2022 NBA Draft Open Thread: Raptors select Christian Koloko at 33; Banchero goes first overall

The NBA is on the clock! Well, the Orlando Magic are, anyway — they’ve got the first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which starts in about 30 minutes, as I write this!

The Toronto Raptors, though, don’t pick until the second, at spot #33 specifically. Could be a long wait! To hold you over, this open thread will cover all the picks, trades, rumours, and happenings of draft night, so keep it locked right here!

Where to Watch:

TSN2, starting at 8:00 p.m. (or ABC and ESPN, for those south of the 49th)

Full broadcast details can be found right here!

Things to Know:

• Toronto Raptors 2022 NBA Draft Day Primer
• Four names to watch for with the Raptors at pick 33, per an NBA Draft Scout
• Can the Raptors ever have enough wings?
• Bigs come in different sizes and shapes
• Evaluating the Raptors’ CanCon Options
• The Raptors are casting a wide net... or are they?
• Catching up on Toronto’s pre-draft workouts

Drop a line in the comments and let us know how you’re feeling — about the Raptors, the picks, the rumours, the fashion, the sports betting commercials — any of it! And — let’s watch.

12:00 a.m. Update:

After the Raptors picked Koloko at 33, the second round picks started coming in a flurry:

34: Oklahoma City selects Jalyin Williams

35: Los Angeles Lakers selectMax Christie

36: Pistons select Gabriele Pocida

37: Dallas selects Jaden Hardy

38: San Antonio selects Kennedy Chandler — then traded him to Memphis

39: Cavaliers select Khalifa Diop

40: Minnesota selects Bryce McGowens

41: New Orleans selects EJ Liddell

42: Knicks select Trevor Keels

43: Los Angeles Clippers select Moussa Diabete

44: Atlanta drafts Ryan Rollins, and promptly traded him to the Golden State Warriors, in exchange for pick #51.

45: Charlotte Hornets select Josh Minnot

All right, that’s it for me! I’ll be back if my phone blows up with an OG Anunoby trade, but for picks 46-58, you’re on your own!

11:15 Update:

And there it is: The Toronto Raptors selected Christian Koloko with the 33rd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Also can I just say how freakin’ wonderful it was to learn about the pick in near-real time? Wow and Shams didn’t have a leak! Just a real steel curtain organization. I love it.

We’ll have more on the Cameroonian Koloko to come!!

11:05 Update:

The second round started off with a maple-flavoured bang! as Canada’s (other) team, the Indiana Pacers, selected another Canuck, Andrew Nembhard, to join Mathurin and Brissett in Indy.

And then... it happened again! Canadian Caleb Houstan went to Orlando with #32!

I mean, go Canada go, right?

11:00 Update:

21: The Denver Nuggets selected Christian Braun.

22: Minnesota (through trade with Memphis) selected Walter Kessler.

23: Another trade! In this case, the Philadelphia 76ers traded the no. 23 pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for DeAnthony Melton. Philly also sent out Danny Green! While I kinda like the Melton fit for Philly, they might really miss Green... then again, Danny should be a great veteran presence in Memphis! The Grizzlies, in turn, selected David Roddy with the 23rd pick.

24: The Milwaukee Bucks selected MarJon Beauchamp.

25: The Spurs selected Blake Wesley.

26: Houston selected Wendell Moore Jr. — and then added him to the three-way trade with Minnesota and the Dallas Mavericks that sees Christian Wood go to Dallas. Moore will go to the Timberwolves, and Houston will get the 26th pick.

27: The Miami Heat selected Nikola Jovic.

28: The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors selected Patrick Baldwin Jr.

29: The Rockets (via that earlier trade) selected TyTy Washington.

30: The Denver Nuggets selected Peyton Watson, with the pick acquired in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, in exchange for JaMychal Green, last week.

And... that’s it for the first round! The Raptors, obviously, did not move up. Their pick awaits at #33!

10:10 p.m. Update:

Here’s how the middle of the first round went down:

13: The Charlotte Hornets selected Jalen Duran, then a trade developed — Duran went from Charlotte to Knicks, who then routed him — and Kemba Walker!? — to the Detroit Pistons.

A trade so complex it required Woj, Shams and Stein! Phew.

14: The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Ochai Agbaji.

15: The Charlotte Hornets selected Mark Williams.

16: The Atlanta Hawks selected AJ Griffin, son of Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin.

17: The Houston Rockets selected Tari Eason.

18: The Chicago Bulls selected Dalen Terry.

19: The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Jake Larivia — and promptly traded him to Memphis. In return, the Wolves got picks 22 and 29.

20: The San Antonio Spurs selected Malaki Branham.

9:15 p.m. Update:

Whoa! A trade! FINALLY! The Knicks, who had pick #11 selected Ousmane Dieng — and then immediately traded him to Oklahoma City... who had the #12 pick!

The Thunder then selected Jalen Williams at #11:

9:00 p.m. Update:

All righty, let’s run down picks 8 through 10:

#8: New Orleans Pelicans select Dyson Daniels.

#9: San Antonio Spurs select Jeremy Sochan.

10: Washington Wizards select Johnny Davis.

8:50 p.m. Update:

Back to back Canadians!! After Mathurin went to Indiana at #6, Shaedon Sharpe was selected #7 by the Portland Trail Blazers!

That’s pretty dang cool, man, to see two Canadians get drafted in the top 10, and back-to-back, no less!

But come on, man. What is this:

8:40 p.m. Update:

With the intrigue of the top 3 out of the way, the intriguing (in all the bad ways) Sacramento Kings in their pick, and walked out with Iowa’s Keegan Murray with the fourth pick.

That left Jayden Ivey — and he went to the Detroit Pistons at pick #5.

Much like the Rockets, I’m guessing the Pistons are juuuust fine with this pick.

And then it was time to fly the maple leaf! The Indiana Pacers selected Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin with the fifth pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Mathurin joins forces with Oshae Brissett to form a super-fun Canadian duo!

8:20 p.m. Update:

The Oklahoma City selected Chet Holmgren with the second pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Let’s give Shams some run here:

A few minutes later, the Houston Rockets selected Jabari Smith Jr. with the third pick.

Surely all three teams must be feeling good about this, right? The Magic and Thunder clearly got the guys they wanted, and the Rockets may have had to “settle” for the guy who might be the best player out of all three.

8:10 p.m. Update:

HERE WE GO! The Orlando Magic have thrown everyone a curve ball and selected Paolo Banchero with the first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft!

8:00 p.m. Update:

Adam Silver is getting on stage! And here’s the latest from Michael Grange on the Raptors’ plans:

7:30 p.m. Update:

Before we get to the main event, let’s catch up on the news from the past 36 hours or so:

Do we really have to talk about Kyrie Irving?

Sigh. Kyrie “Living Embodiment of the GTA3 ‘Ah shit, here we go again’ Meme” Irving apparently has a list of teams he’d like to play for, should the Brooklyn Nets wash their hands of their point guard.

No word on how many of those teams laughed when told Kyrie wanted to play with them.

Look, I couldn’t care less about Kyrie Irving, but if his bolting Brooklyn leads to Kevin Durant demanding a trade, and Masai Ujiri swooping in, then go off, Kyrie — go off!

Second rounders on the move

The Los Angeles Lakers somehow finagled pick #35 from the Magic, which I’m pretty sure was mandated by ESPN just so the talking heads could shout about the Lakers again. After all, about 10 minutes had passed since the last time we heard from them!

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers also picked up a second rounder, this one in exchange for (ahem) Sasha Vezenkov.

Adjust your expectations for the future of NBA basketball accordingly.

Detroit Piston trade Jerami Grant to Portland Trail Blazers

In return for Grant, the Pistons receive a top-4 protected 2025 first-round pick from Portland (via Milwaukee); there are some second round picks swapping hands too.

Looks like a good deal for both sides — Detroit clears cap space, the Blazers get a reliable front court scorer. Everybody wins!