2022 NBA Mock Draft: Version 1.0 midway through NBA season
2002, Guard. Jaden Hardy. player. 17.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.3 blocks, 35% fg, 27% 3pt, 88% ft, 32 mpg. Ignite (G-League). 14. 81. Pick Analysis
Coming into the season as a favorite to be selected in the top-five, the G-League has not been kind to young Jaden Hardy. Hardy is an immensely talented shooting guard who was an elite three-level scorer coming out of high school.
This season, though, the shot is simply not falling. He is shooting an abysmal sub-forty percent from the field & under 30 percent from deep. For someone whose calling card is their ability to put the ball in the bucket, shooting inefficiently from the floor is detrimental for his stock.
It’s unlikely that he is able to recover his draft stock enough over the next few months to end up back at the top, but he remains one of the highest ceiling players in this draft class. He is a freak athlete who has shown the ability to score the basketball at an elite level, up until his time with the Ignite. This is no doubt a risky pick, but with Toronto beginning to flirt with mediocrity, rolling the dice on a project player could be worth the reward.
9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.6 steals, 3.4 blocks, 67% fg, 0% 3pt, 66% ft, 21 mpg. Pick Analysis. Duke University (NCAA). 211. Sophomore, Center. Mark Williams. 15. player
Pick via Los Angeles Lakers (Top-10 Protected)
Perhaps just outside of the lottery is a stretch for Mark Williams. However, considering how scarce the center position is in this draft, the Grizzlies’ abundance of first-round picks this year, & the need for a backup at the five, the pick makes a lot of sense. Williams hasn’t played a ton in Coach K’s system, but he is the team’s starting center and an absolute terror in the paint. Williams is an elite shot-blocker & rebounder, projecting as a lob threat & screener on the offensive end.
He’s not what one would think of as a modern big, with a very limited game outside of the painted area. However, Williams looks like a safe bet to be a solid bench piece as a rebounder & interior defender. The Grizzlies like to run the floor, & Williams is the type of center who can get up and down the court quick enough to work in such a system. As far as a grit & grind player goes, Mark Williams has it written all over him.
player. 86. 13.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.8 blocks, 37% fg, 32% 3pt, 74% ft, 28 mpg. Pick Analysis. Freshman, Forward. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (NCAA). Patrick Baldwin Jr.. 16
Patrick Baldwin was a blue-chip in the high school class of 2021 but opted to play his collegiate basketball for his father, the head coach of UW-Milwaukee. So far, this move doesn’t look like a great one.
The Panthers are well below .500 & Baldwin has struggled to get his shot to fall against mediocre talent at best. He might be able to salvage some of his draft stock, but many expected Baldwin to be a near top-five selection this year. Standing at six feet nine inches tall, Baldwin has phenomenal length at his position & is known as a player who can knock down threes with consistency.
Even with his horrendous defense aside, Baldwin’s offensive skill set is something that could potentially be incredibly valuable in the NBA. Clearly, he will need his shots to eventually start falling again, but he will also need to improve his ability to put the ball on the floor & create for himself, rather than just being a spot-up man. Defensively, he could be a nightmare of a fit with the Wolves, but with a need for wing players they would look to capitalize on Baldwin’s slide out of the lottery.