NBA Draft

It's almost Draft Day! Find out when and how to watch the NBA Draft, and catch up on the latest Raptors draft buzz.

The 2022 NBA Draft is taking place at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, and tips off (so to speak) at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 23. But even without a Raptors pick, the top of the draft is where the real excitement lies. Who will Masai and Bobby go for? We don’t have a pick in the first round, after all. Bigs? We got bigs! We got wings.

The stage is set, but who will go No. 1? The Athletic's team of college basketball and NBA writers and insiders are weighing in here with updates and ...

GO FURTHER To shepherd us through the process, I have asked The Athletic’s NBA Draft expert, Sam Vecenie, to join me and answer all of the most important questions I have leading up to the draft. GO FURTHER The waters will only get murkier as we get into draft night, with several more picks expected to be in play or on the move. GO FURTHER GO FURTHER Here are five big questions and a bonus pseudo-question for the 2022 draft. I thought I would try to answer some of the questions I’m being asked the most, I’m hearing asked the most and the ones I have most often heard in the intel-gathering process prior to Thursday’s big night. This is the time when rumors, conjecture and flat-out lies saturate the NBA air. The stage is set, but who will go No. 1? GO FURTHER Per sources, Detroit is heavily expected to pursue Phoenix Suns big man and former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton in the open market.

Part 3 in this year's draft cycle. I'll be going over a wide range of prospects that the Raptors could select at pick 33. Some prospects who I like -- and ...

I’m not too sure if I can project him to be as good of a defender as say, Houstan. You’re really just picking him if you believe in his shooting being as good as it was a year ago and improving from there. Size wise, he’s about the same height as Norman Powell with none of the athleticism or burst that allowed Norm to evolve into an efficient scorer in the NBA. For a player who will be expected to generate offence at the next level, that’s a major concern. On the defensive end lay all the reasons why a team would draft Koloko. I mentioned his mobility before, and he can really use that to his advantage on this end of the floor. I wouldn’t expect him to be much of a scorer off the dribble, but being able to drive to the rim and shoot like he can will nonetheless give him a role in the league. There is a reason why he was in consideration for a top 5 pick before the season started, and it’s because that shooting potential should still be projectable in the NBA. I definitely understand his appeal and wouldn’t object should my preferred big man be off the board and the Raptors want to pursue someone at that position. His mid-range game looks pretty solid and it’s a big reason why he projects to be a shot creator at the next level. A big man of his athleticism and stature being able to switch on to the perimeter and recover inside for some nasty blocks would certainly bolster a defence, and the Raptors’ evident need for a rim protector would surely have them giving Koloko’s tape several looks. His burst is too poor and he doesn’t have much of a handle that would help him in that area. With a majority of his shots coming from beyond the arc at Michigan, an NBA front office is going to be selecting Houstan to be a specialist. He shot pretty well on deep range threes with 37%, so I don’t have a lot of concerns about his shot at the next level. While Houstan would tell you himself that he could have had a better year in college, I don’t think that’s enough to completely wipe him from consideration in this range of the draft.

North Vancouver's Rob Sacre, on the eve of the 2022 NBA Draft, recounts his now decade-ago draft-day journey to being last player picked.

Gray has no regrets about entering the draft; it was just part of his journey. He joined the Ottawa BlackJacks for 2021, averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, before heading overseas to play for Club Básquet Coruña in Spain. Gray didn’t break through to become the first Canadian university player drafted since Saint Mary’s Huskies forward William Njoku was in 1994. Hopefully, that day will come,” said Gray, who’s averaging 10 points and a team-high 4.4 assists with the Bandits this year. “The NBA, they don’t give USport guys a chance and opportunity. He took his shot and declared for the 2019 NBA Draft. Yes, I have a plan to be in the NBA, but where am I going to live? You just know in the next few days, your future is going to be changed — you just don’t know what it’s going to be. On Thursday, close to 200 players will hope to hear their name called when the 2022 NBA Draft goes at Barclay’s Centre in Brooklyn. “Then the last 10 come, and they’re just shooting off names with more consonants than vowels. “Second round came; OK, these are the teams I knew were going to be interested in me.’” Phenomenal” — but watched name after name get ticked off the list.

Shaedon Sharpe, Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard and Caleb Houstan are the four Canadians with a realistic shot of hearing their name called on Thursday ...

Then, in 2021, Houstan represented Canada at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, where he averaged 17 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game, leading Canada to a bronze medal. Unfortunately, after forgoing his senior year of high school, the Mississauga, Ont. native underwhelmed in his freshman season at Michigan, struggling to adapt to the size and physicality of the Big 10, missing out on All-Freshman honors after averaging 10.1 points per game on 42.6 per cent shooting. While he’s arguably the best operator out of ball screens in this draft class, the knock on Nembhard is that he relies on those screens a little too much, lacking the elite burst or athleticism to score in isolation. Nembhard is a pure point guard with a pair of steady hands, able to make every pass in the book and unselfish enough to do so with regularity. In fact, Mathurin is a likely top-10 pick because he has gotten better every step of the way, moving from Montreal to Mexico City to Arizona and showcasing his character and intangibles in every setting. The team that takes Nembhard will get a hard worker who is ready to run their bench from Day 1. He also played for Team Canada at the Under-19 FIBA World Cup in 2021, averaging 16.1 points per game en route to a bronze-medal finish, including 31 points in the bronze medal game. He then emerged as the top perimeter option for a No. 1 seeded Gonzaga team in 2022, where he earned first-team All-WCC honours and won the WCC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, averaging 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Sharpe has skipped some developmental steps, too, so there is less information on what type of teammate he is, how he performs in the big moments and how accepting he will be of a more complimentary role. However, because Sharpe turned 19 in May and is a full season removed from graduating high school, he was eligible to declare for the 2022 NBA Draft despite never playing a game of college hoops. Sharpe has explosive athleticism with arguably the best vertical pop in this draft class, finishing above the rim and through contact with relative ease, allowing him to succeed as a cutter and in transition. That’s why you will see Sharpe predicted to go anywhere from as high as No. 4 to late in the lottery.

Although all of Shaedon Sharpe, Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard and Caleb Houstan travelled different routes to Thursday's NBA draft, all four Canadians ...

But he's not an elite athlete and I think he's definitely got room to improve," Brown said. Brown said Houstan primarily served as a floor-spacing shooter at Michigan — a role he ably fulfilled with 35.5 per cent three-point shooting. … I think that big game showed something special there, like a shot maker that can make the big shot," Brown said. "It makes up totally for it. Nembhard, 22, played four full seasons in college. "His natural athleticism and shot making ability is unique. BENNEDICT MATHURIN OMG 😱😱😱

FILTHY POSTER @ArizonaMBB Sharpe's journey is nearly unprecedented in recent years. Some were surprised by the 19-year-old's decision to stay in the draft, when he could have honed his game and improved his stock further with one more year with the Wolverines. When it comes to Canadians in the NBA draft, the relevant inquiries are now "how many" and "how high?" In the upcoming NBA draft, four more Canadians are set to enter the league, and two are widely projected to be picked in the top 10. The London, Ont., native was granted college eligibility in January and joined Kentucky, with the original intention to learn with the team and prepare for the 2023 season.

NBA draft week got its first major deal Wednesday, when the Portland Trail Blazers agreed to acquire Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons for a protected 2025 ...

Beal is up for another contract this summer, and he has cycled through John Wall, Russell Westbrook and now Kristaps Porzingis as sidekicks. Portland blew up its roster with a sell-off at the trade deadline and will need a backup plan if it can’t move its pick to get Damian Lillard some veteran help. The Wizards also haven’t had a top-eight pick since they took Porter third overall. Indiana shifted gears by trading Domantas Sabonis at the deadline and is rumored to be shopping guard Malcolm Brogdon. Ivey has the athleticism and speed to break down the defense, and pairing him with Barrett would be cause for genuine hope. If Randle isn’t going to be a franchise player, RJ Barrett doesn’t have much help and the Knicks, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2013, are stuck trying to build a core again. If the Kings can’t find a trade partner, they could always default to another prospect, such as Iowa’s Keegan Murray or Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin. NBA draft week got its first major deal Wednesday, when the Portland Trail Blazers agreed to acquire Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons for a protected 2025 first-round pick and other draft considerations. Sacramento is synonymous with perplexing draft decisions: The Kings took Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic and Trae Young in 2018 after reaching for little-known center Georgios Papagiannis in the 2016 lottery, among other whiffs. The Seattle native has a polished offensive game and would fit cleanly as a leading scoring option for the Magic. If Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren continues to develop physically, he has do-it-all potential as a shot-blocker, lob-finisher, ballhandler, shooter and distributor in a 7-foot frame. Smith projects as a polished lead scorer with three-point range and a high-energy defender who will be able to switch across multiple positions, fitting a prototype that has been en vogue for several years.

The NBA is about to receive the latest wave of young talent. On Thursday, the 2022 NBA Draft will commence, with 58 amateur basketball players officially ...

TSN will have coverage of both the first and second rounds of the draft in Canada. There will be many viewers that choose to stream the NBA Draft or have cut the cord on cable. The draft is slated to begin on Thursday, June 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will consist of two rounds.

Draft order (Round 1). Pick, Team. 1, Orlando Magic. 2, Oklahoma City Thunder. 3, Houston Rockets. 4 ...

The risk is real with Sharpe, but the reward could be a ceiling higher than nearly any other player in the draft. Much like Murray, a gargantuan freshman-to-sophomore leap has Mathurin firmly in the discussion as a top-10 pick. In a weak draft for lead guards, Ivey stands head and shoulders above the rest. Murray's rise from bench player as a freshman to first-team All-American as a sophomore has made him a can't-miss prospect. In the right fit, however, he could put up massive numbers from the get-go. An elite shot-blocker who also hit 39% from beyond the arc, Holmgren can be a rim-protector and pick-and-pop option.

The NBA season concluded just a week ago, and the 2022 NBA Draft is upon us. The Athletic's team of college basketball and NBA writers and insiders are ...

It’s very possible we look back on this draft in five years, even more than in other drafts, and wonder how in the world it ended up going in the order that it did. The commonality? GO FURTHER Four second-round playoff exits and a barren asset cupboard later, that level of excitement isn’t quite the same anymore. NBA Draft week is not like it used to be in Philly. A season’s worth of losses would culminate with a lottery pick or two that allowed fans to dream of better days. GO FURTHER How should the Bulls operate in this year’s draft? Last year’s first-round pick went to Orlando in the Nikola Vučević trade, but the Bulls plucked Ayo Dosunmu as a second-round steal at No. 38. It became blatantly clear in Chicago’s short-lived and injury-marred postseason how much more the Bulls need to truly contend for a championship. GO FURTHER Several prospects in this class could be available for the Cavs when they are on the clock. It's NBA Draft day.