The 2022 NBA draft soon approaches. It is a process through which 60 new athletes are selected by the 30 different franchises in the league. These new NBA players are selected in an order called the “Draft Lottery“. In it, the bottommost teams in the league bid for the top pick in hopes of finding a franchise-changing player.
It is crucial to know that the draft pick has a potential value of its own. Furthermore, it can be traded just like an NBA player is traded. Its value also changes based on which player ends up being selected at what draft pick.
Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith have emerged as the draft prospects to look out for in this draft. Additionally, teams such as the Lakers and Nets who have failed to make a deep postseason push, are likely to be on the lookout for potential deals during the draft.
Rumors surrounding contending teams in the 2022 NBA Draft
It is important to note that the NBA is a huge business. Therefore, rival franchises will play mind games and wear poker faces till the end. There will be several trade rumors and other forms of gossip that never pan out. Be that as it may, it is always possible to predict what teams are going to do to a large extent.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have had a disappointing season since the acquisition of Russell Westbrook. They have several overpaid players and aged veterans on their roster. Therefore, the Lakers failed to even make the play-in tournament qualify for the playoffs this year.
Reports have emerged that the purple and gold franchise will look to aggressively obtain second-round picks from other teams. The draft is divided into two rounds with each round having 30 players chosen by the 30 franchises. Therefore, the second-round picks are somewhat less valuable but might yield talent down the line. However, it is unclear who they will select so far down the draft.
It is quite unfair to consider the Lakers a contending team after their repeated performances in the past few years. The Golden State Warriors drafted their core themselves.
The 2022 Warriors are the FIRST NBA Champions since 1978 to draft EIGHT of their current players.
This team is the definition of built, not bought. pic.twitter.com/EEyRJQ2H7M
— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) June 20, 2022
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green may have a few years of prime basketball play left in them. Therefore, GSW will mostly look to trade all its picks in order to make money to clear cap space or recruit another star. They can afford to do so as the team is already filled with a lot of young future NBA stars.