(Below is a running recap of the 2022 NBA Draft with breaking news, observations and commentary.)
7 p.m.: Welcome to the Herald-Leader’s annual recap of the NBA Draft! Running the live blog tonight is me, unabashed Dallas Mavericks fan Cam Drummondof the H-L’s sports department.
It’ll probably be a quiet night for my Mavs after they dealt their only draft pick in the Christian Wood trade, but it’ll be a night full of intrigue for former Kentucky basketball players expected to be selected in the draft or on the verge of gaining new teammates.
At least two former UK players (a designation that’s been hotly disputed) will be selected in tonight’s draft: Shaedon Sharpe (who. of course. never played for UK) and TyTy Washington (a one-and-done freshman).
Opinions on Sharpe are all over the place, considering he hasn’t played in a traditional, organized basketball game since high school. Mock drafts have Sharpe everywhere from a lottery pick to a mid first-round selection.
Washington, a more traditional prospect with a year of college game tape, is expected to be a mid to late first-round selection.
Kentucky enters tonight’s NBA Draft with 55 all-time first round picks, 32 of which were drafted under current head coach John Calipari.
I’ve just cooked two massive chicken quesadillas for the festivities, and I’ll have you covered all night long as Sharpe and Washington find their first NBA homes, and former UK players in the league gain new teammates that could have a sizable impact on the NBA landscape.
Chief among these players will be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 2 overall pick), De’Aaron Fox and Trey Lyles on the Sacramento Kings (No. 4 overall pick) and Keldon Johnson on the San Antonio Spurs (No. 9 overall pick).
DRAFT PREVIEW COVERAGE
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program, in addition to other college, high school and professional sports in the area. Drummond is a first-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University in 2020. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper in Austin, Texas.
