2022 NBA Draft pick-by-pick tracker with analysis of selections, trades

What should be a wild night of trades and unexpected picks has finally arrived.

We have already seen one big pre-draft trade — Jerami Grant going to the Trail Blazers — and a couple of smaller ones, but there are a lot more to come. In a year with what is considered a thin free agent class and not a lot of teams with cap space, expect teams to be aggressive with their moves on this Draft night.

Plus 58 new players will be welcomed into the NBA family. (It’s 58 and not 60 because Miami and Milwaukee were forced to surrender second-round picks for tampering.)

This 2022 NBA Draft Tracker will have it all: breakdowns of every pick, every trade — complete with an analysis of how that player fits (or doesn’t) with his new surroundings.

 No. 1 Orlando Magic: Paolo Banchero, 6’10” forward, Duke. After running a brilliant campaign of deception for months, the Magic take the most NBA-ready player in the Draft. Banchero walks in the door with an NBA body, elite athleticism and guard-like handles to go with his size (he can play the four or the five at the NBA). He’s more polished than the other top candidates, he can run an NBA offense right now for a stretch. He is physical and can push his way to the rim and dunk over everyone, but he needs a lot of work on his jump shot and playmaking (think a young Blake Griffin). There are also defensive concerns, he would fade into the background on that end at times in college. Might be the early favorite for Rookie of the Year because of his developed game and he gives an impressive young Magic team a potential alpha to go with a nice young core.

 No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder: Chet Holmgren, 7’1″ center, Gonzaga. A true “unicorn” in that there isn’t another player quite like him in the