Prospect Watch: Who’s the best point guard in the 2022 NBA Draft?
Plus our weekly Rookie, Sophomore and Draft Prospect of the Week
During the NBA, college and international seasons, my Tuesday newsletter will focus on NBA rookies and sophomores as well as prospects for the 2022 NBA Draft, especially those who have helped or hurt their stock in the past week.
My reports will be based on my own observations as well as information I receive from NBA scouts, executives and agents.
Who’s the best point guard prospect in the 2022 NBA Draft?
Before the college basketball season began, NBA scouts were quite bearish on the point guards in this draft class. Big Board 1.0 had only one point guard, Alabama’s JD Davison, rated as a lottery pick, and just four point guards in the top 30. But with their strong play this season, those four — Davison, Kentucky’s TyTy Washington, Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler and Overtime Elite’s Jean Montero — are now all rated as potential lottery picks. A fifth PG, Taran Armstrong, is a sleeper rapidly climbing up NBA draft boards.
The top four are bunched up close to each other as late lottery prospects and the four have significantly different strengths and weaknesses. Who will be the top point guard off the board in 2022? Given they are rated about evenly, it might depend on what a team needs.
Best athlete: JD Davison, Alabama
Big Board 2.0 rank: 9
Davison wowed NBA scouts in Seattle this weekend with the best game of his young college career against Gonzaga. He dropped 20 points with five rebounds, three assists, one steal and 4-of-6 shooting from 3.
Scouts already knew Davison was one of the two or three most dynamic athletes in the draft class, with speed, explosion off the floor and a solid NBA frame and body. Among the top guards in this draft, only Purdue’s Jaden Ivey really is in the same league athletically.
Davison blows by defenders, shoots a crazy-high 77.8% at the rim and grabs a huge number of rebounds for a player his size. When he penetrates, he sprays passes out to the perimeter, averaging an impressive 6.7 assists per 36 minutes.
Scouts are more concerned about the rest of his game. He doesn’t take many 3s, although his shooting display against Gonzaga doubled his number of made 3s and brought him up to 38% from distance. He’s also been turnover prone, averaging 4.6 turnovers per 36 minutes.
Davison has the upper hand in this four-PG race, given his athleticism. If he can keep shooting well and bring the turnovers down, he can solidify his claim to being the top point guard in this draft class.
(Note to readers: This is an excerpt of my weekly Prospect Watch column provided to free subscribers. To get my my take on the Top 5 point guard prospects in the 2022 NBA Draft along with my Rookie, Sophomore and Draft Prospect of the Week … you need to be a paid subscriber.
Paid subscribers will also get access to full Mock Drafts, Big Boards, scouting reports on all of the top players in the draft as well as the ability to comment on articles and special discussion boards, Zoom calls and more interaction with me in the coming weeks.)