The NBA Draft has just about arrived and we couldn’t be more excited! There are a lot of quality players in this year’s draft, but who are our top picks? Have a read on below to see all our top NBA picks for the draft in 2022:
Jabari Smith Jr
NBA odds for #1 overall draft pick: -350
Coming out of Auburn, Jabari Smith Junior is projected to be the top pick in the NBA Draft as far as the betting odds are concerned. He is a six foot ten inch tall Power Forward who weighs in at 220 pounds. He is also the son of a former National Basketball Association player and a distant cousin of former number one overall pick Kwame Brown.
During his one season in college, he was an All-American. Smith has a ton of talent and will likely be a top contender for the 2022-23 Rookie Of The Year. He will be a great fit for an Orlando Magic squad that is missing an elite front court player to pair with Mo Bamba and Cole Anthony to form a young and potentially dominating big three. In one season as an Auburn Tiger, Smith averaged nearly 29 minutes a game and shot 42%. He scored nearly 17 points a game and seven rebounds a game as well.
Tony’s NBA Picks For 2022 Draft: Jabari Smith Jr (-350)
Chet Holmgren
NBA odds for #1 overall draft pick: +600
Chet Holmgren in my opinion is the best prospect in this draft. He has the most potential out of anyone in my opinion, however, he will need to put some weight on if he wants to last in the National Basketball Association. During his lone season as a member of the Gonzaga Bulldogs he burst onto the scene as he was a serious contender for National Player Of The Year for the majority of the season.
He was the former number one recruit in the nation in the 2021 class and is seven feet tall. He can play the four and the five depending on the lineup structure and if he can add some muscle, he has the chance to turn into one of the best rebounders in the league. Holmgren is perhaps the best prospect to ever come out of Gonzaga next to Adam Morrison who ended up being a bust. He would be a great option for Orlando or the Oklahoma City Thunder regardless of where he ends up going between the number one and two spots.
Tony’s NBA Picks For 2022 Draft: Chet Holmgren (+600)
Paolo Banchero
NBA odds for #1 overall draft pick: +250
Banchero is the next great Duke Blue Devil to come down the pipeline in Cameron under coach K. He will also be the last one along with Trevor Keels after coach K’s retirement. Banchero is poised to be a monster in the National Basketball Association and he will be huge no matter where he ends up. He was the ACC freshman of the year and player of the year in 2021-22, and he will hope that his game translates just as great as it did in college.
He stands at six feet ten inches tall and weighs 250 pounds. He was a second team NCAA All-American, and racked up numerous awards in high school and college. At Duke he averaged 33 points a game, shooting 47% and adding eight rebounds a game as well. He is going to be a monster in the league no matter where he goes and will likely be a perfect fit in his projected destination in Houston.
Tony’s NBA Picks For 2022 Draft: Paolo Banchero (+250)
Keegan Murray
NBA odds for #1 overall draft pick: +20000
Murray comes out of the University of Iowa and is a versatile forward who stands six foot eight inches tall. In two years at Iowa, he mostly came off the bench as a freshman but as a sophomore, he started every single game for the Hawkeyes. He averaged nearly 16 points a game and seven rebounds as well as a block a game too.
He has the potential to be a solid double-double player night in and night out in the National Basketball Association regardless of where he ends up playing. He was a first team All-American in 2022 and first team all Big Ten conference as well. Both his brother and father played college basketball at the University of Iowa as well.
Tony’s NBA Picks For 2022 Draft: Keegan Murray (+20000)
Johnny Davis
NBA odds for #1 overall draft pick: +20000
Davis is coming out of the University of Wisconsin and he was a solid combo guard for the Badgers. He stands at six feet five inches tall and weighs 196 pounds. He averaged 19 points per game in 2021-22 and 13 points overall during his two year career in Madison.
He averaged 29 minutes per game and pulled down five rebounds as well. He is projected to go to the Washington Wizards and can play both the one and two positions on the court. He can easily be a serviceable guard in the NBA no matter where he ends up at.
Tony’s NBA Picks For 2022 Draft: Johnny Davis (+20000)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
