NBA Draft 2022: 3 biggest strengths and weaknesses overall in the class

Weakness: Lead guards

Entering the year, this was perceived as a weaker guard group with an uninspiring freshman guard group, no elite international guards, and no super-high upside returning point guards. Those concerns have reared their head. Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler had a relatively productive year and showed some good burst and pull-up shooting, but it’s incredibly tough to make it as a 6-foot guard in the NBA.

Alabama’s JD Davison had elite athleticism flashes and was a good passer in open space, but was turnover-prone, and a wildly inconsistent shooter. Overtime Elite’s Jean Montero has elite burst, but also has some shooting questions and didn’t dominate the OTE league to the level I had hoped. I have all three guards as late-first to early-mid second-round caliber prospects.

This has given the chance for other guard prospects to rise. Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams went from relatively unknown to ACC Player of the Year and a legitimate prospect. He’s hovering around the late first round for me.

While true, traditional point guards lack in this class, there are a lot of bigger guards who could return value as a primary. Purdue’s Jaden Ivey has the burst and thrives with the ball in his hands, he just needs to tighten his handle up and improve as a decision-maker. G-League Ignite’s Dyson Daniels is a 6’7 playmaker who spent time with Ignite running the point.

Then a pair of freshman combo guards (Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley and Kentucky’s TyTy Washington) both spent time on the ball and could slide between both guard spots. Arizona’s Dalen Terry broke out late in the season and showed initiator skills when Kerr Kriisa got hurt.

There is certainly a lack of traditional point guards in this class, but there are some interesting initiator prospects who teams might swing on instead of a point guard.