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

Strength: Shooters

Evaluating shooting is not as easy and linear as looking at college three-point percentage. There are tons of indicators and things to monitor like free throw percentage, pull-up shooting numbers, types of looks, and high school priors.

As basketball continues to evolve, this will likely be a strength in plenty of classes moving forward. Starting at the top of the class, both Jabari Smith Jr. and Adrian Griffin had incredible shooting seasons, especially when you factor in their size and age.

There are the aforementioned “three-and-D” prospects who should be positive catch-and-shoot wing players (Mathurin, Agbaji, Ellis, Jalen Williams, and Vince Williams). While the raw shooting numbers weren’t great, two-guards Johnny Davis, Malaki Branham, and Bruce McGowens had really impressive pull-up shooting flashes that could easily translate to extended range.

There are also good catch-and-shoot prospects with size. Marquette’s Justin Lewis took over five threes per game. Northwestern’s Pete Nance shot 45% from three and 78% from the free throw line. St John’s Julian Champagnie had just okay percentages but an absurd amount of volume the last two seasons. Deeper down boards, there are guys like Murray State’s Tevin Brown and Davidson’s Hyungjung Lee who are shooting specialists coming off of monster college shooting seasons.

Then there are a few prospects that had subpar shooting seasons but have some of those indicators of being good shooters. UW-Milwaukee’s Patrick Baldwin was hailed as one of the best shooters in the class entering the season. But a team context that required him to take a ton of contested looks and be the defense’s focus really hurt his percentages. I’m still a believer in his long-term shooting potential.

The same goes for Michigan’s Caleb Houstan, whose struggles are certainly more on him, but he has years of priors of being an elite catch-and-shoot prospect. Michigan State’s Max Christie struggled with shooting consistency as a high school prospect, but he does have good touch, shot prep, and form to give me optimism that he’ll shoot.

Threes are being shot at a record pace in the NBA and players know they have to shoot to stay in the league. As a result, a handful of plus shooters are entering the NBA.