Read through our free betting preview to find the best picks for the 2022 NBA Draft, with top odds courtesy of the best NBA betting sites.
We’re less than a week away from the second-most exciting part of the 2022 NBA season, the NBA Draft! As some of the world’s best basketball prospects gather to figure out where they’ll kick off their careers, the NBA fans and bettors eagerly await what will happen and how the NBA will look next season.
Perhaps, even more, the latter, who spent a good portion of the year analysing the college basketball players and those who will be at the NBA Draft in a bid to find basketball bet of the day and make some extra money. And if you aren’t sure what will happen at the draft, we have covered you!
In this betting preview, we will look at some of the most exciting players in the 2022 NBA Draft and the 2022 NBA Draft betting odds and share our thoughts and predictions for anyone betting on the NBA Draft 2022.
You can find the complete NBA 2022 Draft order and rankings on the official website.
The betting odds for NBA Draft 2022 are out, and if the prices are correct, we shouldn’t see any surprise picks this year. But even though we don’t necessarily agree with the bookies on all their prices, let’s first check who are the favourites on the NBA Draft lottery betting odds 2022.
Many sportsIn-play modeLive streamingWelcome offersLive streamingMany bonuses25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsThe NBA Draft lottery betting odds 2022 show Jabari Smith as the main favourite to get picked up first, and you can’t argue with that. He’s 6’ 10’’ forward with an excellent jump shot and great defensive versatility. This makes the 19-year-old a perfect pick for any roster, especially Orlando Magic, who fittingly has the no.1 overall pick.
Everything about Smith has fallen into place for him to be considered one of the most straightforward NBA Draft predictions for 2022 you can make. But if there is one player that can leap Smith, it’s Holmgren.
The 7’0’’ big man from Gonzaga is priced as the second favourite on the 2022 NBA Draft betting 1st pick markets. Interestingly, despite being taller than Smith, Holmgren weighs in at just 195lbs.
Regardless, his defensive ability around the rim is phenomenal. Holmgren has swatted close to four shots per game in college which further proves the point. Moreover, he is very efficient in the offence, with 60% from the field and 39% from the 3pt line.
Realistically, he is less likely to get picked up by Magic than Smith, but we must remember that the Magic front office has been enamoured with tall forwards and centres in the past. They’ve picked up Jonathan Issac and Mob Bamba, so Holmgren might join Orlando’s lineage very well.
Paolo Banchero is priced at 18/1 with the betting odds for NBA Draft 2022, but he is the favourite to go third at 1/6, which can only mean one thing – Banchero likely isn’t going to get picked first, and we can’t argue with that logic.
He’s a very talented player but is widely considered a consolation prize for the Houston Rockets. They will get to pick up what’s left after the Magic and Thunder secure two of the best players in this year’s draft.
Despite his tag as the third-best player in the NBA Draft, Banchero is not someone to ignore. During his one year in college, Banchero was the no.1 rebounder in a team filled with first-rounders. And he has shown time and time again that he can hold his weight in defence, granted he isn’t exactly known for his defensive ability.
Betting on the NBA 2022 Draft is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require you to learn anything new about sports betting. You’re guessing which team will pick up which placer, granted that’s a broad way to explain how betting on the NBA Draft 2022 works.
The most popular way to approach the 2022 NBA Draft online betting is to bet on the first pick, but there are other approaches you can take. And that is largely thanks to sportsbooks that offer many betting markets, the most popular of which include:
While the first three options are pretty straightforward, the draft position and head-to-head are more complex to predict accurately and two of the most exciting NBA Draft predictions 2022 you can make.
With the former, you have to guess when the player will get picked up, with most sportsbooks presenting the market with the over/under. For example, a sportsbook could offer an over/under 5.5 on Keegan Murray, so you have to predict whether Murray will get picked as one of the top five players.
The head-to-heads are exactly how they sound. With this betting market, you’re predicting which of the two players will get picked first.
Depending on your sportsbook, you might have way more betting markets available. But the mentioned five present five of the most popular markets used for betting on the NBA Draft 2022.
Every NBA player we know has had to go through the draft at some point (with some exceptions) – and as we approach the 2022 NBA Draft, it’s only reasonable to look back in time and see where some of the top picks ended up and where are they now?
When we talk NBA Draft, all the attention is on the no.1 pick, a player expected to become the future superstar. Most of the top picks do well in the league and build a legacy, but there have been numerous cases where the no.1 pick did not blossom into a player many believed he would. Here we will check four of the best no.1 picks of the last three decades.
Eighteen years ago, Orlando Magic drafted one of the world’s best interior defenders in Dwight Howard, who has proven to be a machine for the team and an unstoppable force in the league. In his first year and in five of his next six seasons, Howard played all 82 games and was exceptional at what he did.
Throughout his career, Howard has won three Defensive Player of the Year awards, ended five seasons with the highest rebound per game, and swatted more shots than anyone over the first decade of his career in the league.
Howard played a significant role in Orlando’s success, leading the team to the finals in 2008/09 and has made 10 NBA Playoffs throughout his career.
A man that needs no special introduction, Shaquille O’Neal is undeniably one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen, And oddly enough, O’Neal was – like Howard – spotted by the Magic. Hence, it seems like the Orlando team surely knows what they’re doing in the NBA Draft.
The things O’Neal has achieved over his career in the NBA are endless, as are his awards. Yet most notably, the 7’11’’ megastar won three straight NBA titles between 1999 to 2002 and claimed his fourth ring in 2005/06.
With 15 All-Star appearances, a regular-season MVP award, and three NBA Finals MVPs, Shaquille O’Neal is undeniably one of the best round-one picks in the history of the NBA.
It’s tough to find an NBA first-rounder that you could objectively consider better than Shaquille O’Neal, but if there is one man that deserves it, it’s Tim Duncan.
Picked up by San Antonio Spurs in 1997, Duncan made his debut at 19 years of age and has made the NBA All-Star 15 times throughout his career. Still, perhaps it’s even more impressive that Duncan was an All-Defensive honoree for 15 years which is by far the most in NBA history.
Moreover, in the process, Duncan won two MVPs, five NBA championships, and three Finals MVPs. Undeniably one of the greatest basketball players in history and a rock of the Spurs’ two-decade-long run of NBA playoffs appearances.
When people start to argue whether you’re the greatest NBA player of all time and if you’re better than Michael Jordan, you have to be doing something right. And LeBron James can tell you all about it.
The 2003 NBA Draft first-rounded who landed in Cleveland Cavaliers had reinvented the game and is one of the players who will go down in history as the most memorable players of the sport. With four NBA championships and four NBA Finals MVPs, LeBron James truly deserves to be on top of our list of the best NBA first-round picks of the last three decades.
And the best part – unlike Duncan and O’Neal, he can still add to his legacy.
The 2022 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in New York. It will be broadcasted on all significant sporting TV channels, including ABC, ESPN, and TSN, and on live streaming platforms.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that you’ll have access to the live stream on any sportsbook. On a more positive note, bookies will likely have special bonuses under the 2022 NBA Draft online betting promotion tab. So check if bookies have a free bet or other bonuses ready before you place your wagers.
With all the essential information, let’s focus on our 2022 NBA Draft online betting picks and predictions, starting with our favourite selection for the first-round pick.
Interestingly, Jabari Smith was priced at just 2/9 to go to Orlando Magic as the first pick just last week, but the latest odds have him as high as 8/13. That is mainly due to Chet Holmgren’s odds going from 4/1 to 5/4.
There is no real explanation for what has happened. Admittedly, Holmgren is a solid player, and we wouldn’t be shocked if he gets picked first. But realistically, Smith remains the favourite as he would fit in perfectly with Orlando Magic, who needs a player in his position.
Moreover, he had a workout with the team not too long ago, and the information we gathered on social media suggests that most NBA analysts expect Smith to go to Orlando Magic.
At 2/9, he would be a no-bet, but at 8/13, we have to add Smith to our NBA Draft predictions 2022 list.
If Smith goes as the first pick, Holmgren is getting picked up by Oklahoma City Thunder. The only thing that could concern you are the reports of OKC working out a handful of prospects over the last weeks, but that doesn’t change our mind.
Thunder desperately need a shot-blocked and someone who can run the rim, and Holmgren fits that bill perfectly with his stats. He has excellent ball control, a high basketball IQ and can shoot from the 3pt line (29%) – an obvious choice if Smith goes first.
We’re skipping the no.3 pick as there is no value backing Paolo Banchero, but we’re interested in Keegan Murray going fourth. Admittedly, the Kings are a bit unpredictable in NBA Draft. Still, the Sacramento general manager Monte McNair has made it very clear in his interviews that he wants to make his team competitive from the jump for the next season, and that points to Keegan Murray.
But even if the Kings don’t pick Murray for his ability, they’ll likely look to trade him for a proven asset, so there are plenty of reasons to believe that Murray is one of the top – if not THE top selection for Sacramento Kings. At 3/1, he is an obvious choice.
We end our betting tips with a bonus prediction on Keegan Murray under 5.5. We’re sticking with Murray getting picked up as no.4, and if he doesn’t, he could go to Pistons as no.5. Anything after that seems highly unlikely.
Prediction: Keegan Murray draft position (Under 5.5) – 8/13
That concludes our free wagering preview with four betting tips and predictions for the 2022 NBA Draft. Before you place your bets, make sure that you read through our betting guide and bet only with the best sportsbooks!
