{"id":712423,"date":"2026-04-17T12:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712423\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:30:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:30:35","slug":"recent-disasters-change-jalen-durens-standing-in-the-2022-draft-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712423\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent disasters change Jalen Duren’s standing in the 2022 Draft class"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2022 NBA Draft was\u00a0hyped\u00a0as one of the best in years with endless debate about who should go number one between Chet Holmgren, Jabari\u00a0Smith\u00a0and Paolo Banchero. But if we had to do it all over again now, it might be Jalen Duren who claimed the top spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pistons took Jaden Ivey with the 5th\u00a0pick, which got\u00a0all of\u00a0the attention, but then worked a trade to\u00a0nab\u00a0Jalen Duren, who was chosen 13th\u00a0overall. Now Jaden Ivey is out of the\u00a0league,\u00a0and Duren has already made his first All-Star team and may be headed for an All-NBA\u00a0selection, though the recent ruling in Cade Cunningham\u2019s favor\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0help Duren\u2019s case.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2022 Draft has\u00a0largely been\u00a0a disappointment, and there is\u00a0a strong argument\u00a0that Duren is the best player to\u00a0emerge\u00a0from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2022 NBA Draft has turned into a disaster for the\u00a0top 10\u00a0<\/p>\n

What was heralded as such a strong draft\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0turned out that way thus far, as several of the players in the\u00a0top 10\u00a0have not lived up to their draft status.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Number five pick Jaden Ivey is out of the league.<\/a>\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0talked about this one\u00a0plenty,\u00a0so I\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0belabor\u00a0it. Ivey is likely to get another job at some point, but injuries and\u00a0bizarre off-the-court behavior may prevent that if\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0not careful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnny Davis, who was the 10th\u00a0pick, is a certified bust and also out of the league.\u00a0Most of the rest of the top 10 is hanging around, but barely, as guys like Jeremy Sochan and Bennedict Mathurin have already bounced around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those that\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0have been\u00a0largely disappointing, as number one pick Paolo Banchero is already on the hot seat after a down season and poor showing in Orlando’s play-in loss. If Orlando gets bounced by Charlotte tonight and Banchero has a bad game, that talk is only going to get louder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jabari Smith Jr. has been up and down, and though he was much better this year and earned himself a big extension, I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think anyone would argue\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0a superstar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keegan Murray fell off the map this season after getting his big extension, hitting just 27 percent of his 3-point shots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pacers shipped Bennedict Mathurin off to LA, where he did have a good game in their play-in loss, but the Pacers were still willing to trade him away rather than deal with his upcoming contract. Not terrible, but not a star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best picks came from outside the top 10, with Jalen Williams (12), Jalen Duren (13), Tari Eason (17), Christian Braun (21), Walker Kessler (22), Peyton Watson (30)\u00a0and Andrew Nembhard (31) looking like the\u00a0savviest\u00a0picks.\u00a0If you want to know why Denver is good\u00a0all of\u00a0the time, this is a good illustration, as they have two of those guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, if you had to do it all over again, Williams, Holmgren and Duren would\u00a0probably be\u00a0your top three picks in some order, which is not what people were expecting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2022 Draft shows you can find talent anywhere if you are good at it and that the most hyped picks\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0often end up as the best players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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