2022 Draft Week(-ish) Recap

And there goes the 2022 NBA Draft! There was a ton of action across the league, starting 10 days before the draft even started, so I wanted to round up all of the moves in one place.

Pre-Draft Deals

Denver sheds salary, swaps picks (Woj, June 13th)

Thunder receive:

JaMychal Green

$8,200,000

 2027 1st round pick (protected 1-5 through '29, then becomes two 2nds, per Zach Lowe)

Nuggets receive:

#30 pick

Two future 2nd round picks

It felt like the immediate reaction to this was that it's typical of Denver to dump a good player in JaMychal Green to cut their luxury tax bill once they knew he'd pick up his player option, especially after they weren't willing to spend to keep President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, but this isn't necessarily a bad deal. Yes, you'd think a team getting Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back would go all out with to contend with depth around Nikola Jokic, but swapping a pick five years from now for one in this draft and two 2nd rounders down the line is solid value. They also create a Trade Exception worth that same $8.2 million to possibly take in someone down the line, though it remains to be seen whether they'd actually add to their tax bill.

This was OKC's last chance to use their plethora of cap room for salary dumps like this before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's max deal kicks in on July 1st, so it's understandable that they didn't try to squeeze more out of this deal. They have so many players on rookie-scale contracts and upcoming 1st round picks already that it makes sense to push one so far down the line that it could capture more upside than the 30th pick. Plus, Green being a useful veteran on an expiring contract could possibly be eventually moved for more assets. 

Dallas adds Wood (Shams, June 15th)

Mavericks receive:

Christian Wood

$14,317,459

Rockets receive:

Boban Marjanovic

$3,500,000

Trey Burke

$3,300,000

Sterling Brown

$3,000,000

Marquese Chriss

$2,193,920

#26 pick

While Dallas probably did a little better here by not giving up anything of too much value, I think this is a win-win given where both franchise are. Christian Wood provides a more dynamic big man to pair with Luka Doncic with his inside-out game after proving his 3 point shot is real these past two seasons in Houston, making 38.4% of 5 attempts per game. Although Dwight Powell is a serviceable rotation player, he was overmatched in their Western Conference Finals run, and Maxi Kleber was relied upon a little too much at center as opposed to splitting his time between the front court spots.

It does remain to be seen how much Wood can impact defense and winning after being stuck on non-playoff teams thus far in his career, so the Rockets only getting a late 1st round pick for him on an expiring deal isn't that surprising. ESPN's Tim MacMahon indicated that not taking back any future salary was a key part of the equation, so this was really about getting whatever they could while offloading a veteran to clear more an opportunity for Alperen Sengun and whichever big man falls to them with the 3rd pick.

Portland steals Grant (Woj, June 22nd)

Trail Blazers receive:

Jerami Grant

$20,955,000

#46 pick

Pistons receive:

#36 pick

2025 1st round pick (Bucks', protected 1-4)

2025 2nd round pick (Pistons', previously traded)

2026 2nd round pick (Better of Blazers' or Pelicans')

Okay, maybe "steals" is exaggerating a bit, but after so much talk around Jerami Grant to Portland for the #7 pick, this felt underwhelming.  In the end, they wound up using the pick from the C.J. McCollum trade along with the Trade Exception generated then to absorb Grant's salary, so it's kind of a fitting way to acquire Damian Lillard's fellow Olympian as a wingman. I think the 28 year old forward's value has been inflated in the view of some after averaging a not very efficient 20.9 points in two years as Detroit's primary option, but I've always liked him as a supporting two-way threat. This move indicates that the Trail Blazers will operate as an over the cap team with possible access to the Full Mid-Level Exception and Bi-Annual Exception depending on how much they re-sign Afernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and/or Joe Ingles for. Six months from now, you could also expect Grant to sign an extension worth up to $112,654,080 over four years.

For the Pistons, this is probably more in line with Grant's value than what their fanbase was hoping for, if a little low. Moving up 10 spots at the top of the 2nd round and adding an extra 1st along with two 2nd round picks helps stock their cupboard without taking back any salary in return, giving them a ton of flexibility this summer. Some of that was already put to good use on draft night, as you can see below.

Sacramento, Cleveland strike pre-draft deal (Woj, draft day)

Kings receive:

Rights to Sasha Vezenkov

$1.75 million in cash considerations (per Kelsey Russo)

Cavs receive:

#49 pick

This could be an underrated move, or it could be nothing depending on whether or not Sasha Vezenkov ever comes to the NBA. Turning 27 in August, the 2017 2nd round pick was originally part of Cleveland's return in the three-way James Harden trade to Brooklyn and averaged 14.5 points with an impressive 54.7%/39.6%/82.1% shooting line as a 6'9" forward for Olympiacos last season. If Sacramento ends up signing him, that would likely be a better return than a typical late 2nd rounder.

Cleveland apparently weren't planning on bringing Vezenkov over, so using his draft rights to reduce the cost of buying an extra pick isn't bad business at all.

Lakers get into the draft (Woj, draft day)

Lakers receive:

#35 pick

Magic receive:

2028 2nd round pick (better of Lakers' or Wizards')

Cash considerations

Speaking of buying picks, the Lakers are in this draft at last after this deal. Getting this high of a 2nd rounder for one six years from now and cash is nice work from L.A.

Orlando already has the 32nd pick along with the top overall choice and six players already on rookie-scale contracts, so I guess they figured they don't have enough spots for another youngster. At least that future pick will be the better option of two teams' picks, but it will be hard to be higher than this one now.

Draft Results

Magic

#1 Paolo Banchero

#32 Caleb Houstan

Thunder

#2 Chet Holmgren

Traded three (extra) 1st round picks for #11 Ousmane Dieng (Woj, Shams with details)

2023 1st round pick (Nuggets', protected 1-14 through '25, then becomes '25 and '26 2nds)

2023 1st round pick (Pistons' protected 1-18 through '24, 1-13 in '25, 1-11 in '26, 1-9 in '27, then becomes '27 2nd)

2023 1st round pick (Wizards' protected 1-14, 1-12 in '24, 1-10 in '25, 1-8 in '26, then becomes '26 and '27 2nds)

#12 Jalen Williams

#34 Jaylin Williams

Rockets

#3 Jabari Smith

#17 Tari Eason

Traded #26 for #29 and two future 2nd round picks

#29 TyTy Washington

Kings

#4 Keegan Murray

Traded #37 for Mavericks' 2024 and 2028 2nd round picks (Woj, Stein with details)

Pistons

#5 Jaden Ivey

Traded 2025 1st round pick (Bucks') for #13 Jalen Duren and Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker

$9,165,471

#36 Gabriele Procida

Pacers

#6 Bennedict Mathurin

#31 Andrew Nemhard

Traded 2026 2nd round pick (Worst of Pacers', Heat's, or Spurs') and cash considerations for #48 Kendall Brown

Traded #58 for cash considerations

Trail Blazers

#7 Shaedon Sharpe

Traded #46 for Nuggets' 2024 2nd round pick

#57 Jabari Walker

Pelicans

#8 Dyson Daniels

#41 E.J. Liddell

#52 Karlo Matkovic

Spurs

#9 Jeremy Sochan

#20 Malaki Branham

#25 Blake Wesley

Traded #38 for Grizzlies' future 2nd round pick and cash considerations

Wizards

#10 Johnny Davis

#54 Yannick Nzosa

Knicks

#42 Trevor Keels

Traded #11 for three protected 2023 1st round picks

2023 1st round pick (Nuggets', protected 1-14 through '25, then becomes '25 and '26 2nds)

2023 1st round pick (Pistons' protected 1-18 through '24, 1-13 in '25, 1-11 in '26, 1-9 in '27, then becomes '27 2nd)

2023 1st round pick (Wizards' protected 1-14, 1-12 in '24, 1-10 in '25, 1-8 in '26, then becomes '26 and '27 2nds)

Traded the Nuggets pick and four 2nd round picks to salary dump Kemba Walker and add Bucks' 2025 1st round pick

Sent:

Kemba Walker

$9,165,471

2023 1st round pick (Nuggets', protected 1-14 through '25, then becomes '25 and '26 2nds)

Three 2023 2nd round picks (Knicks', Jazz's, and better of Mavs' or Heat's)

2024 Knicks 2nd round pick (Knicks')

Received:

2025 1st round pick (Bucks', protected 1-4) 

So between the two deals, they traded #11 and four future 2nd round picks in order to shed Walker's salary and add three protected 1st round picks: two in 2023 and one in 2025.

Hornets

Traded #13 for Nuggets' 2023 1st round pick and four future 2nd round picks

2023 1st round pick (Nuggets', protected 1-14 through '25, then becomes '25 and '26 2nds)

Three 2023 2nd round picks (Knicks', Jazz's, and better of Mavs' or Heat's)

2024 Knicks 2nd round pick (Knicks')

#15 Mark Williams

Traded #45 and Knicks' 2023 2nd round pick for #40 Bryce McGowens

Cavaliers

#14 Ochai Agbaji

#39 Khalifa Diop

#49 Isaiah Mobley

#56 Luke Travers

Hawks

#16 AJ Griffin

Traded #44 for #51 and $2 million in cash considerations

#51 Tyrese Martin

Bulls

#18 Dalen Terry

Timberwolves

Traded #19 and future 2nd round pick for #22 and #29

#22 Walker Kessler

Traded #29 and two future 2nd round picks for #26 Wendell Moore

Traded #40 for #45 and Knicks' 2023 2nd round pick

#45 Josh Minott

Traded #48 for 2026 2nd round pick (Worst of Pacers', Heat's, or Spurs') and cash considerations

#50 Matteo Spagnolo

Grizzlies

Traded #22 and #29 for #19 Jake LaRavia and a future 2nd round pick

Traded DeAnthony Melton for #23 David Roddy and Danny Green

Sent:

De'Anthony Melton

$8,250,000

$8,000,000

Received:

Danny Green

$10,000,000

Traded future 2nd round pick and cash considerations for #38 Kennedy Chandler

#47 Vince Williams

Nuggets

#21 Christian Braun

#30 Peyton Watson

Traded 2024 2nd round pick for #46 Ismael Kamagate

76ers

Traded #23 and Danny Green for DeAnthony Melton

Sent:

Danny Green

$10,000,000

Received:

De'Anthony Melton

$8,250,000

$8,000,000

Bucks

#24 MarJon Beachamp

Traded cash considerations for #58 Hugo Besson

Heat

#27 Nikola Jovic

Warriors

#28 Patrick Baldwin Jr.

Traded #51 and $2 million in cash considerations for #44 Ryan Rollins

#55 Gui Santos

Raptors

#33 Christian Koloko

Lakers

#35 Max Christie

Mavericks

Traded 2024 and 2028 2nd round picks for #37 Jaden Hardy

Clippers

#43 Moussa Diabate

Celtics

#53 JD Davison