Patrick Baldwin Jr. – Page 5 – Syndication Server

Aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Duke’s AJ Griffin is soaring back into the top tier

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Chad Ford (NBA Big Board), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

AJ Griffin (Duke), Alondes Williams (Wake Forrest), Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Orlando Robinson (Fresno State), Walker Kessler (Fresno State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Christian Braun (Kansas), and Tari Eason (LSU) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.\

The most notable prospects who made their debut on our rankings were Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky), David Roddy (Colorado State), and Jaylin Williams (Arkansas).

Meanwhile, the top prospects who were not included in any of these recent mock drafts are Daimion Collins (Kentucky), Alex Fudge (LSU), Justin Moore (Villanova), Darius Days (LSU), Jared Rhoden (Seton Hall), Tre Mitchell (Texas), Dawson Garcia (North Carolina), and more.

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Duke’s AJ Griffin is soaring back into the top tier

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

The most notable prospects who made their debut on our rankings were Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky), David Roddy (Colorado State), and Jaylin Williams (Arkansas).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2022 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Jabari Smith rising in latest projections of every pick

Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. highlighted the prospects on the rise in the latest Rookie Wire Mock Draft.

With the 2021-22 basketball season in full swing, scouts and front-office executives have had an extended look at the next wave of prospects set to enter the NBA.

Prior to the beginning of the season, Duke forward Paolo Banchero and Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren dominated the conversation atop most draft boards. However, the top of the draft looks to be changing with Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. emerging in a big way this season.

Rookie Wire took a look at the next rookie class and projected every pick based on the latest information at hand. Of course, with much of the season left to play, these rankings will change but here is how we see things at the moment.

Note: The order of the draft was pulled from Tankathon as of Jan. 19. The 2022 draft may only have 58 picks after the Bucks and Heat were stripped of their second-round picks by the NBA.

2022 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Debut rankings of the top 101 prospects

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

One of the top pre-season prospects (Patrick Baldwin Jr.) is playing for a mid-major program that has just two wins so far this season. Other top prospects (AJ Griffin and Peyton Watson) are not getting much playing time for their high-major programs. Meanwhile, guard Jean Montero is playing in the inaugural Overtime Elite league. How do we compare his productivity to other prospects? I’m frankly not sure.

But nevertheless, my big board exists. Rather than going small, I decided to blow it up and do the opposite. Why did I go ahead and rank 101 prospects if this class has been so challenging to evaluate? There are two distinct reasons.

One is that I’m absolutely crazy and get a very fulfilling satisfaction with the completion of a mock draft and big board because it feels complete. It looks awesome seeing as many names as I can fit on one article, even if the science behind the rankings is a bit inconclusive.

The other reason is that as I make more big boards throughout the year, it’s interesting to track the progress (and regression) of certain prospects. I am inevitably wrong about most of these placements! But this article serves as a barometer for where I feel certain players are at in their development right now.

Note that several notable prospects (e.g. freshmen Max Christie, Matthew Cleveland, Nolan Hickman, Hunter Sallis, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jeremy Sochan, Kobe Bufkin) were excluded because I expect them to go back to school to improve their draft stock.

More likely than not, some of those players will declare for the 2022 NBA draft. When that happens, I obviously will not have them outside of my top 101.

Until then, as we prepare to turn the calendar into a new year, here are the debut rankings for 101 of my favorite prospects.

All stats are accurate as of Dec. 14 and are from Sports-Reference unless noted otherwise.

2022 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Predicting all 59 picks, starting with Paolo Banchero

After a few games, we have a much better idea of how prospects like Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren will be used until the 2022 NBA draft.

Preseason mock drafts, like the one we published back on Aug. 11, are especially challenging. Predictions are mostly guesswork based on uninformed priors until we’ve seen the usage of how each coach will implement the prospects we are evaluating.

Additionally, several players used the offseason to work on certain skill sets (e.g. Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji is now a much better shooter) in ways we couldn’t have projected.

As such, even though it’s only been a few games, it’s a lot easier to discuss the 2022 NBA draft now than it was even just last month. The season is underway for college basketball — and the G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, and several international leagues — which means draft boards are shaping up.

After a ton of movement, as of right now, here is how we see the 2022 NBA draft unfolding.

Draft order is pulled from Tankathon. All stats are accurate as of 11/22/21.

2022 NBA draft: Breaking down the best freshmen in college basketball

It’s no secret that in the NBA draft, the first few players selected are almost always one-and-done freshmen. So who will it be next season?

Of course, it’s hard to say definitively before the college basketball season begins. But with the Champions Classic tipping off at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9, another year of collegiate hoops is about to begin. That means another year of prospects are going to make their NCAA debuts and show scouts what they can potentially do as pros.

Below are ten of the best freshmen who are making the transition to the college ranks — as well as another watch-list of some other notable and interesting freshmen to pay attention to as well.

(Note that Memphis’ Emoni Bates was not included because he is not eligible to be drafted until the 2023 NBA draft.)

2021 NBA Mock Draft: Predicting all 59 picks, starting with Chet Holmgren

Let’s look ahead to next year’s draft.

We are only a couple of weeks removed from the 2021 NBA draft and it’s silly to publish a mock draft for next year. But let’s do it anyway.

Because frankly, far away as though it may seem, ten months can go by fast. Although a lot is going to change, some things stay the same. For example, I published my first mock draft of the 2020 cycle in May 2019 and all three of the first projected picks heard their names called within the first three picks nearly fifteen months later. Much of the rest, of course, is utterly wrong and embarrassing. But it is still helpful to track progression and regression.

Before we discuss the next crop of future NBA talent, however, let’s address the elephant in the room. You have probably noticed that the headline said this mock draft highlights 59 picks. No, that isn’t a typo.

Allow me to explain. The Milwaukee Bucks have forfeited the rights to their second-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft due to violating league rules regarding an attempted transaction made back in Nov. 2020. While it sucks for the additional person who is going to go undrafted, undrafted free agency isn’t the worst thing.

Otherwise, the order of this draft was determined by reversing the NBA futures odds courtesy of Tipico SportsBook. The teams whose odds fell outside the eight best in each conference composed the projected lottery. Meanwhile, all picks involved with previous trades were included in the order as well.

Another quick housekeeping note: My mock drafts tend to be fairly data-driven. But that can sometimes lead to some blind spots for evaluating prospects playing outside the NCAA (e.g. high school, AAU, FIBA, etc.), which made pre-season mock drafts particularly difficult.

That’s no longer the case thanks to the help from our fantastic new partners over at Cerebro Sports, a stats and analytics resource that scrapes box scores to determine how top basketball prospects have stacked up against all their previous competition.

With all that in mind, far away as we may be from draft night on June 22, here is how I see everything shaking out just based on what we know so far:

Top 5 recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr. commits to play for father at Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Top-five recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr. is staying home to play for his father at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Five-star forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. has decided to take the path seldom traveled as he continues his basketball journey to the college ranks.

Instead of taking his talents to a blue blood program like Duke or Georgetown, a former powerhouse crawling its way out of the doldrums under program legend Patrick Ewing, Baldwin Jr. is staying home to play for a person near and dear to him. The 6-foot-9, 190-pound small forward committed to play for his father, Patrick Baldwin Sr., at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Wednesday morning. Baldwin Jr. is the program’s highest-ranked commit of all-time.

Duke was Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s main competition throughout Baldwin Jr.’s recruitment and a late push by Georgetown to land the Wisconsin native was ultimately for naught.

“Baldwin is a highly skilled and talented prospect and should have a major impact playing in the Horizon League,” 247Sports’ Travis Branham said of Baldwin. “He possesses great size for the position, long arms, a sturdy frame and his athleticism has continued to improve.

“Baldwin’s biggest asset lies in his size coupled with his ability to make shots from three with a very smooth stroke but he does bring more than that to the table. He possesses a high feel and IQ for the game, is a capable scorer off the bounce and is an underrated passer for the position.

“As a prospect, Baldwin possesses a very high floor and should help the Panthers come back from a 10-12 season this past year.”

247Sports ranks Baldwin Jr. as the No. 4 overall recruit in the class of 2022.

No. 21 Sussex Hamilton gears up for another run at a Wisconsin title, possibly more

Sussex Hamilton, led by Patrick Baldwin Jr., is gearing up for a season with hopes of winning the Greater Metro title.

SUSSEX, Wis. – You ask Sussex Hamilton coach Andy Cerroni to describe the excitement surrounding his boys basketball team and the first thing he does is look toward the court.

It was the first Tuesday night of the season. The Chargers didn’t have a game, but the place was filled with kids and parents, some fans, too. This was Hamilton’s version of midnight madness, complete with a three-point shootout, dunk contest and the opportunities for the fans to get a picture with the team.

“We do this five or six years ago, we don’t get this turnout,” Cerroni said. “There is a lot of excitement. These kids have earned it, but they understand and appreciate this is special.”

SUPER 25: Boys Basketball Preseason National Rankings

The show of support was symbolic of what Hamilton has accomplished the past two seasons and its prospects for the future.

With 38 wins, a state tournament appearance and a Greater Metro Conference title, the Chargers have been one of the area’s most successful teams the past two years.

Most of the players key to that success will again take the floor for the team this season. When a team has that level of overall experience and the presence of a national-level recruit like junior Patrick Baldwin Jr. expectations are high. USA TODAY likes the Chargers’ prospects so much it gave the program the No. 21 ranking in its first national ranking of the season.

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Hamilton appreciates the compliment but ….

“I don’t think it means too much because you have to step up and play every day,” senior guard Carson Smith said. “You’re not going to be given anything. It’s not that big of a deal to me. I’m not worried about that.”

Turning the page on last season

While appreciative of the recognition, there is no need to warn Hamilton about the folly of these kinds of things. Last March the team lived it. Facing a Brookfield Central squad that it beat twice and had lost one of its best players, Hamilton fell to the Lancers in overtime of the sectional final.

Central went on to win its first state championship in convincing fashion. Hamilton was left to think of what could have been.

“Looking back we think we could have won state, too,” Baldwin said. “On the court we played hard, but at the end they made plays and at some points we didn’t.”

Read the rest of the story at the Journal Sentinel.