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We are less than two weeks away from the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, and along with it, the latest fantasy campaign. Fantasy drafts will be upon us before you know it and we are here to help you prepare for the upcoming fantasy season with our new NBA Draft Guide.
This year’s Draft Guide is packed with exclusive content aimed at providing the knowledge you need to get prime value in drafts and assemble championship-caliber rosters. We’re gearing up for what should be an exciting season of fantasy hoops, and we’re ready to assist your team management from tip-off to the last week of the regular season. Whether you’re looking for overall rankings, positional tiers, projections, player profiles and much more, we’re confident these are some of the sharpest fantasy basketball tools we’ve ever produced.
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After showing off several looks at our positional rankings, we’re previewing an industry mock draft hosted by our own Raphiellie Johnson. Check out a few of the early rounds, as well as Raph’s analysis below:
Round 1
1. C Nikola Jokic (Denver)
2. PF Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)
3. SF Kevin Durant (Brooklyn)
4. C Joel Embiid (Philadelphia)
5. PG Luka Doncic (Dallas)
6. SG James Harden (Philadelphia)
7. PG Stephen Curry (Golden State)
8. PG Trae Young (Atlanta)
9. PG Damian Lillard (Portland)
10. SF Jayson Tatum (Boston)
11. PG LaMelo Ball (Charlotte)
12. C Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota)
There weren’t any surprises in the first round regarding who was selected. However, Towns lasting until the 12th overall pick did surprise me slightly. He’s failed to finish in the top 10 in 9-cat formats just once in his last five seasons, ranking 12th in the lone exception (2020-21). Also, Towns appearing in 74 games after playing a total of 85 in the two seasons prior should address any durability concerns that fantasy managers may have. According to Hashtag Basketball, Towns had an average ADP (Yahoo, ESPN, and Fantrax) of 11.1 as of October 4, so maybe there’s no need for me to be surprised. I didn’t hesitate to pick Doncic with the fifth overall pick; I believe he’s got a shot at finishing first overall in 9-cat, especially in the aftermath of Jalen Brunson moving on to the Knicks.
Round 3
25. C Bam Adebayo (Miami)
26. PF Zion Williamson (New Orleans)
27. PG Cade Cunningham (Detroit)
28. SF Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
29. SG Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland)
30. PG Fred VanVleet (Toronto)
31. PG Chris Paul (Phoenix)
32. SG Bradley Beal (Washington)
33. PG Darius Garland (Cleveland)
34. SF Jimmy Butler (Miami)
35. PF Kristaps Porzingis (Washington)
36. SG Zach LaVine (Chicago)
One of the big questions entering drafts is when should managers be willing to roll the dice on a player whose injury history has been questionable at best. Williamson, Leonard, Beal, and Butler all have the capability to outperform where they’ve been drafted here, but taking any of those players comes with considerable risk. In the case of Leonard, how many load management days will there be? And if the Clippers play well enough, do more of those days occur during fantasy playoff time? Williamson is a player who excites me fantasy-wise because he can be a major asset in the field goal percentage category.
As for my pick, I opted for Mitchell. He gets a fresh start in Cleveland playing alongside Darius Garland, and the presence of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt could mean that we see more of Mitchell jumping passing lanes on defense. Last season he averaged 1.5 steals per game, matching his career-high (2017-18).
For more mocks, analysis and rankings at every position and a variety of formats, check out our full 2022 NBA Draft Guide.
