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Why are there only 58 picks in the 2022 NBA Draft?

By Eric Mullin

Why there are only 58 picks, not 60, in the 2022 NBA Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

This year’s NBA draft will be a little shorter than usual.

The 2022 NBA Draft, which is set for Thursday, won’t be the normal 60 picks long. Instead, there will be just 58 selections made at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Why is that?

Well, a pair of teams were each docked a 2022 second-round pick by the NBA due to tampering violations.

The Milwaukee Bucks forfeited their second-rounder in the wake of the failed Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade with the Sacramento Kings in November 2020. The NBA found that the Bucks had conversations with Bogdanovic and/or his representation prior to the start of free agency, which violated league rules. After the sign-and-trade fell through, Bogdanovic signed an offer sheet with the Atlanta Hawks that Sacramento declined to match. 

RELATED: What to know about the 2022 NBA Draft

The Miami Heat were also caught tampering with a pending free agent last offseason. Kyle Lowry joined Miami from the Toronto Raptors via sign-and-trade in August 2021. But the details of the sign-and-trade were reported in the opening minutes of the free agency period, which surely raised some eyebrows across the NBA. Following an investigation, the league concluded that the Heat had premature contract with Lowry’s representation and took away Miami’s next available second-round pick.

“While we disagree, we accept the league’s decision. We are moving on with our season,” the Heat said in response to the penalty.

The forfeited Bucks and Heat selections would have been slotted at No. 54 and No. 55, respectively, this year. The two teams now hold just one 2022 draft pick apiece, with each coming in the first round.

RELATED: Here’s the full 2022 NBA Draft order

The last time an NBA draft had fewer than 60 selections was in 2004, when 59 picks were made. The Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round pick that year, as well as in 2001 and 2002, due to their illegal contracts with former No. 1 pick Joe Smith.

But it’s already set to happen again sometime in the next few years. While investigating the Heat’s acquisition of Lowry, the league was also looking into last offseason’s sign-and-trade between the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls involving Lonzo Ball. Like the Lowry deal, Ball’s move to Chicago was reported extremely early in the free agency period.

The Bulls received the same punishment as the Heat for tampering, but Chicago didn’t already own a 2022 second-round pick. In fact, the Bulls aren’t currently slated to pick in the second round until 2026. 

However, Chicago will receive the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 second-rounder if it lands between Nos. 47-60, which has a strong chance of happening. Should that pick convey to the Bulls, that’s the one they would forfeit.

So we could have two consecutive NBA drafts with fewer than 60 selections.

Just how good is Kristaps Porzingis when healthy?

By Chase Hughes
Just how good is Porzingis when healthy? originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonKristaps Porzingis' reputation as an NBA player has a well-established duality between his talent and availability. Yes, he's good, but he has had some trouble staying healthy.Porzingis has spoken about that himself and at length. During his introductory press conference with the Wizards, he stated his goal of rewriting that narrative.Maybe he will indeed do that in Washington. He's only 27 years old and wouldn't be the first player to overcome injury issues early in his career to enjoy better luck later on. His new teammate Bradley Beal did the same, to a certain extent.But let's take Porzingis' durability out of the equation. Just how good is he when he's on the floor?He might be better than most realize, actually. If you compare his numbers within the context of NBA history and the current league landscape, he stands out, and not just because he's 7-foot-3 and so uniquely versatile he's known as the 'Unicorn.'Porzingis, in fact, flies in some rare air statistically. Take his career averages of 18.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Porzingis is one of only 10 players in NBA history to average at least 18, 7 and 1.5 in those categories and the other nine players are a who's who of top-tier big men. Those nine are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Anthony Davis, Yao Ming and Joel Embiid.Porzingis also has the highest 3-point percentage among those 10 players at 35.3%. Now, he also has the lowest field goal percentage (44.4) and, not surprisingly, ranks low in terms of games played. Only Embiid (328) has appeared in fewer regular season games than Porzingis (337). As a result, he has the fewest win shares of the 10 and by a good margin.Porzingis, though, is one of only three active players with career averages of 18+ points, 7+ rebounds and 1.5+ blocks. Embiid and Anthony Davis are the others.While he has had well-documented injury problems, Porzingis has been even better since returning from his ACL surgery in the 2019-20 season. During that span of three seasons, he has averaged 20.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. Only Davis has averaged at least 20, 8 and 1.5 in those categories. Porzingis has also played in more regular season games than Davis (151 to 138) and has shot a better 3-point percentage (34.7 compared to 28.6), though has also shot a lower field goal percentage (45.1 compared to 50.8).Porzingis' rate statistics like per game average and shooting percentages have put him in a select group. But he's also fared well, perhaps surprisingly, in volume categories.Since the start of 2019-20, he has the seventh-most games (21) with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocks. The only players with more are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. Porzingis has the 12th-most such games since 2015-16, when he entered the league, despite all the time he's missed, including the entire 2018-19 season.Porzingis also has the sixth-most games with 5+ blocks (27) since he was drafted. The five players ahead of him are Gobert, Myles Turner, Hassan Whiteside, Davis and Brook Lopez.One perhaps underrated part of Porzingis' game is his free throw shooting. He's one of 21 players to shoot 80% or higher at the line on 700 or more attempts since 2019-20 began. He's got the best percentage (83.7) among all big men with Jokic (83.1), Towns (82.8) and Embiid (82.6) behind him.Beal is also on the list of 21 players, which means him and Porzingis are arguably one of the better free throw shooting duos in the NBA based on volume and percentage. That could bode well, particularly late in games. Now, the extent to which Porzingis has struggled to stay on the floor needs to be mentioned. Since he came back from ACL surgery for the 2019-20 season, he's appeared in 151 of his team's 226 total regular season games. Broken down by percentage, he has been absent about a third (33.2%) of the time.But that doesn't guarantee he will be injured all the time moving forward. He's intent on changing that storyline and, if he does, the Wizards will have a very good player in their lineup. Just look at the numbers.Basketball Reference's Stathead was used for this research
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