NBA Confirms Dates For 2022 Draft, Lottery, Combine
The NBA has officially confirmed the dates and locations for its three primary draft-related events in 2022. Those events are as follows:
- Draft Combine: Monday, May 16 – Sunday, May 22 in Chicago.
- Draft Lottery: Tuesday, May 17 in Chicago.
- 2022 NBA Draft: Thursday, June 23 in Brooklyn (Barclays Center).
Those dates had already been penciled in on the NBA’s tentative offseason calendar, but given how unpredictable the last couple offseasons have been due to COVID-19, it’s good to have them locked in.
It’s also worth noting that all three events will be held fully in person this year. The draft, lottery, and combine were virtual in 2020, and the 2021 lottery also took place virtually.
For more information on the 2022 draft, be sure to check out our current NBA reverse standings, our lists of traded first-round and second-round picks for ’22, and our glossary entry outlining how the draft lottery works.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/15/2022
Hoops Rumors’ live chat took place today at 12:00 pm Central time.
Click here for the transcript, and join Dana Gauruder at 11:00 am CT on Thursday for our next live chat.
CJ McCollum Cleared To Return For Pelicans
Veteran guard CJ McCollum has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols and will be available to play for the Pelicans on Tuesday vs. Phoenix, the team announced today (via Twitter).
McCollum entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols last Thursday and missed New Orleans’ games against Charlotte on Friday and Houston on Sunday.
The Pelicans split those games and remain well positioned to qualify for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference. At 28-40, they’re the No. 10 seed, one game behind the No. 9 Lakers (29-39) and 1.5 games up on the No. 11 Trail Blazers (26-41).
Devonte’ Graham entered the Pelicans’ starting lineup during McCollum’s two-game absence, but figures to return to the second unit on Tuesday. Graham and Jose Alvarado will likely play reduced roles after seeing a bump in minutes with McCollum out.
Warriors Notes: Curry, Green, Wiseman, Looney, Kerr
Warriors star Stephen Curry went off for 47 points in Monday’s win over Washington, his second-highest point total of the season and his highest single-game mark since Draymond Green went down with a back injury in early January. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr said there was “100 percent” a correlation between Green’s return on Monday and Curry’s big night, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
“It changed for Steph right away, as soon as Draymond got out there,” Kerr said. “The chessboard changes with Draymond out there. With Steph, everything looks and feels a little bit different.”
Curry and Green only shared the court for 15 minutes, but Green’s impact on the former MVP was immediately apparent. Curry poured in 41 of his 47 points with Green on the court, scoring just six points on 3-of-9 shooting in the 20 minutes he played without him.
“When I’m not out there and when I’m watching, I see things that can be done that can help him out,” Green said, per Andrews. “He’s the greatest shooter we’ve ever seen. But you still have to screen, and you still have to find him in good spots and make sure he gets good shots and easy looks as opposed to tough looks all the time.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Prior to Monday’s game, Kerr told reporters that Green won’t be in the starting lineup for his first few games back, per Andrews. The former Defensive Player of the Year will also be restricted to about 20-to-23 minutes per game for the next week or two, and he’s OK with that. “I’m usually against any restrictions. I hate them,” Green said. “… (But) I am actually very inviting of it this time around. I know I need it. I know I need them to protect me from myself.”
- After playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors on Thursday and Sunday, second-year center James Wiseman will play another G League game on Tuesday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. According to Kerr, the team hasn’t made any further decisions on Wiseman, who is working his way back from knee surgery.
- Green’s return will likely cut into Kevon Looney‘s playing time, but Looney’s importance to the organization has never been felt more than it has this season, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. As Thompson details, Looney has made a major impact both on the court – with Green and Wiseman unavailable for much of the season – and off it, with teammates like Jordan Poole praising the big man’s veteran leadership.
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic explores how Kerr has gotten creative managing the Warriors’ rotation this season while incorporating rookies and dealing with injuries and slumps, noting that the veteran head coach will have an increasing number of options available to him as the team gets healthier.
Magic’s Jonathan Isaac To Miss Rest Of Season
Magic forward Jonathan Isaac won’t make his long-awaited return from a torn ACL this season after all, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports Isaac will miss the rest of 2021/22. The team has formally confirmed the news.
Isaac, who suffered a major left knee injury during the first half of the 2019/20 season, returned in the Walt Disney World bubble that year and tore his left ACL in early August. He missed the entire ’20/21 season while recovering from the injury and will now miss all of ’21/22 as well.
Even for an injury as significant as an ACL tear, it’s an unusually long recovery process for Isaac, who has been out for over 19 months and will go more than two full years between game action if he returns for the start of next season. For comparison’s sake, Magic point guard Markelle Fultz tore his ACL in January 2021 and has been back on the court for the team since last month.
Still, players who return in about a year from torn ACLs often take a while to recapture their old form. With the Magic very much in the midst of a rebuilding process and holding an 18-51 record that places them last in the Eastern Conference, it makes sense that there would be no real urgency to get Isaac back on the court until he feels 100%.
According to Price, the 24-year-old still hadn’t progressed to full-contact drills as of late last week, so he was running out of time to go through a ramp-up process before the regular season ends on April 10.
“First and foremost, the care of our players will always be our top priority,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “We have to remember that Jonathan has missed essentially two years. While it continues to be a day-to-day process for him as he continues to strengthen and condition all aspects of his body, we feel we have reached a point where it would be prudent to say that he will not play this season.
“I understand this can be frustrating to our fans, but Jonathan has worked extremely hard and he is eager to return to game action, which is why we must continue to manage his rehabilitation with the big picture in mind. Quite frankly, we are just out of time to ramp him up to play in games this season.”
Prior to his injury, Isaac was one of the NBA’s most talented, versatile defenders, having averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game in 34 appearances in 2019/20. He was also in the process of expanding his offensive game, putting up 11.9 PPG on .470/.340/.779 shooting in ’19/20 before tearing his ACL.
Isaac is under contract for three years beyond this season, at a rate of $17.4MM annually.
Raptors Notes: Anunoby, Siakam, Barnes, Birch, Achiuwa
Raptors forward OG Anunoby, who has been sidelined since the All-Star break due to a fractured right ring finger, was reevaluated on Monday, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
“It’s kinda the same,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Anunoby’s finger injury. “It’s not fully healed. He’s got a decision to make.”
According to Nurse, the plan is for Anunoby to practice on Tuesday and see how he feels — the team will know more at that point about his status. Nurse’s comment about Anunoby having a “decision” to make suggests that playing through the injury before it has fully healed could be an option if the pain isn’t too bad.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- As Eric Koreen writes for The Athletic, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes are both technically forwards, but their versatile skill sets allows them to function as de facto point guards at times, and they’re developing intriguing chemistry together. “I think we have kind of like similar skill sets, and we always feel like we have a mismatch every time down the floor,” Siakam said over the weekend.
- Noting that Toronto enjoyed success in Denver on Saturday with a shooting-deficient lineup made up of Barnes, Khem Birch, Thaddeus Young, Chris Boucher, and Dalano Banton, Eric Koreen explores Nurse’s unconventional rotation decisions, dubbing the Raptors the NBA’s “delightful weirdos.”
- Birch appreciates the Raptors’ willingness to stick with him as a rotation regular and a frequent starter, given how much time he has missed this season due to injuries and illnesses. “Honestly, I feel like with any other team I probably wouldn’t even be playing right now,” said Birch, who has missed 26 of 68 games (link via Doug Smith of The Toronto Star). “The fact that they just have that type of confidence in me despite all the injuries I’ve had, all the setbacks, and I’m still getting minutes tells a lot about how they feel about me, and it gives me a lot of confidence to keep going despite my injury.”
- Nekias Duncan of BasketballNews.com examines the progress that Raptors center Precious Achiuwa has made in his second NBA season and the areas where he still has room to improve.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Northwest Division
For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this offseason. We consider whether their stock is rising or falling due to their performance and other factors. Today, we’re focusing on a handful of Northwest players.
Jusuf Nurkic, C, Trail Blazers
2021/22: $12MM
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Up ⬆️
A lengthy injury absence preceding a player’s free agency typically doesn’t help that player’s stock, but Nurkic’s value is on the rise despite the case of plantar fasciitis that will sideline him for at least four weeks and could end his season.
Prior to his injury, the veteran center was playing his best basketball of the season during a four-game winning streak (21.5 PPG, 14.0 RPG, and 4.3 APG). As a result, it’s safe to assume shutting him down was more about keeping the Blazers’ tanking efforts on track than it was about any long-term health concerns. After all, Portland has had essentially a neutral net rating (-0.1) during Nurkic’s minutes this season, compared to a -11.7 mark when he’s not on the court.
Nurkic looks like a good bet to get a new contract worth at least the $12MM per year he’s currently making — and likely more than that.
Derrick Favors, C, Thunder
2021/22: $9.72MM
2022/23: $10.18MM player option
Stock: Down ⬇️
Favors’ per-minute production hasn’t declined significantly during the last two seasons, but his 15.3 minutes per game in 2020/21 and his 16.7 MPG this season are the two lowest marks of his career. Injuries and DNP-CDs have also limited him to just 39 games so far in ’21/22.
At age 30, Favors should still have plenty left in the tank, and he could reverse the trend of his declining playing time if he ends up in the right situation next season. But he won’t get a contract offer on the open market that exceeds the value of his player option ($10.18MM). I’d expect him to opt in and then try to work with the Thunder on a trade or buyout.
Danuel House, F, Jazz
2021/22: Minimum salary
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Up ⬆️
Once a key three-and-D rotation player in Houston, House saw his numbers dip in 2020/21 and slide even further to start this season, leading to his release. It took him a little time to find a permanent new home following a 10-day deal with the Knicks, but he has hit his stride again in Utah, averaging 6.7 PPG with an impressive .453 3PT% in 18 games (18.8 MPG).
House isn’t the type of player who is a threat to go off for 30 points on a given night (his career high is 23), but his ability to knock down three-pointers and defend multiple positions could be very important for a Utah team hoping to make a deep playoff run. A strong postseason showing would further boost House’s stock entering the summer.
Josh Okogie, G/F, Timberwolves
2021/22: $4.09MM
2022/23: RFA
Stock: Down ⬇️
Okogie has received praise from head coach Chris Finch for his leadership and his attitude, but the former first-round pick is no longer part of the Timberwolves’ regular rotation, having logged just 48 minutes across seven games since the start of February. He has some value on defense, but doesn’t provide enough on offense to warrant consistent minutes.
While Minnesota can technically make Okogie a restricted free agent this offseason, doing so would require a $5.86MM qualifying offer — I expect the team to pass on that QO, letting Okogie become an unrestricted FA.
Jeff Green, F, Nuggets
2021/22: $4.5MM
2022/23: $4.5MM player option
Stock: Up ⬆️
After years of settling for minimum-salary contracts, Green earned a two-year, $9MM commitment from the Nuggets last summer. The veteran forward will turn 36 years old later this year, so he initially seemed like a safe bet to pick up his $4.5MM option for 2022/23. But that’s no longer a given, based on the way he has performed this season.
Stepping into a larger role than anticipated due to Michael Porter Jr.‘s extended absence (and, to a lesser extent, Vlatko Cancar‘s season-ending foot injury), Green has averaged nearly 25 minutes per game in 63 appearances (51 starts) for Denver, scoring 10.5 PPG on 51.4% shooting.
While he has struggled from beyond the three-point line (30.1%), Green has been a crucial contributor this season for a Nuggets team trying to survive without two of its top scorers (Porter and Jamal Murray). It might be enough to justify an offseason opt-out — if he finishes the season strong, Green could potentially land one more multiyear deal.
Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic Named Players Of The Week
Nets forward Kevin Durant and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).
In his first full week back after returning from a knee injury earlier this month, Durant led the Nets to wins over Charlotte, Philadelphia, and New York during the week of March 7-13, averaging 30.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 7.7 APG on .522/.364/.875 shooting in those three games (38.2 MPG). It’s the second time this season that he has earned Player of the Week honors.
It’s Doncic’s second Player of the Week award this season too — he also won it exactly one month ago. This past week, he led the Mavericks to a 3-1 record, averaging 30.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 6.3 APG, and 1.8 SPG on .494/.395/.767 shooting in 36.5 minutes per contest.
Durant beat out fellow nominees Giannis Antetokounmpo, Darius Garland, Pascal Siakam, and Wendell Carter Jr. in the East. The other Western Conference nominees were Deandre Ayton, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Jordan Poole (Twitter link).
Blazers Officially Complete 10-Day Hardship Deals For Eubanks, Dunn
The Trail Blazers have officially signed big man Drew Eubanks and guard Kris Dunn to 10-day contracts, the team announced today in a press release. Both deals, which were previously reported, were completed using hardship exceptions.
It’s Eubanks’ third 10-day deal with the Blazers. He has started seven games at center for the team, averaging 9.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG in 26.0 minutes per contest.
Dunn is a new addition, having been called up from the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. The former No. 5 overall pick spent last season with the Hawks, but was limited to four games due to an ankle injury. He was traded from Atlanta to Memphis in the offseason and was subsequently waived.
Most of this year’s 10-day hardship contracts have been completed using the COVID-related hardship exception, but Eubanks and Dunn were signed using injury-related hardship exceptions. A team qualifies for an injury-related hardship exception if it has at least four players who have missed three or more consecutive games, as long as those players project to remain sidelined for at least the next couple weeks.
Portland has at least six such players – Damian Lillard, Nassir Little, Jusuf Nurkic, Didi Louzada, Joe Ingles, and Eric Bledsoe – and possibly as many as eight, if Anfernee Simons and Justise Winslow aren’t expected to return soon. That’s why the club is eligible for multiple hardship exceptions.
The new deals for Eubanks and Dunn will run through March 23, covering the Blazers’ next six games. Eubanks’ 10-day contract will pay him $99,380, while Dunn earns $111,457.
Portland’s roster count now temporarily stands at 19 players — 15 on standard contracts, two on 10-day hardship deals, and a pair on two-way pacts.
Community Shootaround: Picking Playoff Opponents
Based on the current NBA standings, a pair of increasingly realistic scenarios are in play for the first round of this year’s postseason.
The Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed could be in line for a matchup against a Nets team that has Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons available, if New York City’s private sector vaccine mandate is dropped within the next month and Simmons is ready to play.
The Western Conference’s No. 1 seed could get a first-round matchup against a Lakers team that has a healthy Anthony Davis coming back from his foot injury. Or potentially a Clippers team with Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Norman Powell available.
We can debate just how dangerous the Nets, Lakers, and Clippers would be in the playoffs if they’re leaning heavily on stars coming off lengthy absences, but it’s probably safe to assume that neither the Heat nor the Suns (the league’s current top seeds) would welcome a first-round series against such a star-studded squad.
With that in mind, it makes sense that multiple NBA writers have recently broached the idea of allowing top-seeded playoff teams to choose their own first-round opponents. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wrote about the subject last week, suggesting that it would add intrigue and would create an additional incentive for top teams to fight for the No. 1 seed in the conference. ESPN’s Zach Lowe also discussed the idea on Friday.
Both O’Connor and Lowe suggested a format in which the No. 1 seed could pick its opponent from the two play-in winners, leaving the No. 2 seed to face the other play-in winner.
However, as Lowe observes, that format could lead to “aggrieved” No. 2 seeds who would’ve perhaps preferred to finish at No. 3 and play the No. 6 team — if the season ended today, for instance, some top Eastern teams may rather face the No. 6 Cavaliers than the No. 7 Raptors or No. 8 Nets.
According to Lowe, a few teams have proposed the idea of a full playoff draft, with the top three seeds in each conference picking their first-round opponents from among the bottom four seeds. So, if there was a No. 8 seed that the top clubs really wanted to avoid, the “playoff draft” could result in that No. 8 team facing the No. 4 seed in the first round.
According to O’Connor, he has heard from people around the NBA who worry that such a format could lead to “an acrimonious relationship between players and teams over who picks who for a playoff series.” But O’Connor believes the extra drama generated should outweigh any hurt feelings.
Lowe, meanwhile, acknowledges that the “playoff draft” format could have some unintended consequences, including some scenarios where it’s better to finish fifth than fourth. But he points out that some playoff teams already spend the last few days of the regular season engaging in mini-tanks to try to get to a preferred seed.
We want to know what you think. Should top playoff seeds get to choose their first-round opponents? If so, would you only want the No. 1 seed to get that option, or would it make sense for the top three seeds to all get their pick?
Head to the comment section below to share your two cents!