waived by Houston on Monday, has become increasingly involved in political and social justice activism within the last year, taking aim in particular at China’s record on human rights. However, there’s a sense that if he doesn’t get picked up by an NBA team, it will be more about what he can do on the court than anything he has said off of it, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.

“I don’t know if anyone else signs him. Maybe not,” one general manager told Bulpett. “I think from a basketball standpoint, it’s really questionable. I’m not sure if any of the other stuff will even come into play. I don’t think he won’t get a job because of anything he’s said or done. I think he just doesn’t guard, and the game is changing. He plays a lot older than he really is.”

There are plenty of teams around the NBA with open roster spots, so there certainly could be one (or more) interested in bringing in Freedom as a bench scorer, despite his defensive shortcomings. If that doesn’t happen, the veteran center would apparently be open to playing in Europe, as Antigoni Zachari of Eurohoops relays.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The buyout market is beginning to show signs of life, with word breaking this morning that San Antonio and Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement. Before that deal was made, John Hollinger of The Athletic took a closer look at some of the buyout candidates who could shake free in the coming weeks — Dragic was the No. 3 player on Hollinger’s list.
  • In a separate story for The Athletic, Hollinger handed out his trade deadline awards, dubbing the Kings‘ acquisition of Donte DiVincenzo the “biggest unexpected steal,” calling the Jazz‘s deal for Nickeil Alexander-Walker the deadline’s “most underwhelming trade,” and referring the Celtics‘ addition of Derrick White as the “trade we’ll talk about a lot more in April,” depending on how the rest of Boston’s season plays out.
  • There’s a possibility Shaedon Sharpe could enter the 2022 NBA draft without playing a single college game, making him one of the most enigmatic prospects in years, according to Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link). Givony and Schmitz explore how NBA teams are evaluating Sharpe, noting that most clubs are preparing for Sharpe to declare for the draft despite John Calipari‘s claim that the freshman guard plans to be back with Kentucky in 2022/23.
  • Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes an interesting, in-depth look at the creation of the NBA’s salary cap and Bird rights, explaining how they revolutionized the league.
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And-Ones: 2022 Mock, Big Board, G League Schedule, More

January 28th, 2022 at 5:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Which young player will hear his name called first on June 23 at the 2022 NBA draft? In his latest mock draft for ESPN-plus, Jonathan Givony has Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren going first overall to Orlando, followed by Duke forward Paolo Banchero to Detroit, and Auburn forward Jabari Smith to Houston.

Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN also provide detailed scouting reports on several players, including TyTy Washington of Kentucky (No. 9), Ochai Agbaji of Kansas (No. 12), Kennedy Chandler of Tennessee (No. 25), Christian Braun of Kansas (No. 29), and three international prospects.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently released version 2.0 of his ’22 draft big board, with Smith rising from No. 4 back in November to No. 1. However, the biggest riser by far is Johnny Davis of Wisconsin, who went from outside of the top 100 to No. 5 (!) overall. Vecenie writes that Davis’ consistency separates him from other prospects in the class and he’s a favorite for the National Player of the Year award. He goes on to say that Davis is a great three-level scorer and solid defender.
  • The NBA G League announced an update to its schedule today. The regular season was pushed back from Dec. 27 to Jan. 5, causing 49 games that would’ve been played during that window to be canceled. Three games that were postponed during that time frame have been rescheduled, and six games have been added. The full schedule for the G League regular season can be found here.
  • The Athletic’s Seth Partnow explores which teams have been impacted most by “replacement minutes” from players on 10-day hardship contracts. He says that Phoenix and Cleveland have been relatively fortunate to this point, while Milwaukee and Brooklyn have been somewhat unlucky (his models account for both injuries and COVID-19 absences).
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And-Ones: Beasley, Rising Stars, Graham, Iwundu, Draft

January 25th, 2022 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Michael Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, is training in Miami in the hopes of making an NBA comeback, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who says Beasley and his representatives have been in touch with multiple teams.

In a candid conversation with Scotto, Beasley spoke about his NBA career to date, revisiting some of the good stretches, including his season with the Knicks in 2017/18, and the bad, like his time with the Lakers in 2018/19.

“My mom died when I was playing for the Lakers,” Beasley said. “I fought through that, and I came back. My cousin died the game I forgot my shorts in Oklahoma. I was battling that day, trying to fight through it. I wanted to go to the funeral, but I was already gone when my mom died. I just wanted to be there for the team, and the whole world just laughed at me. … It hurt my feelings. I’m not going to lie.”

Beasley is now 33 years old and has been out of the league since 2019, but he tells Scotto he’s “better than I’ve ever been” and has spent the last three years “perfecting my craft on every level on both sides of the ball.”

Agent Charles Briscoe tells Scotto (Twitter link) that the NBA sent a memo to teams informing them Beasley will be eligible to return to play on February 14. It’s unclear whether the forward’s current ineligibility is related to his 2019 suspension (which he never got a chance to serve), delayed FIBA paperwork following a brief stint in Puerto Rico, or something else. In any case, it sounds like he’ll be an option for NBA teams in a few weeks.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The NBA has announced a new format for its Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will take place on Friday, February 18. The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament (two semifinals and a final). The player pool will be comprised of 12 NBA rookies, 12 sophomores, and four players from the G League Ignite, while the games will be played to a target score: 50 points in the semifinals and 25 points in the final, in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary season.
  • The four Ignite players in the Rising Stars event will likely be Jaden Hardy, Michael Foster, Dyson Daniels, and MarJon Beauchamp, tweets Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Those four players will be draft-eligible in 2022, unlike 17-year-old Scoot Henderson.
  • After signing NBA G League contracts, veteran wings Treveon Graham and Wes Iwundu have new teams, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link), who hears from league sources that Graham has been acquired by the Long Island Nets (Brooklyn’s affiliate), while Iwundu has joined the Cleveland Charge (the Cavaliers‘ affiliate).
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report provides a stock report on some of the top prospects of the 2022 NBA draft class, identifying Duke forward AJ Griffin, G League Ignite forward MarJon Beauchamp, and LSU Tari Eason as some players who are climbing up draft boards.
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2021/22 NBA Reverse Standings Update

January 24th, 2022 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the 2021/22 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on the tentative 2022 draft order. Our 2021/22 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, is updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.

Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2022’s draft order would look like with no changes to lottery position. We’ve noted each club’s odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick, based on the league’s current lottery format.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Draft Lottery]

In instances where two non-playoff teams or two playoff teams have identical records, the order in our standings isn’t necessarily definitive — for draft purposes, the NBA breaks ties via random drawings, so those drawings would happen at the end of the year.

Of course, the 14 non-playoff teams all draft before the 16 playoff teams, even if some non-playoff teams have better records than those that made the postseason. Our reverse standings account for playoff seeding, though for now they assume that the Nos. 7 and 8 teams in each conference will earn those final two postseason spots. Since the NBA’s play-in format opens the door for the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds to sneak into the postseason, we may have to account for a little movement in the draft order at season’s end.

Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Charlotte’s pick says the Hornets will send their pick to the Hawks if it’s not in the top 18. As of today, the Hornets’ pick projects to be 19th, meaning that pick would change hands.

Currently, the Magic have a small cushion at the “top” of the reverse standings — their 9-39 record makes them the NBA’s worst team by a three-game margin over the 11-35 Pistons. Both teams, along with the 14-33 Rockets, would have a 14% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick if the lottery were based on today’s standings.

The Clippers‘ spot in the reverse standings is worth monitoring closely during the second half, since they’ll send their unprotected first-round pick to the Thunder. The 23-25 Clippers currently rank No. 11 in the reverse standings, but without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George available for the foreseeable future, they could easily move into the top 10.

Our Reverse Standings tracker can be found at anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protection will be changing hands in 2022. So be sure to check back often as the season progresses!

Note: Mobile users are advised to turn their phones sideways when viewing the Reverse Standings in order to see team records and lottery odds.

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And-Ones: Sharpe, 2022 Draft, Dotson, Douglas

January 23rd, 2022 at 1:26pm CST by Rory Maher

It was reported a few days ago that top prospect Shaedon Sharpe will be eligible to apply for the 2022 draft, which could have a ripple effect on the projected lottery selections this summer. Kyle Tucker and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic explore the next steps for both Kentucky and Sharpe, who has yet to play a game for the Wildcats. Sources tell The Athletic that although Sharpe is able to apply, there are still questions as to whether he would actually be granted eligibility by the NBA.

Tucker relays that Kentucky wasn’t surprised by the news that Sharpe was eligible to apply for the draft, as it was always a possibility. Sharpe just joined the Wildcats at the beginning of January and hasn’t even gone through a full practice yet. Coach John Calipari said the report doesn’t change anything from his perspective.

“It doesn’t change anything. He plans on being here next year. He’s watching. Whether I play him or not this year, if he’s ready to be able to be in games, I’ll put him in. But he’s a great kid and he’s doing well and he’s going to make practices even better. He’s only been here two weeks. But at the end of the day, you know I’m going to be for kids. That’s how I do this,” Calipari said.

The plan all along has been for Sharpe to sit out the ’22 season and suit up for 2022/23. Tucker had a text exchange with Sharpe’s mother, Julia Bell, to verify the plan was still in place and she confirmed that it was. Tucker believes that Sharpe will end up playing at some point this season, but Vecenie thinks that it would behoove him not to.

Vecenie hasn’t projected Sharpe in any mock drafts for ’22 due to the murkiness of his eligibility, but he believes the 6’6″ wing has the upside to be the No. 1 overall pick. If Sharpe does end up applying and is granted eligibility by the NBA, Vecenie says he’d rank him around No. 5 on his board and would be surprised if he fell outside of the top 10. Sharpe would immediately become one of top wing prospects in a draft that is mostly known for its big men.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

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Checking In On Traded 2022 First-Round Picks

January 21st, 2022 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

We’re over halfway through the 2021/22 NBA regular season, which means it’s a good time to take a look at where things stand with 2022’s traded first-round picks. Many of the traded first-rounders for the ’22 draft come with protections, so there’s a chance they might not change hands this year after all.

Using our list of traded first-round picks for 2022 and our reverse standings tool, here’s our breakdown of which of those traded picks are most and least likely to change hands, and which ones remain up in the air:

Picks that will definitely change hands:

  • Thunder acquiring Clippers‘ pick (unprotected).

When the Clippers traded a series of first-round picks and swaps to the Thunder in the Paul George blockbuster in the 2019 offseason, they weren’t counting on losing both George and Kawhi Leonard to long-term injuries in the same season. That’s the case this year though, and it could result in Oklahoma City receiving an extra lottery pick.

The Clippers are currently in a play-in spot, so their pick could move to No. 15 or lower if they make the playoffs, but for now it’s projected to be No. 11 or No. 12 (they’re tied with the Knicks in the NBA standings).

  • Thunder acquiring Suns‘ pick (top-12 protected).

The Thunder will also receive a first-round pick from another Pacific team, though that selection appears likely to end up at the very end of the round — the Suns have the league’s best record so far, so their pick would be at No. 30.

  • Grizzlies acquiring Jazz‘s pick (top-six protected).

The pick the Grizzlies are getting from the Jazz will fall near the end of the first round too. For now, it projects to be No. 25 or No. 26, as Utah is tied in the standings with the Heat.

  • Grizzlies or Pelicans acquiring Lakers‘ pick (unprotected).

The Lakers will send their first-rounder to the Pelicans if it lands in the top 10 or to the Grizzlies if it’s between 11-30. It’s certainly possible things continue to go south in Los Angeles and the pick moves up into the top 10 — if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, their pick could even jump into the top four via the lottery.

For now though, the more likely scenario is that Memphis will get the Lakers’ pick — it would be No. 15 or No. 16 (they’re tied with Minesota) if the season ended today and L.A. clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.

Picks that definitely won’t change hands:

  • Thunder acquiring Pistons’ pick (top-16 protected).
  • Hawks acquiring Thunder‘s pick (top-14 protected).

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played this season, but it seems pretty safe to pencil in the Pistons and Thunder as non-playoff teams, which means they’ll keep their first-round picks in 2022. Right now, Detroit’s at No. 2 in the lottery standings, while Oklahoma City’s at No. 4.

Given how weak the bottom half of the Western Conference has been, the Thunder could theoretically sneak into a play-in spot and make the playoffs, but it’s an extreme long shot — the teams ahead of them in the standings will be more motivated to push for the postseason.

Assuming they keep their pick this year, the Pistons will owe the Thunder their top-18 protected first-round pick in 2023. If the Thunder’s own pick is protected, they’ll instead send the Hawks their 2024 and 2025 second-round selections.

Still up in the air:

  • Hornets acquiring Pelicans‘ pick (top-14 protected)
  • Bulls acquiring Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected)

At this point, it looks more likely than not that the Pelicans and Trail Blazers will keep their own lottery-protected first-round picks.

Portland, despite holding the West’s No. 10 seed for now, has a tenuous hold on a play-in spot with Damian Lillard sidelined for a while. New Orleans may have some potential for a second-half surge, especially if Zion Williamson returns, but the team is on the outside looking in for the time being. Either team would have a difficult path to a playoff spot as a lower seed in the play-in tournament.

Currently, the Pelicans’ first-rounder projects to be No. 6 or No. 7 (they’re tied with San Antonio), pending lottery results. Assuming that pick ends up in the top 14, New Orleans would instead send their 2022 and 2024 second-round selections to the Hornets.

If the Trail Blazers keep their first-round pick, currently projected to be No. 9, they’d owe the Bulls their top-14 protected first-rounder in 2023.

  • Hawks acquiring Hornets‘ pick (top-18 protected)

The Hornets‘ first-round selection, which was just traded from New York to Atlanta in the Cam Reddish deal, is right on the edge and could go either way. It’s top-18 protected and is currently projected to be at No. 19, meaning the Hawks would receive it if the season ended today (as long as the seventh-seeded Hornets clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament). That could change quickly though.

  • Rockets acquiring most favorable of Heat‘s or Nets‘ pick (Heat get least favorable).

Finally, the Rockets will control the two most favorable picks of the following three: their own first-rounder, the Nets first-rounder, and the Heat‘s first-rounder; Miami will get the least favorable of the three, unless the Heat’s own pick lands in the top 14 (in which case Miami would keep it and Houston would get the other two picks).

It seems safe to assume at this point that the Rockets will keep their own selection and the Heat will make the playoffs, so it’ll come down to whether Brooklyn or Miami finishes higher in the standings. Currently, the Heat are a half-game ahead of the Nets, so Houston would get Brooklyn’s pick (No. 24) and Miami would hang onto its own (No. 25 or No. 26).

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And-Ones: Hardship Deals, Sharpe, Cornelie, All-Star Voting

January 20th, 2022 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA will continue to allow teams to sign players to 10-day hardship contracts via a COVID-related allowance through February 17, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). When first introducing the new form of hardship deals last month, the league said they would be permitted until at least January 19.

Unlike the injury-related hardship deals that have been available for many years, a COVID hardship contract doesn’t count against a team’s salary for cap or tax purposes. Additionally, an injury-related hardship exception is only granted if a club has at least four players out with longer-term injuries, whereas that club becomes eligible for a COVID hardship exception as soon as one player enters the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

There are far fewer players in the protocols now than there were in mid-to-late December and early January, so hopefully the worst of this season’s COVID-19 outbreaks are behind us and not many hardship deals will be required in the coming weeks.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Kentucky guard Shaedon Sharpe, once ranked by ESPN as the top prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, will be eligible to apply for the ’22 NBA draft as an early entrant, a source tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. It’s unclear whether or not Sharpe, who has yet to play at all for the Wildcats, will actually declare for this year’s draft. If he does, it would shake up the top 10 for lottery teams — Givony has tentatively placed the 18-year-old sixth overall on ESPN’s 2022 big board.
  • Despite some rumors that he was being eyed by a team in Spain, former Nuggets forward Petr Cornelie has signed a G League contract and joined the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s affiliate, according to the league’s transactions log. Cornelie was waived last week so the Nuggets could sign Davon Reed to a two-way contract.
  • The NBA announced the latest All-Star voting results on Thursday and issued a reminder that voting will end on Saturday and the All-Star starters will be announced next Thursday, January 27. The fans’ selections will account for 50% of the overall vote, with current NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) accounting for the remainder.
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And-Ones: Davis, Georges-Hunt, All-Star Picks, 2022 Draft

January 15th, 2022 at 11:15am CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA big man Deyonta Davis has signed with a Taiwanese team, the Taoyuan Leopards, according to Sportando. Davis, an early second-round selection in the 2016 draft, last appeared in the NBA during the 2018/19 season, when he saw action in nine games with Atlanta.

We have more from around the basketball world:

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And-Ones: Kerr, 2022 Draft, Mitchell, 10-Day Contracts, Kings

January 6th, 2022 at 8:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is pushing for fouls committed to prevent fast breaks to be upgraded to technicals, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. That would mirror the FIBA rule regarding transition-stopping take fouls. “It’s terrible,” Kerr said. “It’s terrible for the game. It’s terrible for the fans.”

Kerr added that the NBA is “very serious” about changing its current rule. The league’s competition committee has discussed an increased penalty for take fouls.

We have more from around basketball world:

  • The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has posted his latest mock draft and the first player taken doesn’t play for Gonzaga of Duke. He projects Auburn forward Jabari Smith going off the board first due to his superior shooting ability for a big man, giving him a slight edge over Duke’s Paolo Banchero and Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren.
  • Smith is also No. 1 on the latest rankings from Chad Ford of NBABigBoard.com. Ford even goes as far to say that’s he’s a consensus No. 1 among scouts and GMs he’s talked to, with Holmgren ranking No. 2.
  • Former Pistons forward Tony Mitchell is signing in Uruguay with Club Trouville, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. The 29-year-old last played in Venezuela. He saw action in 21 NBA games with Detroit during the 2013/14 season.
  • What has it been like for NBA executives to try to bring in players when members of their 15-man roster enter protocols? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst takes an in-depth look at the frenzy of free agent signings on 10-day deals to fill in for players who test positive.
  • The Kings have been fined $50K for violating league rules prohibiting team owners and executives from interacting with scorer’s table personnel during game play, NBA Communications tweets.  Assistant GM Wes Wilcox was fined $15K.
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And-Ones: Newley, Jenkins, Spoelstra, Protocols, Draft

January 5th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

While fans may gloss over the names of draft-rights players included as placeholders in minor NBA trades, the players themselves certainly take notice, even if they don’t expect to ever play in the NBA. Australian wing Brad Newley, who never came stateside after being selected in the second round of the 2007 draft, is one of those players — he had his rights sent from the Lakers to the Knicks in the three-team Rajon Rondo trade earlier this week.

The deal gave Newley an opportunity to reconnect with Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose, who was his agent when he first entered the draft 14 years ago, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Newley knows he won’t ever play for the Knicks, but he and Rose remain friends, and he joked that he’d be ready if he gets the call.

“If the Knicks are rebuilding around a 36-year-old, I’m not sure,” he told Vorkunov. “But I’m open to anything.”

Newley admitted in his conversation with Vorkunov that he probably didn’t prioritize the NBA enough earlier in his career, but he was happy to spend his career playing in international leagues and said he doesn’t have any regrets.

“I played the whole of my career in Europe as a stash guy, thought maybe one day you’d get a chance, but I was on some pretty good contracts over there,” Newley said. “So the NBA, at that time, the guarantees weren’t around as much as they are now, with the way things operate. It would be interesting if you could rewind and do it all again, it might be done a little bit different.”

Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world…

  • Taylor Jenkins of the Grizzlies and Erik Spoelstra of the Heat were named the NBA’s December Coaches of the Month for the West and East, respectively, the league announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). Jenkins led Memphis to a 12-4 record despite missing star guard Ja Morant for 10 games, while Spoelstra navigated a series of injuries and COVID-19 cases to lead Miami to a 10-5 mark.
  • In an Insider-only story, Kevin Pelton of ESPN looked into which teams have been hit the hardest by the health and safety protocols this year, concluding that the Cavaliers, Sixers, and Bucks have lost more WARP (wins above replacement player) than any other clubs so far. Zach Kram of The Ringer explored the other side of the health and safety equation, examining how the players signed using hardship exceptions have performed and how they’re affecting the NBA.
  • Looking ahead to the 2022 NBA draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) profiled some players whose stocks are rising, including Iowa’s Keegan Murray and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has published a new mock draft.
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